The Triple Alliance in 1913, shown in red.

The Triple Alliance was a military alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy that lasted from 1882^[1] until the start of World War I in 1914^[2]. The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918 when it was a semi- Constitutional monarchy: beginning with the Unification The Kingdom of Italy ( Italian: Regno d'Italia) was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Each member promised mutual support in the event of an attack by any two other great powers, or for Germany and Italy, an attack by France alone. A great power is a Nation or State that has the ability to exert its influence on a global scale The French Third Republic (in French, La Troisième République, sometimes written as La IIIe In a supplementary declaration, Italy specified that her undertakings could not be regarded as being directed against the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 Shortly after renewing the Alliance in June 1902, Italy secretly extended a similar guarantee to France^[1].

When Germany and Austria-Hungary found themselves at war in August 1914 with the rival Triple Entente of Britain, France, and the latter's ally, Russia. The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918 when it was a semi- Constitutional monarchy: beginning with the Unification The Triple Entente (" entente " — French for "agreement" was the name given to the loose alignment of the United Kingdom, the The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 The French Third Republic (in French, La Troisième République, sometimes written as La IIIe The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Italy pledged its support to the Central Powers, but subsequently entered the conflict on the side of the Entente against Austria-Hungary in May 1915^[2] and Germany in August 1916. The Kingdom of Italy ( Italian: Regno d'Italia) was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom The Central Powers ( German: "Mittelmächte" Hungarian: "Központi hatalmak" Turkish: "İttifak

Austria-Hungary

In the north the Czech people wanted to rule themselves. The Slav peoples in the south-west (especially the Croats) wanted their own state. Croats (Hrvati are a South Slavic people mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries The Serbs living in the south wanted to be joined to the neighbouring state of Serbia. Serbs ( Serbian: Срби Srbi) are a South Slavic people living in the Balkans and Central Europe, mainly in Serbia, Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country By 1914 the main concern of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary was how to keep this fragmented empire together. Austria-Hungary also faced problems from neighbouring states: Its newly independent neighbour [Serbia] was becoming a powerful force in the Balkans. Austria-Hungary was very anxious that it should become any stronger. Its other neighbour Russia supported the Serbs, and had a very strong army. The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Serbs ( Serbian: Срби Srbi) are a South Slavic people living in the Balkans and Central Europe, mainly in Serbia, In the Bosnian Crisis of 1908-1909, both Serbia and Austria-Hungary wanted to take Bosnia. The Bosnian Crisis of 1908-1909 also known as the Annexation crisis, erupted into public view when on October 5, 1908, Bulgaria declared its independence Historically and geographically the Region known as Bosnia (natively Bosna; Cyrillic: Босна lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging Serbia knew that it couldn't take on the entire Austro-Hungarian empire alone so it looked to Russia for support. Russia helped Serbia at first but retreated in 1909 after Germany supported Austria-Hungary. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe.

Italy

Like Germany, Italy had been formed from a collection of former states. The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918 when it was a semi- Constitutional monarchy: beginning with the Unification The Kingdom of Italy ( Italian: Regno d'Italia) was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom At first, its main concerns were to get its government established, but by 1914 Italy was settled and was looking to 'flex its muscles'. Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Like some of the other European powers, it wanted to set up colonies and build up an overseas empire. With this aim in mind, Italy joined the German-Austrian Alliance to form the Triple Alliance, partly in anger at the French seizure of Tunisia in 1881, which many Italians had seen as a potential colony. The Dual Alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary was created by treaty on October 7, 1879. Tunisia (تونس Tūnis officially the Tunisian Republic ( is a country located in North Africa.

However, Italian public opinion remained unenthusiastic about their country's alignment with Austria-Hungary, a past enemy of Italian unification, and whose Italian-majority districts in the Trentino and Istria were seen as Italia irredenta ("unredeemed Italy"). Italian Unification ( Italian: il Risorgimento, or "The Resurgence" was the political and social movement that unified different states of the Italian The' Italian people' are a Southern European Ethnic group located primarily in Italy, Switzerland, France and by virtue of a wide-ranging The Province of Trento (Provincia autonoma di Trento also called Trentino, is an Autonomous province of Italy. This article is about a geographical region bordering the Adriatic Sea In the years before World War I, many distinguished military analysts predicted that Italy would change sides. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All This prediction was strengthened by Italy's invasion and annexation of Tripoli, bringing it into conflict with the German-backed Ottoman Empire. The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War (also known in Italy as guerra di Libia, "the Libyan war" and in Turkey as Trablusgarp Savaşı) was fought Tripolis ( Arabic: طرابلس Ṭarābulus - also طرابلس الغرب Ṭarā-bu-lus al-Gharb Libyan vernacular: The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish There is some evidence that Germany and Austria-Hungary did not entirely trust their ally. In any case, Italy was not a strong individual or military power.

Italy's ideas for maintaining the balance of power in Europe clearly gravitated towards major alliances, even if they were a passive member. Italy's reasoning for not siding with the Central Powers was that the Triple Alliance was a defensive alliance, but Germany and Austria-Hungary had taken the offensive. It is also thought that Britain and Italy had an agreement about the Mediterranean. Britain needed access to the Mediterranean, so that she could access her African and Indian colonies easily. For usage see British rule in India British Raj ( rāj, lit "reign" in Hindustani) primarily refers to the British Because Italy is surrounded by the Mediterranean, it could not afford to fall out with Britain. This is thought to be another reason that Italy changed sides.

References

External links

• The Triple Alliance (First 8 Articles) The World War I Document Archive, Brigham Young University Library, accessed 2008-04-21
• Triple Alliance, 1882 Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, accessed 2008-04-21