When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

Want to skip the queue and access all episodes of BismarckRise right NOW? OF COURSE YOU DO! Click here for moreUnsure of what's going on? Read this blog post for more information on BismarckRise.Episode 3 – The Ultimate Opportunist: 1853-59.The Crimean War changed everything in Europe. It left Austria alienated, her Russian ally bitter and the Tsar vengeful, after Austria’s display of perfidy. ‘Austrian ingratitude’, claimed the new Tsar Alexander II, ‘killed my father.’ Under these circumstances, it was possible that Prussia could take advantage. Could an agreement with Russia be created, to be directed against Austria? But then there was the issue of France, and what Napoleon III intended to do with this new power balance. In Bismarck’s view, France presented an opportunity. We ought to negotiate with France, or at least give the impression that we were negotiating to spook our enemies, Bismarck opined. But this was too much for his superiors, even with the change that came in the aftermath of the Crimean W