Riight...this is the guy that fucking spent a year's worth of studying on the topics of Russia/Germany between 1871 and 1914 and did an exam today on it :D. So this is somewhere I'd be very happy to advise.

I mean, this is what the general status quo is in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War. France was quashed, but came back somehow after paying back repirations to Germany and the loss of Alsace Lorraine. By 1875 however, suddenly, the War in Sight crisis arises. The Germans start flaunting around that the French are being directed by the POPE HIMSELF to declare war on Germany, and is why Germany initiated the prior to it the Kulturkampf- a Anti-Catholic sort of set of laws that basically sent a rift through Germany's Catholics. In return, the French say that people like Bismarck (German Chancellor badass of the fucking 19th Century) is just war-mad, and wants another unprovoked war against Germany. What happened? The Russians go back on a triple agreement they had with Austria and Germany and say to Germany "Cut your shit out, another war will fuck everything", and the Germans casually step away from threats. For the next 39 years, we didn't see European war, we just saw threats, tensions and a few Alliance systems form which carved power blocs in Europe.

But imagine an alternate world, where the Franco-Prussian War had driven more? The Prussian Empire, then the German Empire, has gone into the world's predominant production of airships and in particular, mechanical contraptions that wonders the world from 1860 onwards, where it used the revolutionary armed airships to simply bombard the French at Sedan and almost completely and utterly level them . The British Empire even stands behind the German production in terms of size, their regular Royal Navy on sea now outmatched by German Airborne Corps' flying goliaths- with British airship forces advanced but few in number, with German industrial production exponential and making the French, who have only recently developed a few ships, very vulnerable. Germany's claims to France are even steeper, with the inclusion of the city of Lille and the Alsace-Lorraine region, and Bismarck's dream to create a union of German-speaking peoples (something that he never wanted actually, just an alliance) escalating the threat when the "War in Sight" crisis arises. The revanchanist politicians of France have little to no idea that when Germany and perhaps Austria-Hungary form an alliance, way, way before the Dual Alliance system of 1879 that they created. And then, a unification beyond the mere creation of Germany. The creation of an enhanced Germanic Alliance in Europe, with a huge force and number of men frightens the entire world, let alone Europe. The creation of a strong Navy to reinforce future Colonial desires by the German Empire (something we saw under Tirpitz) is sidestepped by Germany, as it makes it's Airborne Naval Fleet the most prestigious in Europe, headed up by Alfred Von Tirpitz himself, a prodigy in Airborne affairs- and the realization that Germany does not want a Colonial empire, but a European one under the German flag, becomes a possible reality. When France starts yelling back to a Germany who threatens France's inclination to attack, problems arise. Even the Russians under Tsar Alexander III, who remain backwards, see the only option being to support Germany in a non-aggression pact, lacking it's own airships- and this, created a sticky situation, as the British do not want to become embroiled in a war that would potentially cost them their entire Empire in Africa, which has helped fund the Royal Navy's supremacy over the waters. In turn of airships becoming common-place, the elite Royal Aerial Navy, as well as the Royal Airborne Marines become a small but highly-trained British response to the events in Europe, with Britain watching like a Hawk over the next conflict, aware that the conflict will be ultimately the largest-scale war in the history of humankind with the technology, and scale involved.

This is perhaps where our characters begin- the very, very fine line between all-out war of airborne airships, mechanical devices and the drive of steam-based technology that drives the world to innovate exponentially. Bismarck simply wants a fast, short and clean war with the combined unified might of the Germanic-speaking peoples of a Greater Germany (encompassing all of Austria-Hungary) to completely disarm the French of any chance of opposing them in the skies, and Britain and Russia can only watch on, in fear of what happens next. The princes and men across Europe, despite however much they stand to gain from war or however much they stand to lose, can only do whatever must be done to prevent the world from becoming alight.

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Yeah, if you want some help with planning this period out, let me know.