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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

Isolation of France constituted the keystone of Bismarck’s foreign policy. Elucidate.

  • UPSC 1997
  • Nation-State System

After 1871, Otto von Bismarck's diplomacy pursued one overriding goal: preventing a French war of revenge over Alsace-Lorraine by ensuring France could never find a great-power ally.

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What the full answer covers

  • The Problem Bismarck Inherited
  • The Dreikaiserbund (1873) — Binding the Conservative Monarchies
  • The Dual Alliance (1879) — A Firm Anchor with Austria-Hungary
  • Reviving the Three Emperors' League (1881) and Adding Italy (1882)
  • Colonial Diversion as a Diplomatic Tool
  • The Reinsurance Treaty (1887) — The System's Final Refinement

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