Major Alliances during World War 1
There were two major alliances during World War 1. One of them was the triple alliance consisting of Germany Austria-Hungary and Italy(until they joined the allied)and turkey. The other was the Triple Entente(later called the allied powers) which was an alliance between Britain, Russia and France.
How they formed
The Dual Alliance-Bismarck, Who was considered the founder of the German empire, knew an alliance with France was not going to happen because the German control of Alsace-Lorraine, which was considered a Geo-political prize during the time of world war 1 and was being fought over by France and Germany.
And at the time Britain was engaged in a Foreign policy known as the Splendid Isolation which stopped them from moving into other continents. So instead Bismarck look to Austria-Hungary and Russia and in 1873 they formed an alliance called the "The Three Emperors league". But in 1878 Russia withdrew from the alliance so Germany and Austria-Hungary renamed the alliance "The Dual Alliance". The Dual Alliance assured that both parties would aid each other if attacked by Russia or if Russia assisted another at war with either country.
This is Otto Von Bismarck
The Triple Alliance- In 1881 The Dual alliance Signed a treaty with Italy called the Triple treaty.
In this treaty it was stated that if Germany, Austria-Hungary, or Italy was attacked by France they would all unite to fight against them. Also if any of them was attacked by two of more nations they would be there to aid them. And if any of the members of the alliance was the aggressor the treaty would become void. But shortly after the signing Italy formed an agreement with France that assured their support if Germany attacked them. This didn't anger Germany very much as they formed and alliance with Italy manly to prevent border disputes.
This picture represents the three countries in the alliance.
Ich sei gewährt mir die Bitte, In eurem Bunde der Dritte
Or
I was granted my request that the third party in your league
Not sure if this is the correct translation as Google translate isn't very good But The website with the picture didn't give a translation.
The Triple Entente- In 1891 Russia formed an alliance with France fearing war with Germany. This alliance was formed to challenge Germany's Triple Alliance. Since all of these alliances were being formed Britain was becoming nervous about protecting certain African colonies and Germany kept trying to threaten their position as a country. SO they decided to solve this by forming an alliance with France by signing the Entente Cordiale. To do this both countries had to over come certain things to create this alliance because in the past there was a lot of fighting back an fourth. But since war was imminent they had to make a exception. This led eventually to Russia signing the Anglo-Russian Entente with Brittan which formed the Triple Entente. Later they were joined by the US and Belgium.
I think the World war 1 alliances brought countries together that didn't conventionally get along like France and Brittan so i think it was good that these alliances were formed but it was also bad because of the whole war part of it.
Sources- About.com, Wikipedia, Firstworldwar.com, Xtimeline.com, google images
Comments
Good job!