It was Otto Von Bismarck's dream of a German empire that really got the ball rolling towards world war I. In 1862, Bismarck was chosen foreign minister of Prussia and from there he defeated the Austrians and the French where he gained much territory (states) which clearly caused much tension through Western Europe and created Bismarck's German empire.
             From there, Bismarck realized that the French would desire "la revanche" for their crushing defeats against Prussia and for that reason created the new foreign policy to isolate France. This is where the alliance system really got out of control. He first created the Three Emperors' League in 1873; this consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. And was basically an agreement to confer with each other about international importance and to keep on the fence if attacked by any other nation outside the league. The only real problem with this alliance was the on-edge attitude between Austria-Hungary and Russia who both had interests in controlling the Balkan region.
             Bismarck did not have much confidence in the Russians and formed stronger ties with the Austria-Hungarians and in 1879 the Dual Alliance was signed in secret. They both agreed if either was attacked by Russia they would be helped and to stay non-aligned if attacked by another country. This was a very brave move which really could have caused a huge amount of hostility in Europe, but the alliance continued until WWI. In 1882 the alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary was expanded into a triple alliance and Italy joined. It then expanded again with Romania joining in 1883 and Turkey joining in 1914.
             In 1887 the Russians turned down the Three Emperors' League because of the tension still between Austria-Hungary and themselves. The Germans realizing the importance of Russia (being one of their most important allies) swiftly negotiated a reinsurance treaty between themselves and Russia. The treaty stated that the...