Hello Friend, I’m back! Today, I’m going to write about the
Triple Entente, one of two rival European camps at the beginning of the First
World War. The events that led up to this major war are quite complicated [and
it was the Sarajevo Crisis of 1914 that eventually caused the outbreak of war],
but they’re all connected, and the existence of the Triple Alliance and Triple
Entente was a cause for concern. Basically, this is a kind-of-sequel to the
post I wrote about Bismarck’s alliances a few months ago; yes, he was
responsible for the formation of the Triple Alliance [Germany, Italy,
Austria-Hungary]. This post is gonna focus on what other countries did to
safeguard against the threat posed by the Triple Alliance! [Though it was
actually a defensive alliance…].
In 1890, the German Kaiser, Wilhelm the Second, dismissed
Bismarck as Chancellor and advocated a much more aggressive foreign policy. He
was boastful, impetuous, and paranoid; he seemed to see enemies in every
country. Under his leadership, Germany actively began seeking over-seas
possessions and developing the army and navy. These actions had the
counter-productive effect of pushing Britain, France and Russia closer
together.
The Franco-Russian
Alliance [1894]
When Wilhelm the Second allowed the Reinsurance Treaty to
lapse in 1890, Russia felt threatened. [Remember the Reinsurance Treaty of
1887? It was a defensive alliance between Germany and Russia]. Let me tell you
that there were a lot of differences in the ideologies of France and Russia;
France was a republic, whereas Russia was an absolute monarchy in which the
tsar reigned supreme. However, these two completely different countries had
been enjoying steadily improving relations. Russia was the largest country on
the continent, but its military prowess left much to be desired; therefore, from
1888, France provided Russia with cheap loans to finance improvements in its
military capabilities. Both countries were wary of the Triple Alliance, so they
determined to befriend [well, it was largely an alliance of convenience though]
each other. Like the Triple Alliance, the Franco-Russian Alliance was a
defensive one. It was agreed that if either country was attacked, the other
would come to its aid. Furthermore, the alliance would only remain in place as
long as the Triple Alliance existed.
Tensions between
Germany and England
Dear friend, in the last quarter of the nineteenth century,
European affairs and power politics hardly affected England. The continent was
largely peaceful, which had enabled England to expand its overseas possessions
without serious challenge. After all, England was an island country protected
by its undisputed naval supremacy; the country adopted a policy of “splendid isolation”,
by which it stayed out of European skirmishes and back-biting and politics, and
concentrated on its empire. However, England wasn’t going to enjoy this dreamy
peace for much longer. Germany’s naval programme caused great consternation in
England. As a latecomer to the Scramble for Africa, Germany had little overseas
colonies of great value, and could afford to concentrate its naval forces in
the North Sea; however, England’s navy was dispersed far and wide in order to
protect its vast empire. In response to Germany’s naval development, England
hit back with its own building programme [hell, the country even launched a
super battleship, “Dreadnought”, in 1906]. Germany responded in kind, and a
naval arms race developed that increased the simmering tension between the two
powerful countries. [Really now, European nations and their politics are so
tiresome…].
The Anglo-Japanese
Alliance [1902]
England was desperate to end its period of isolation; as we
have already seen, the country felt greatly threatened by German naval
development, which led it to depart from its traditional isolationist policies
and look toward forming protective alliances with other nations. The first
example of this is the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902, which offered some
protection to English possessions in the Far East in the [at this point,
unlikely] event of war. However, the Germans were largely unfazed by this alliance;
what was disturbing to them was England’s increased attempts to co-operate with
its traditional enemy, France. [That’s
right—France! That is certainly surprising, isn’t it?].
The Entente Cordiale
[1904]
Following diplomatic discussions between English and French
officials in 1903, King Edward the Seventh’s successful visit to France in 1904
led to the Entente Cordiale; this was a series of agreements that would benefit
both parties involved, and issues that had soured the relations between them
were swiftly settled. For example, the Fashoda incident of 1890 was resolved;
the French formally recognised English control of Egypt and Sudan; in exchange,
England recognised French presence in Morocco.
The Entente Cordiale lulled France into a sense of temporary security
against the threat posed by Germany and its Triple Alliance partners. For
England, this alliance offered the much-desired end to European isolation.
The Anglo-Russian
Entente [1907]
As I stated before, Russia was becoming increasingly fearful
and wary of Germany’s intentions. The Triple Alliance was a massive threat to
Russian security, as the Reinsurance Treaty was no longer valid; moreover,
Russia, Italy and Austria-Hungary were traditional enemies. Unlike the other
major European powers, Russia was economically under-developed, and its
military weaknesses were clearly brought to light by its crushing defeat in the
Russo-Japanese War [1904-05]. [I’ve written a post on the Russo-Japanese War as
well]. England realised that Russia’s army was crippled by ineffective
leadership and obsolete weaponry; Russia could obviously not pose a serious
challenge to England’s expansionist ambitions. Germany was the bigger threat as
of now. Therefore, in 1907, English and Russian officials negotiated the Anglo-Russian
Entente.
The Triple Entente
[1907]
Now, friend, the Anglo-Russian Entente effectively tied
Britain, France and Russia together in a series of friendly alliances, with
each country benefiting in some way [that’s the way Europe was back then, y’know?
You couldn’t ally yourself with someone without thinking, “What’s in it for
me?”. Can you blame them though?]. Anyway, these three countries agreed to
support each other in the event of war. This became known as the Triple Entente. Yes—the First World War
began in 1914, but by 1907, the whole of Europe was divided into two opposing
camps—the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente, each deeply suspicious of the
other, in spite of the fact that both alliances
were defensive in character. After all, each nation was simply trying to
protect its own interests—and there’s nothing wrong with that. The treaties
which were the basis for the formation of these camps were secretive, and this
naturally gave rise to suspicions among the powers not involved in the
negotiations.
I don’t know about you, but I tend to see pre-WW1 Europe as a
massive chessboard, where these nations were players struggling to survive in a
hostile environment [my obsession with chessboards seems to show up
everywhere…].
What do you think
of all these alliances?
That’s all for now. See you next time!
Thank you!
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