ABSTRACT
Unification of Germany caused Realpolitik to turn on itself, accomplishing the opposite of what it was meant to achieve. After its unification, Germany became the strongest country on the Continent, and was growing stronger with every decade, thereby revolutionizing European diplomacy. According to all the traditions of Realpolitik, European coalitions were likely to arise to contain Germany's growing, potentially dominant, power. Since Germany was located in the center of the Continent, it stood in constant danger of what Bismarck called le cauchemar des coalitions the nightmare of hostile, encircling coalitions. France made itself permanently available as the potential ally of any enemy of Germany, thereby restricting the flexibility of German diplomacy and escalating any crisis involving Germany. The second European schism, between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia, also resulted from German unification. The ambassador considered the idea so preposterous that, in his report to Vienna, he ascribed it to nervous exhaustion on the part of Bismarck.
