Germany wanted to destroy the French-Russian alliance which was blocking the attempts to dominate the continent .
The tactic was,as usual,threatening and bullying:if the opponent gave away,he would lose face,if not,Moltke would have his war .
During the 2 Morocco crises,Germany was provoking France ,not because it was interested in Morocco,but it hoped to isolate France:if Russia was not helping France,this meant the end of the alliance,if if helped France,it would mean war .But France choosed not to fight for Morocco.
There were also 2 big Balkan crises:
In 1908,Austria,with the connovance of Germany,annexed B/H,which was a challenge for Russia and Serbia.When Serbia protested,Germany demanded that Serbia should recognize publicly the annexation,otherwise Austria would invade Serbia . Russia advised Serbia to yield.
An other "diplomatic victory" for Germany .
In 1914,Germany used Sarajevo (for which it did not care) for an other Russian humiliation :Austria would invade Serbia (although the Austrian emperor said that there was no evidence for a Serbian responsability) and ,Russia received the order to remain idle .
But ,this time,Russia said :enough is enough:it would not be humiliated again and mobilized;which the Germans used to start the world war .