Revision Session 4
The Road to War:
The Alliance System
The Alliance System
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First half of 19th Century Germany was made up of more
than 30 small states
By Late 1860’s Prussia had absorbed nearly all of them
Prussia had defeated Austria in 1866 and established
itself as the leading German-speaking state
By end of 1870 Prussia had forced all German states to
accept its authority
The King of Prussia became the Kaiser of the new
German Empire
This unification was achieved at the expense of France
who was heavily defeated in the Franco-Prussian war
The BITTERNESS which followed was a long term
cause of the First World War
The Alliance System
 The
unification created a new and very
powerful country in Europe
 It was a threat to the other Great Powers –
particularly Britain
 The DISTRUST and RIVALRY which
followed were another long term cause of
the war
The Alliance System
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The driving force behind the unification was
Chancellor Prince Otto Von Bismarck
 He brought about war with Denmark in 1864 and
war with Austria 1866 both of which were
massive victories for the Prussians
 Bismarck needed to find a way of getting the
southern German states to join Prussia
 The main obstacle was France as Napoleon III
distrusted Bismarck and believed he was trying
to dominate Europe
The Alliance System
 Bismarck
knew that Napoleon III would try
and stop him if he tried to take the
southern states
 He believed it neccessary to defeat France
before unification of Germany could take
place
The Impact of the Franco-Prussian
War
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July 1870 Bismarck persuades France to
declare war
Bismarck changes the wording of a telegram
sent from King Wilhelm I to the French
Ambassador
He made it appear insulting
The news leaked to the French press
France was horrified and demanded vengeance
The French government was forced to declare
war
The Impact of the Franco-Prussian
War
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France was no match for the Prussians
The Prussian railway in the 1850’s and 1860’s
had been massively improved
Troops could be moved around quickly and
easily
200,000 French troops faced 380,000 Prussian
troops
The Prussian Dreyse rifle was far better than the
French rifle
The Prussian army had fought 2 wars in past 6
years and was more experienced
The Impact of the Franco-Prussian
War
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180,000 French troops were trapped in the
fortress of Metz
An army sent in to help them was forced to
surrender
Napoleon was taken prisoner
Metz surrended in October
The harsh terms of the peace treaty (Treaty of
Frankfurt 1871) included – Giving the Prussians
Alsace-Lorraine, paying an indemnity of
5,000,000,000 Francs, Germany occupying
various parts of Northern France until the sum
had been paid
The Impact of the Franco-Prussian
War
 Bismarck
emerged as a hero
 The South German states all agreed to
join Prussia/ The German Empire
 King Wilhelm I became Kaiser
 Germany was the most powerful country in
Europe
 Economy dominated the continent
The Impact of the Franco-Prussian
War
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Bismarck realised this dominance needed to be
handled carefully
He avoided offending other countries
He feared the French desire for revenge
His aim was to create alliances for Germany but
ensure France was kept isolated
In France, the defeat was a humiliation
Napoleon left to live in exile
French politicians talked of revenge
Bismarck’s main task was to ensure France
could not threaten Germany = The Alliance
System
Relations between Germany and
Russia
 Bismarck
wanted to prevent France from
gaining allies in Europe
 Wanted to avoid a war on two fronts
 This meant isolating France and staying
friendly with Russia
 It also meant ensuring that France and
Russia would NOT form an alliance
Relations between Germany and
Russia
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In 1873 the DreiKaiserBund was signed by the
Emperors of Germany, Austria-Hungary and the
Tsar of Russia
 The 3 powers agreed to crush subversive
movements and to defend monarchy
 It linked the 2 most powerful mainland European
countries to Germany
 It had WEAKNESSES the DKB was a vague
agreement rather than a formal alliance and it
also involved 2 countries who were rivals for
power in the Balkans – Russia and AustriaHungary
Relations between Germany and
Russia
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Bismarck wanted Russia and Austria-Hungary to
be friendly with Germany but they were rivals
 Russia had wanted to extend its Empire into the
Mediterranean – this plan had largely failed –
but its mission was still to protect Slavs and
Orthodox Christians (this meant the Serbs) in
the Balkans
 Austria-Hungary wanted to extend its Empire
and this meant occupying Bosinia-Herzegovina
(where the majority of the population was Serb)
Relations between Germany and
Russia
 The
DKB proved to be largely worthless
 Russia declared war on Turkey in 1877
 Russia tried to create a Big Bulgaria a the
Treaty of San Stefano
 Bismarck was going to have to do
something if he wanted to keep the peace
with Russia
The Congress of Berlin
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Russia signed the Treaty of San Stefano (1878)
with Turkey – where it tried to gain control over a
Big Bulgaria
 Bismarck stepped in to try and keep the peace
between Russia and Austria and to make sure
they both remained allies of Germany
 Treaty of Berlin (1878) replaced the Treaty of
San Stefano – here Russia was allowed
southern Bessarabia, Austria retained control of
Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Big Bulgaria was
split into 3 – southern part given to Turkey and
the other two parts became independent
The Congress of Berlin
 Treaty
not popular in Russia
 Bismarck had appeared to support AustriaHungary rather than Russia
 It didn’t help that in 1879 Germany signed
the Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary
(this gave Bismarck and Germany some
security but isolated Russia)
The Second DreiKaiserBund
1881 – Attempt to bind the three Empires
together
 In case of one of the three powers being
attacked by a fourth power the other two would
remain neutral
 Russia agreed to respect Austria-Hungary’s
interests in the Balkans and Austria reserved the
right to annex Bosnia-Herzegovina in the future
 The DKB was renewed in 1884 but in 1887
Russia refused to sign it
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The Mediterranean Agreements
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Bismarck was faced with the possibility that
Russia and France may join closer together.
 He continued with his programme of isolating
France and formed the first Mediterranean
Agreement with Britain, Italy and Austria in 1887
 The countries would not allow changes in the
Mediterranean – Italy and Britain agreed to
protect each other if attacked by France
The Reinsurance Treaty
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At the same time as forming the First Mediterranean
agreement Bismarck concluded a secret treaty with
Russia – the Reinsurance Treaty (1887)
 This was to prevent Russia from forming an alliance with
France
 In December there was a Second Mediterranean
agreement formed this time Germany, Italy, Britain and
Austria agreed to help Turkey if she was attacked by
Russia
 The complicated system of alliances shows how
Bismarck was desparate to protect Germany
 The Med Agreements are the only foreign involvement
that Britain had in late 19th C – it actually committed
itself to very little
The Creation of the Triple Alliance
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In 1879 Bismarck had signed the Dual Alliance with
Austria-Hungary
In 1882 this was extended to become the Triple Alliance
with Italy
Austria H and Germany promised to support Italy if it
was attacked by France
If any two or more countries attacked one of the allies
the others would support it
If any of the allies went to war with another country the
other two would remain neutral
This alliance was renewed in 1887, 1891, 1902 and
1912
The Creation of the Triple Entente
 In
1890 Bismarck was forced to resign
when Kaiser Wilhelm II came to the throne
 The Reinsurance Treaty with Russia
lapsed – Wilhelm II refused to sign it
 As a result, France and Russia grew
closer and signed a military agreement in
1892
 In 1894 they signed the Dual Entente
The Creation of the Triple Entente
 Russia
agreed to support France against
attacks by Germany or Italy and Germany
 France agreed to support Russia against
attacks by Germany or Austria Hungary
and Germany
 If any of the Triple Alliance mobilised their
troops so would the Dual Entente
 It created a situation that Bismarck had
tried for years to avoid – the war on two
fronts
The Creation of the Triple Entente
 In
1904 Britain and France signed The
Entente Cordiale – this was developed
after the king Edward VII visited Paris and
settled territorial disputes with France
(particularly in N.Africa)
 The two navies agreed to divide up
responsibility for European waters
The Creation of the Triple Entente
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In 1907 Britain signed an Entente with Russia –
this was not a formal alliance like the Dual
Entente but was designed to settle territorial
disputes e.g. in Persia and Afghanistan
Both of these ‘agreements’ drew Britain into the
alliance system
And Britain’s agreements with Russia and
France became known as the Triple Entente
Britain was not committed to helping the other
two powers but it did make it MUCH more likely
that Britain would support them
Europe was now officially made up of 2 armed
and opposing camps