CEVAP:

Bismarck’s foreign policy priority was the security of Germany.
• He created a system of alliances under his control. This system aimed to:

• neutralize the rivalry between Germany’s neighbors, as well as to isolate France from the European system, and
• reinforce common values that would facilitate great power cooperation in the
post-1815 era (Taylor, 1971: 255-278).

• In 1872, Bismarck devised the Three Emperor’s League between Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia. A renewed version of the Holy Alliance, this was a semi-official alliance that sought to control Austrian-Russian competition in the
Balkans.

In 1879, Austria-Hungary and Germany also signed an official pact which creat-ed The Dual Alliance between the two countries that lasted until the end of World War I.

• These various agreements formed an overlapping — and often contradictory — diplomatic network. Thus, they included a significant number of secret clauses.