How was Otto von Bismarck important in World War 1?

Answer 1

He wasn't all that important- he died long before the war started. He was important in the unification of Germany, however.

Interestingly, his foreign policies were instrumental in preventing a major war on the level of World War I. Kaiser Wilhelm, who disliked the old Iron Chancellor, fired Bismarck and began undoing Bismarck's policies. This led to the alliance of Britain, France, and Russia, which Bismarck had tried so hard to prevent, and would be instrumental in the outbreak of the war.

Answer 2

Otto von Bismack died in 1898, more than a decade before World War I broke out. However, his consolidation of the German Empire was critical in creating the kind of power in Central Europe that could manage a conflict on two fronts and be a major power in European politics.