DISCOVERY 



315 



to say opposition) during the Franco- German " war 

 scare " of 1875, which ended quite peacefully. Austria 

 was also displeased with the influence which Russia 

 acquired in the Balkans in the Russo- Turkish War 

 of 1S77-S. She feared that Russia might try to 

 take from her the Turkish provinces of Bosnia and 

 Herzegovina, which she had gained at the Congress 

 of Berlin. So, out of the estrangement of both the 

 Central European Powers from Russia, grew the Austro- 

 German Alliance, which was signed by Prince Henry 

 VII of Reuss for Germany, and by Count Andrassy 

 for Austria- Hungary, at Vienna, on October 7, 1879. 



The important part of this treaty was Article I, 

 which stated that if " one of the two Empires be 

 attacked by Russia, the High Contracting Parties are 

 bound to come to the assistance one of the other 

 with the whole war-strength of their Empires." 

 Article II stated that if one of the two Empires were 

 attacked by another Power which was directly or 

 indirectly supported by Russia, the casus fcederis 

 would also arise. Thus the German and Austrian 

 Empires were very closely linked together ; an attack 

 from Russia on either party would bring both into 

 the struggle ; and, after the conclusion of the Franco- 

 Russian Alliance in 1894, an attack by France on either 

 Germany or Austria would involve hostilities with both. 



This momentous Austro-German Dual Alliance w;'.s 

 kept secret till 1888, when, on February 3, it was 

 published simultaneously in Berlin and Vienna. 

 There was one omission, however, from the text — 

 Article III, which dealt with the duration of the 

 treaty. This obscurity has now been cleared up. 

 The treaty was, in the first instance, for five years ; 

 it was renewed again in 1883, and again in 1889, this 

 time for three years. In 1902 a protocol was con- 

 cluded by which the Alliance was automatically 

 prolonged for periods of three years unless notice 

 were given, at stated times within one of the periods, 

 for considering its termination. In summer 1914 the 

 Dual Alliance was in full force, and the mobilisation 

 of the Russian Army in the provinces contiguous to 

 Austria was accepted by Germany as the casus foederis. 



The Triple Alliance was a much less important 

 affair ; Professor Pribram's researches have fully 

 justified the calmness, almost amounting to indiffer- 

 ence, with which British Secretaries of State regarded 

 it. It never superseded the Austro-German Dual 

 Alliance : it was something additional to and outside 

 it. Until 1888 the other members of the Triplice 

 (i.e. Italy and Rumania) did not know of the existence 

 of the Dual Alliance. 



The Triple Alliance was founded by a treaty con- 

 cluded between Germany, Austria, and Italy, at 

 Vierma, on May 20, 1882. It was a kind of " insurance 

 society " made by individuals who had no particular 



interest in each other. Italy at that time had very 

 strained relations with France, chiefly because of the 

 e.xpansion of French power in Tunis. Therefore 

 Italy wanted the support of Germany. But she 

 would not get Germany's friendship while remaining 

 unfriendly with Austria. Austria on her part was 

 willing, even anxious, to have the alliance of Italy 

 to prevent her from stirring up trouble among .Austria's 

 Italian subjects in the Trentino, Istria, and Dalmatia. 

 Germany, of course, was glad to get Italy's promise 

 of support, as the fear of a Franco-German war for 

 Alsace-Lorraine was always in the minds of German 

 statesmen. Italy, in point of fact, was the party who 

 was least anxious for the alliance, and this explains 

 why, in 1882 and at the subsequent renewals, she 

 obtained the best terms. The Treaty of Alliance 

 bound Austria and Germany to support Italy with 

 their whole strength if she were attacked by France ; 

 and it bound Italy to support Germany only (not 

 Austria) if Germany was attacked by France. Italy 

 was not bound to support Austria if Austria were 

 attacked by Russia singly. 



Thus it will be seen that Italy got very large 

 guarantees from the Alliance — ^the support of two 

 great military empires — and Germany got a guarantee 

 of moderate strength — the military power of Italy, 

 which was rather far off geographically — while Austria 

 got nothing but benevolent neutrality unless she was 

 attacked by more than one Power. Thus the security 

 of Austria lay, if an\'Avhere, in the Dual, not in the 

 Triple Alliance. The first Treaty of the Triple Alliance 

 was to last for five years. Attached to it was a declara- 

 tion made by the Italian Government, with the 

 agreement of the other two signatory Powers, that 

 the Treaty of Alliance could not " in any case be 

 regarded as against England." The Austrian and 

 German Governments made identical declarations. 

 These declarations, like the text of the treaty, were 

 secret ; even the English Government knew nothing 

 of them. Their secrecy is, to some extent at least, 

 a proof of their sincerity. 



One interesting point about the Treaty of Triple 

 AUiance is its preamble, which stated that its objects 

 were " to increase the guarantees of peace, to fortify 

 the monarchical principle, and thereby to assure the 

 unimpaired maintenance of the social and political 

 order," in the three contracting States. The treaty 

 was therefore a kind of " Holy Alliance," except that 

 it claimed no right to interfere with the social and 

 political order of other States. The treaty was to last 

 for five years. 



The Alliance of 1882 was made by a single treaty. 

 The renewal on February 20, 1887, required three 

 treaties. The first, which was signed by all three 

 contracting parties, merely repeated the text of 1879. 



