Part 2/11:
The reflection on the historical context behind the collapse of the German Empire and the eventual outbreak of World War I paints a vivid portrait of a continent on the brink of chaos. Otto von Bismarck’s foresight regarding the future of the German Empire is particularly haunting. In 1895, during his last conversation with Kaiser Wilhelm II, Bismarck predicted that the German Empire would face a significant collapse twenty years following his departure. He likened the experiences of Germany in his time to the decline of Frederick the Great’s realm. Remarkably, Bismarck’s prediction came to fruition just three months shy of two decades after his death, as the German Empire crumbled under the strains of war and revolutionary movements in November 1918.