Editing Triple Alliance (1882)

{{short description|Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy}}
{{about|the pre–World War I alliance|the pre-Columbian Mexican empire|Aztec Empire|other uses|Triple Alliance (disambiguation){{!}}Triple Alliance}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox former country
| conventional_long_name = Triple Alliance
| native_name = {{Plainlist|
* {{native name|de|Dreibund}}
* {{native name|hu|Hármas szövetség}}
* {{native name|it|Triplice alleanza}}
}}
| common_name = Central Powers
| status = [[Military alliance]]
| year_start = 1882
| year_end = 1915
| flag = | image_flag =
| image_map = File:Map Europe alliances 1914-en.svg
| image_map_caption = The Triple Alliance as opposed to the [[Triple Entente]] in 1914
| era = 19th century{{*}}20th century
| date_pre = 7 October 1879
| event_pre = [[Dual Alliance (1879)|Dual Alliance]]<br />{{smaller|(Germany{{\}}Austria-Hungary)}}
| event_start = Triple Alliance<br />{{smaller|(Germany{{\}}Austria-Hungary{{\}}Italy}})
| date_start = 20 May
| event_end = Italy leaves
| date_end = 3 May
| p1 = Dual Alliance (1879)
| s1 = Central Powers
| footnotes =
}}
{{Events leading to World War I}}

The '''Triple Alliance''' was a defensive [[military alliance]] between [[German Empire|Germany]], [[Austria-Hungary]], and [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]]. It was formed on 20 May 1882<ref name="Grenville"/> and renewed periodically until it expired in 1915 during [[Diplomatic history of World War I|World War I]]. Germany and Austria-Hungary had been [[dual Alliance (1879)|closely allied]] since 1879. Italy was looking for support against [[French Third Republic|France]] shortly after it lost North African ambitions to the French. Each member promised mutual support in the event of an attack by any other [[great power]]. The treaty provided that Germany and Austria-Hungary were to assist Italy if it was attacked by France without provocation. In turn, Italy would assist Germany if attacked by France without provocation. In the event of a war between Austria-Hungary and [[Russian Empire|Russia]], Italy promised to remain neutral. After the Austro-Hungarian empire and Germany declared war without first being attacked by other nations, [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] did not take part in World War I on the side of the Central Powers and later joined on the side of the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]].

When the treaty was renewed in February 1887, Italy gained an empty promise of German support of Italian colonial ambitions in North Africa in return for Italy's continued friendship. Austria-Hungary had to be pressured by German chancellor [[Otto von Bismarck]] into accepting the principles of consultation and mutual agreement with Italy on any territorial changes initiated in the Balkans or on the coasts and islands of the Adriatic and Aegean seas.<ref name=":0" /> Italy and Austria-Hungary did not overcome their basic [[conflict of interest]] in that region despite the treaty. In 1891, attempts were made to join [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] to the Triple Alliance, which, though unsuccessful, were widely believed to have succeeded in Russian diplomatic circles.<ref name="Kennan">{{Cite book |author=George Frost Kennan |title=The Fateful Alliance: France, Russia, and the Coming of the First World War |date=1984 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-7190-1707-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/fatefulalliance00geor/page/82 82–86] |url=https://archive.org/details/fatefulalliance00geor/page/82 }}</ref>

Shortly after renewing the Alliance in June 1902, Italy secretly extended a similar guarantee to France.<ref name="Seymour">{{cite book|title = The Diplomatic Background of the War|url = https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.189309|author = Charles Seymour|publisher = [[Yale University Press]]|year = 1916|pages = [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.189309/page/n55 35], 147}}</ref> By a particular agreement, neither Austria-Hungary nor Italy would change the status quo in the [[Balkans]] without previous consultation.{{efn|group=lower-alpha|"However, if, in the course of events, the maintenance of the status quo in the regions of the Balkans or of the Ottoman coasts and islands in the Adriatic and in the Aegean Sea should become impossible, and if, whether in consequence of the action of a third Power or otherwise, Austria-Hungary or Italy should find themselves under the necessity of modifying it by a temporary or permanent occupation on their part, this occupation shall take place only after a previous agreement between the two Powers, based upon the principle of a reciprocal compensation for every advantage, territorial or other, which each of them might obtain beyond the present status quo, and giving satisfaction to the interests and well founded claims of the two Parties."<ref name="Grenville">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q99JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA38 |title=The Major International Treaties of the Twentieth Century: A History and Guide with Texts |editor1-last=Grenville |editor1-first=John |editor2-last=Wasserstein |editor2-first=Bernard |publisher=Routledge |date=2013 |access-date=2 March 2014 |page=38 |isbn=9780415141253}}</ref>}}

On 18 October 1883 [[Carol I of Romania]], through his Prime Minister [[Ion C. Brătianu]], had also secretly pledged to support the Triple Alliance, but he later remained neutral in the [[First World War]] due to viewing Austria-Hungary as the aggressor.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lwcWDFZWuJgC&pg=PA102 |title=Brief Romanian Military History |author-first=Călin |author-last=Hentea |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] |date=2007 |access-date=2 March 2014 |page=102 |isbn=9780810858206}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EjZHLXRKjtEC&pg=PA208 |title=A Companion to World War I |author-first=Jean-Jacques|author-last=Becker |chapter=Chapter Fourteen: War Aims and Neutrality |editor-first=John |editor-last=Horne |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]] |date=30 January 2012 |access-date=2 March 2014 |page=208 |isbn=9781405123860}}</ref> On 1 November 1902, five months after the Triple Alliance was renewed, Italy reached an understanding with France that each would remain neutral in the event of an attack on the other.

When the Austro-Hungarian Empire decided to start a war in August 1914 with the rival [[Triple Entente]], Italy proclaimed its neutrality, considering Austria-Hungary the aggressor. Italy defaulted on the obligation to consult and agree to compensations before changing the status quo in the Balkans, as agreed in 1912 renewal of the Triple Alliance.<ref>(art. 7) https://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Expanded_version_of_1912_(In_English)</ref> Following parallel negotiation with both Triple Alliance (which aimed to keep Italy neutral) and the [[Triple Entente]] (which aimed to make Italy enter the conflict), Italy [[Treaty of London (1915)|sided with the Triple Entente]] and declared war on Austria-Hungary.

==Germany==
The man chiefly responsible for the Triple Alliance was [[Otto von Bismarck]], the [[Chancellor of Germany]].<ref name=":0">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Triple Alliance |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |date=2016 |access-date=10 February 2016 |url=http://www.britannica.com/event/Triple-Alliance-Europe-1882-1915}}</ref> His primary goal was to preserve the status quo in Europe after he had [[Unification of Germany|unified Germany]] in 1871. He was particularly concerned about France finding allies to help it regain [[Alsace-Lorraine]]. By promising to aid Austria-Hungary and Italy in the event of an attack, Bismarck sought to make them somewhat dependent on Germany and therefore unsympathetic to French adventures.<ref> Paul Kennedy, ''The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers'' (New York: Random House, 1987) p. 190. </ref>

==Austria-Hungary==
By the late 1870s, Austrian territorial ambitions in both the [[Italian Peninsula]] and Central Europe had been thwarted by the rise of Italy and Germany as new powers. With the decline and the failed reforms of the [[Ottoman Empire]], Slavic discontent in the occupied Balkans grew, which both Russia and Austria-Hungary saw as an opportunity to expand in the region. In 1876, Russia offered to partition the Balkans, but the Hungarian statesman [[Gyula Andrássy]] declined because Austria-Hungary was already a "saturated" state and could not cope with additional territories.<ref name="B">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Austria#toc=toc33365 |title=Austria: Constitutional experimentation, 1860–67 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |date=15 November 2013 |access-date=2 March 2014}}</ref> The whole empire was thus drawn into a new style of diplomatic brinkmanship, which was first conceived of by Andrássy, centering on the province of [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], a predominantly-Slav area that was still under the control of the [[Ottoman Empire]].{{cn|date=May 2018}}

On the heels of the [[Great Eastern Crisis|Great Balkan Crisis]], [[Austro-Hungarian campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878|Austro-Hungarian forces occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina in August 1878]], and Austria-Hungary eventually [[Bosnian Crisis|annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 1908]] as a common holding under the control of the [[Ministry of Finance (Austria)|finance ministry]], rather than attaching it to either [[Cisleithania|Austria]] or [[Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen|Hungary]]. The occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina was a step taken in response to Russian advances into [[Bessarabia]]. Unable to mediate between the Ottoman and the Russian Empires over the control of [[Principality of Serbia|Serbia]], Austria–Hungary declared neutrality when the conflict between the empires [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|escalated into war]].<ref name="B"/> To counter Russian and French interests in Europe, an alliance was concluded [[Dual Alliance, 1879|with Germany in October 1879]] and with Italy in May 1882.

==Italy==
[[File:Triple Alliance Lustige Blatter.jpg|thumb|upright|Cartoon of the Berlin satirical journal ''[[Lustige Blätter]]''. In the Triple Alliance, an adult German drags the Austrian boy along, while the Italian child throws a tantrum to stay with the [[Gallic rooster|French cockerel]].]]

[[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] had several motives for joining the existing Austro-German alliance. The Italian government at that time was controlled by conservatives, who sympathized ideologically with the two monarchies. Also, Catholic Austria was a traditional protector of the [[Papacy]], which Italy had poor relations with. However, perhaps most importantly, Italy was seeking potential allies against France. The Kingdom of Italy, like most of the other European powers, wanted to set up colonies and build up an overseas empire. Although France had supported Italian unification, Italy's colonial ambitions in Africa quickly brought it into a rivalry with France.<ref>Laurence Lafore (1971). ''The Long Fuse''. Harper Collins. pp. 97–98.</ref> That was reflected in anger at the [[French conquest of Tunisia]] in 1881, the so-called ''[[Slap of Tunis]]'' by the Italian press, which many Italians had seen as a potential colony. By joining the Alliance, Italy hoped to guarantee itself support in case of foreign aggression. The main alliance compelled any signatory country to support the other parties if two other countries attacked. Germany had won a war against France in 1870 and was a natural ally for Italy. Thus, Italy found itself coming to terms with its historical enemy, Austria-Hungary, against which Italy had fought three wars in the 34 years before the signing of the first treaty.{{efn|group=lower-alpha|The [[First Italian War of Independence|First]], [[Second Italian War of Independence|Second]] and [[Third Italian War of Independence|Third]] Italian Wars of Independence.}}

However, Italian public opinion remained unenthusiastic about their country's alignment with Austria-Hungary, a past enemy of [[Italian unification]] and whose Italian-populated districts in the [[Trentino]] and [[Istria]] were seen as occupied territories by [[Italian irredentism|Italian irredentists]]. In the years before [[World War I]], many distinguished military analysts predicted that Italy would attack its supposed ally in the event of a large scale conflict. On its own hand, the [[Austro-Hungarian General Staff]] maintained at least from 1903 plans for a possible war against Rome.{{sfn|Rothenburg|1976|pp=124–125}} Mutual suspicions led to reinforcement of the frontier and speculation in the press about a war between the two countries into the first decade of the 20th century.{{sfn|Rothenburg|1976|p=152}} As late as 1911, Count [[Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf]], the chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff, was advocating a [[preemptive strike]] against Austria's supposed Italian ally.{{sfn|Rothenburg|1976|p=163}} That prediction was strengthened by Italy's [[Italo-Turkish War|invasion and annexation]] of [[Libya]], bringing it into conflict with the German-backed Ottoman Empire.

==Romania==
King [[Carol I of Romania]] was of German ancestry, which, combined with his wish to turn [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]] into a centre of stability in Southeastern Europe and his fear of Russian expansion and the competing claims on [[Bessarabia]], led to Romania secretly joining the Triple Alliance on 18 October 1883. Only the King and a handful of senior Romanian politicians knew about it. Romania and Austria-Hungary pledged to help each other in the event of a Russian, Serbian or [[Principality of Bulgaria|Bulgarian]] attack. There were, however, several disputes between Romania and Hungary, the most notable being the status and community rights of Romanians in [[Transylvania]]. Romania eventually managed to achieve the status of regional power in the aftermath of the [[Balkan Wars]] and the [[Treaty of Bucharest (1913)|1913 Treaty of Bucharest]], but less than a year later, [[World War I]] started, and Romania, after a period of neutrality in which both the [[Central Powers]] and the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] tried persuading Romania to join their respective sides, eventually joined the Allies in [[Treaty of Bucharest (1916)|1916]], after it had been promised significant Romanian-inhabited Hungarian lands. Romania's official reason for not siding with the Triple Alliance when the war started was the same as Italy's: The Triple Alliance was a defensive alliance, but Germany and Austria-Hungary had taken the offensive.<ref>[[Keith Hitchins]], ''A Concise History of Romania'', p. 149</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* Conybeare, John A. C., and Todd Sandler (December 1990). "The Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance 1880–1914: A Collective Goods Approach" (PDF). ''American Political Science Review''. '''84'''(4): 1197–1206. {{doi|10.2307/1963259}}.
* Conybeare, John A. C. (March 1992). "A Portfolio Diversification Model of Alliances: The Triple Alliance and Triple Entente, 1879–1914". ''Journal of Conflict Resolution'' 36.1: 53–85. {{JSTOR|174505}}.
* {{cite book |author-last=Kann |author-first=Robert |title=A History of the Habsburg Empire|publisher=University of California Press|year=1974|pages=470–472|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cG570mijBF4C&q=robert+kann+a+history+of+the+empire&pg=PA2|isbn=9780520042063}}
* Langer, William L. (1951). ''European Alliances and Alignments, 1871–1890'' (2nd ed.). pp. 217–50. A standard scholarly history.
* Lutz, Ralph Haswell (ed.)(1932). ''Fall of the German Empire, 1914–1918'' (Documents of the German Revolution, volumes I and II). Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. Online review. Primary sources.
* Macmillan, Margaret (2013). ''The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914''. Chapter 8.
* Pribram, Alfred Francis (ed.)(1921). ''The Secret Treaties of Austria-Hungary, 1879–1914'' Vol. 2. The most thorough history of the Triple Alliance, with text of major documents.
* {{cite book |author-last=Rothenburg |author-first=Gunther E. |date=1976 |title=The Army of Francis Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zk_NjPQuNXYC&pg=PA124 |publisher=Purdue University Press |location=West Lafayette |isbn=9781557531452 |pages=124–125 }}
* Schmitt, Bernadotte E. (1924). "Triple Alliance and Triple Entente, 1902–1914". ''American Historical Review''. 29#3: 449–473. {{JSTOR|1836520}}.
* [[Raymond James Sontag|Sontag, Raymond James]] (1933). ''European Diplomatic History, 1871–1932''. Century Historical Series. New York: Century Company. pp. 99–152. {{oclc|503861831}}. Online review.

{{Great power diplomacy}}
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