not only modern Europe itself is the consequence of war, but so are its individual nation states. Bismarck explicitly engineered the three so-called unification

not only modern Europe itself is the consequence of war, but so are its individual nation states. Bismarck explicitly engineered the three so-called unification wars because he believed that German unity was only achievable while facing an enemy, hence the symbolic founding of the nation in Versailles. Same is true for America really. The country transformed twice, once through civil war and then into a superpower with a modern state during World War II. Military competition and war both internal and external are by far the strongest drivers of modernization.