The System Of Alliances : The Alliance System

The unconditional support from alliances can be blamed to cause World War I. The nature of the alliances is laid out in the alliance document. The alliances stipulated assistance and contribution of the signing parties in the event of conflict. It can extend from money or logistic sponsorship, similar to the supply of materials or weapons, to military activation and a statement about war. Partnerships might likewise contain currency components, for example, trade agreements, investment or loans. It is best known to cause World War I. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, European nations formed, abolished, or restructured their own alliances. By 1914, the Great Powers of Europe split into two opposing alliance blocs. For quite a long time Europe had been a mixture of ethnic and regional competitions, political interests, contending desires, military dangers, suspicions and disorder. France and England were antiquated foes whose competition ejected into open fighting a few times between the fourteenth and mid nineteenth hundreds of years.

Alliances were a major part of the outbreak of WWI because once the domino fell and two countries began fighting, more and more European powers were dragged into the war because they had to support their

Bismarck’s alliance system brought peace between the European countries. (Stewart, Fitzgerald, Pickard 12) His alliance system starts with a treaty with Austria-Hungary who was one of the 5 powers in Europe. In 1879, Germany and Austria-Hungary signed the Dual Alliance, which was planned as a merely defensive arrangement or military alliance. Both governments promised that they should help or remain neutral when other powerful countries such as Russia or France attack. (Stewart, Fitzgerald, Pickard 13) The second allied country was with Italy. In 1882, Bismarck turns Dual Alliance into Triple Alliance by making Italy to join in his alliance system. Since Italy had close friendship with Great Britain, although Italy was not a strong military nation, it was an influential part of the Alliance. And at the same time, Great Britain and Germany had conflict in North Africa on colonial aspiration. Therefore, it was the perfect time to be an ally with her to isolate France. (Stewart, Fitzgerald, Pickard 14) Making Great Britain as a close friend was a benefit for Germany. Bismarck’s next target to isolate France was Russia. In 1881, the Dreikaiserbund was made a treaty, which was the agreement between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia promising not to help the fourth power, France. However in 1884, this treaty had renewed and Russia refused to renew her membership in Dreikaiserbund. Then Bismarck discussed the Reinsurance Treaty with

This attack caused Russia to come to Serbia’s aid and Germany announced its entry into the war. The next cause of the war was the agreement between nations. Many countries had agreed to help each other, and this spread the war beyond Serbia. These alliances were called the mutual defense alliances. Due to these alliances, they were obligated to protect each other in case of war. So, started something bigger. Germany supported Austria-Hungary and attacked France. This forced France into the war while Britain joined the war to protect France. Japan and Italy followed to join the war and finally, America. The two sides were called the Allies or the Triple Ententes and the Central Powers. The Triple Ententes consisted of France, Britain, and Russia and the Central Powers were Austria-Hungary and Germany. Italy and the US joined the Triple Ententes. Another strong cause of the war was Imperialism. Before the war many European countries clashed in Africa and Asia. This rivalry between the big powers accelerated the process of thrusting the world into World War

Alliances were formed with the European countries formed partnerships to protect each other. There were two different alliances, one was the Triple Alliance was between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. Then there was the Triple Entente was and alliance between France, United Kingdom, Russia. In the midst of all the war the nations that remained Neutral were Spain, Portugal, Greece, Serbia, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Romania, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire, and Montenegro (Doc. D). In document E it states that France and Russia have both equal desires to preserve peace, and only want to make sure that they meet the needs for a defensive war. Then in Document G shows a comic of how the different Allies had “ganged up” on Germany and Austria, then there was Italy that had been

Similarly, Austria Hungary made alliance with Serbia to stop Russia from gaining control of Serbia. While, in 1882 Germany and Austria-Hungary had an alliance with Italy to stop taking sides with Russia.

One of the three underlying events that lead to World War I becoming such a big war was alliances. “There were at least 100 countries” according to http://www.history.com fighting a war, and countries had to choose their side. Countries used alliances for extra support. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy were part of Triple Alliance until 1915 when Italy switched sides hurting Austria-Hungar. On the Triple Entente United Kingdom, and France fought together.

Before the start of WWI, there were two major alliances in Europe. The Triple Alliance with Austria-Hungary, Germany and Italy, and the Triple Entente with France, Russia and Great Britain. These alliance, along with the extreme feelings of nationalism and militarism, were the main causes of the Great War.

France and England created an alliance because they both feared Germany’s naval strength and supremacy. Despite claiming it was defensive in nature, it spread east and eventually, other countries were involved. Since Austria-Hungary and Germany were in dispute over the assassination, they became involved too. Therefore, alliance systems played a significant role in the outbreak of the war. Since these countries. became involved in

World War I consisted of two different alliances, the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance. The Triple Entente included Great Britain, France and Russia who was allied with Serbia. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy were part of the Triple Alliance (Document 2). Germany also signed a treaty with the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain grew close with Japan creating other alliances (455). Alliance systems meant that war between two countries meant war between all.

The alliance system divided Europe into opposing groups, causing each nation to begin to increase spending on its military (Document 1). Militarism increased tensions between the Great Powers of Europe. Germany, France, and Britain felt pressure to increase their military power. France and Germany each wanted

Alliances were a major cause of the conflicts between countries in WW1 The original disagreement was between Serbia and Austria-Hungry over the

Peace in Europe was destroyed in the 20th century due to the tensions and mistrust that the most powerful nations in the world felt toward one another. World War I had lasted from 1914 to 1918, with over 10 million soldiers dead. This tragedy started due to three prominent causes: alliances, imperialism, and militarism; out of these, militarism had the most influential impact. To begin, alliances were a major contribution to the development of World War I. The Triple Entente consisted of Russia, France, and Britain, whereas on the opposing side of the war, the Triple Alliance was made up of Italy (who switched sides later), Germany, and Austria-Hungary (Doc. A). These alliances would mean that if one of their allies were at war, then each country had a duty to support one another.

The Triple Alliance was a military alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed on March 20th 1882. Each country promised support in the event of attack.

Many, on the other hand, blame the flaws in the world's alliance systems for the war. Development of political and military alliances caused tension and hostility among nations leading up to World War I. Two major alliance systems developed due to conflicting national interests, which had been evident during the past two decades throughout Europe. These were the 'Triple Alliance' of Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy and the 'Triple Entente' of Britain, France and Russia. Also several smaller countries became indirectly involved in the alliances, which effectively divided Europe into two 'Armed Camps'. Russia pledged to support Serbia in order to prevent further Austrian-Hungarian expansion into the Balkans. Germany stated its support for Austria-Hungary and Britain had given its support for Belgium's independence in 1839. However, historians such as A. J. P. Taylor argue that 'Pre 1914 alliances were so precarious and fragile that they cannot be seen as the major cause of war'. This points to the fact that it should also be stressed that even a formal alliance in 1914 did not guarantee support for war, therefore not being a significant factor.