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Military And Political Alliances In The 19th Century

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In the 19th century, countries in Europe began to form military and political alliances with other countries in order to ensure national security and increase their influence in international politics/international influence. Ironically, the alliances were also believed to ensure the balance of power, as an alliance between a stronger and a weaker nation would protect the weaker nation by deterring potential attacks from other countries, which in turn would prevent already stronger nations from gaining even more power and dominating Europe. For example, the Dual Alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary was formed in 1879 in order to curb Russia’s growing influence in the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan Peninsula also served to increase tensions and rivalries between European countries. Due to the Balkan Peninsula’s strategic location next to major waterways such as the Mediterranean Sea, territory in the Balkans would facilitate trade and strengthen a country’s naval powers. The decline of the Ottoman Empire …show more content…

The exclusion of countries such as Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria inadvertently widened the rift between the two camps. This divide exacerbated the issue of alliances and rivalries in Europe, as the uninvited countries had no say in the matter of achieving world peace and therefore felt they were being treated unfairly. Their beliefs led to an even stronger dislike and mistrust of the member countries of the former Triple Entente, mainly Great Britain, France and Russia. This in turn encouraged the dissatisfied nations to form other alliances, such as the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis formed between Germany, Italy and Japan, in hopes of rivalling their mutual enemies and obtaining land and power they believed was rightfully theirs. These alliances formed after the First World War echo those formed before, with most of the same countries against each

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