Dual Alliance

   A term commonly applied alternatively to the Austro-German alliance dating to 1879, which, with the later addition of Italy, became the Triple Alliance, or to the Franco-Russian alliance of 1890. The first was a secret alliance, a centerpiece of Bismarck’s system, in which Austria and Germany pledged military aid and cooperation if either were attacked by Russia. The second was its mirror image insofar as it was a Franco-German pact against the very Central European powers of that formed the anti-Russian coalition of 1879. In 1893, France and Russia signed a secret military convention in which Russia promised to commit all its forces against Germany if it should be attacked either by Germany or by Italy with German support. For its part, France committed to attack Germany if Russia were attacked either by Germany or by Austria-Hungary backed by Germany.

   FURTHER READING:

    Langer, William L. The Diplomacy of Imperialism, 1890-1902. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1968;

    Taylor, A.J.P. The Struggle for Mastery in Europe, 1848-1918. Oxford: Clarendon, 1954.

   CARL CAVANAGH HODGE