As the world marched towards Word War I, there was a shift in the diplomacy in the many nations not only in Europe, but throughout the world. Of course, because the war did originate and was fought in Europe, the initial alliances which were made occurred between nations which were in and around the area. The most dangerous alliance was between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. It was no surprise when there was an alliance between different countries to counter and overcome these dangerously minded countries. The rest of the world followed suit as Allied Nations, but the first to join the fight were known as the triple entente.
The first three countries to join together against these forces and form the triple entente included Great Britain, France and Russia. This was a powerful force which has the power to in essence surround the forces trying to capture the land for their own nefarious purposes. Each country brought its own strengths to the table. Where one country fell short, the others would be able to fill in the gaps. By making land and resources available from the three different countries, it is no surprise that the forces of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy were destined for failure.
Great Britain’s Part in the Alliance
The one great empire of Great Britain has claimed itself as independent. They even went as far as to have a foreign policy which was stated as “splendid isolation”. This roughly meant that the nation kept to itself and asked other nations to leave it alone. In fact, before the triple entente, Great Britain considered France and Russia to be their most feared and reviled rivals. Only the evil which was coming out of the imperialistic tendencies from Germany was able to change the minds of the powers that be and form an alliance against them.
France’s Part in the Alliance
France was the first to feel the threat of Germany and the Triple Alliance. They were threatened because of the resources that they had available as well as a central position in Europe. It is the reason why France originally entered into an alliance with Russia to gain protection against the growing and stabilizing force that Germany represented. They feared not only that Germany would attack and overcome their nation. They feared that they would not be able to regain possession of Alsace-Lorraine without the assistance of a stronger nation.
Russia’s Part in the Alliance
Russia was recognized as one of the key elements in the triple entente. This is not because of the excellent equipment and military abilities that they held. It was mainly because of the fact that they had the largest manpower available. Russia was pulled into the Alliance because of the fact that they were already under threat from a rivalry that they maintained with Austria-Hungary. It is also because they needed an alliance with France after a hard fought war with Japan only two years earlier. Thus in 1907, the three nations combined their forces and resources to take down the Triple Alliance and the evil that they represented.