Editing Dual Alliance (1879) (section)

==Alliance against Russia==
After the formation of the German Empire in 1871, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck wanted to portray his nation as a peacemaker and preserver of the European status quo, to gain more power for the German Empire and to unify Germany. In 1878, the [[Russian Empire]] defeated the [[Ottoman Empire]] in the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russo-Turkish War]]. The resulting [[Treaty of San Stefano]] gave Russia considerable influence in the [[Balkans]], a development that outraged Austria-Hungary, Russia's chief rival in the Balkan region (despite being an ally of the Russians and the Germans in the [[League of the Three Emperors]]). Hence, in 1878, Bismarck called an international conference (the [[Congress of Berlin]]) to sort out the problem. The [[Treaty of Berlin, 1878|Treaty of Berlin]] that resulted from the conference reversed Russia's gains from the Treaty of San Stefano and provided the Austrians with compensation in the form of [[Vilayet of Bosnia|Bosnia]]. Despite Bismarck's attempts to play the role of an "honest broker" at the Congress of Berlin, Russo-German relations deteriorated following the conference. The Three Emperors' League was discontinued, and Germany and Austria-Hungary were free to ally against Russia.<ref>Buce Waller, "Bismarck, the Dual Alliance and Economic Central Europe, 1877–1885." ''VSWG: Vierteljahrschrift für Sozial-und Wirtschaftsgeschichte'' 63#4 (1976): 454–467 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/20730458 online in English].</ref>