By 1914, Europe was split into two major alliances, which included the six most powerful powers. Their confrontation escalated into a world war. Britain, France and Russia formed the Entente, while Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy united in the Triple Alliance. The split into alliances exacerbated the explosiveness and completely quarreled the countries.
Having won a series of victories (1862-1871), the Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck created a new German state, united from several small principalities. However, Bismarck feared that after the formation of the new state, neighboring countries, especially France and Austria-Hungary, would feel threatened and begin to take action to destroy Germany. Bismarck saw the creation of alliances as the only way out in order to stabilize and balance the forces on the geopolitical map of Europe. He believed that this could stop the inevitability of war for Germany.
Bismarck understood that France as an ally for Germany was lost. After the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War and the occupation of Alsace and Lorraine by Germany, the French treated the Germans sharply negatively. Britain, on the other hand, strove for dominance and actively prevented the formation of any alliances, fearing possible competition from their side.
Based on these circumstances, Bismarck decided to turn to Austria-Hungary and Russia. As a result, in 1873 they united in the Union of the Three Emperors, whose members guaranteed mutual support if hostilities suddenly began. Five years later, Russia decided to leave the union. The following year, the remaining members of the alliance formed the Dual Alliance and now began to consider Russia a threat. They agreed on military assistance should Russia attack either them or provide military support to anyone else.
In 1881, Italy joined the two countries participating in the alliance, and the Triple Alliance was formed, and France has now been added to the list of threats. Moreover, the alliance guaranteed that if any of its members was at war with two or more states, the alliance would come to the rescue.
Italy, being the weakest member of the alliance, insisted on the inclusion in the treaty of an additional clause that she had the right to withdraw from it if the Triple Alliance acted as an aggressor. Shortly thereafter, Italy signed a treaty with France, pledging its support in the event of a German attack on them.
Bismarck was frightened by the possibility of a war on two fronts, and this meant the settlement of relations either with France or with Russia. The Germans' relations with the French were badly damaged, so Bismarck's choice fell on the Russians. The Chancellor invited Russia to sign a "reinsurance agreement". Under the terms of this agreement, both parties were to remain neutral in the event of a war with a third country.
However, this agreement was valid only until 1890, then the German government canceled it, sending Bismarck to resign. Russia sought to keep the treaty in force, but Germany did not want this. This decision is considered the main mistake of Bismarck's successors.
Bismarck's carefully crafted foreign policy began to crumble after his departure. In an effort to expand the German Empire, Kaiser Wilhelm II pursued a policy of aggressive militarization. The expansion and strengthening of the German fleet caused concern in England, France and Russia, which caused the rallying of these countries. Meanwhile, the new German government was not competent enough to maintain the alliance that had been created, and Germany soon faced the distrust and hostility of the European powers.
In 1892, Russia entered into an alliance with France within the framework of a secret convention. The terms of this alliance assumed mutual assistance in case of war, without imposing other restrictions. The Alliance was created in opposition to the Triple Alliance. Germany's departure from the political course laid down by Bismarck put her in a dangerous position. Now the empire faced the threat of war on two fronts.
The growing tension between the major powers of Europe made Britain think about the need to join one of the alliances. Britain did not support France in the Franco-Prussian War, but nevertheless the countries concluded the Entente Cordiale agreement between themselves in 1904. Three years later, a similar agreement appeared between Great Britain and Russia. In 1912, the Anglo-French Naval Convention made this bond even stronger. The Alliance is in effect.
When the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in 1914, the reaction of Austria-Hungary was immediate. In the next few weeks, a full-scale war unfolded across Europe. The Entente fought with the Triple Alliance, which Italy soon left.
The parties to the conflict were sure that the war would be fleeting and end by Christmas 1914, but it lasted 4 long years, during which time the United States was also drawn into the conflict. During the entire period, it claimed the lives of 11 million soldiers and 7 million civilians. The war ended in 1919 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
heartfelt consent" (from the French. Entente cordiale), - the imperialist bloc of England, France and tsarist Russia (otherwise referred to as the "Triple Consent"), which took shape in 1904-07 and during the First World War of 1914-18, grouped against the German coalition a number of states, including the USA (altogether with members of Armenia, 25 states).After the October Revolution, Azerbaijan, together with the USA, organized a counter-revolutionary intervention against the Soviet states. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the periods associated with the struggle for the division and redivision of the world led to the formation of opposing military-political groupings of powers. an alliance with Austria-Hungary (see the Austro-German Treaty of 1879), to which Italy joined in 1882, which laid the foundation for the Triple Alliance of 1882. The Franco-Russian alliance of 1891-93 was the first response to the creation of an aggressive bloc led by Germany. flow 80 -90s 19th century and at the very beginning of the 20th century. England continued to adhere to its traditions. foreign policy course of "brilliant isolation" (Splendid isolation) and remained aloof from the blocs, hoping to achieve their goals by playing on the contradictions between the two alliances, and so on. retain its role as an international arbiter. However, the change in the balance of power that took place in the era of imperialism made the Anglo-Germans the main ones. contradictions that relegated to the background clashes of interests between England and France and Russia on the basis of colonial rivalry. The rise of Anglo-German. antagonism and failure of English attempts. diplomacy in 1898-1901 to reach a compromise agreement with Germany prompted England to rapprochement with France, and then, after the Russian-Japanese. wars of 1904-05, and with Russia, which resulted in the signing of the Anglo-French agreement of 1904 and the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907, which actually formalized the creation of A. However, unlike the Triple Alliance, which at the initial stage was a close military-political. block with certain military. obligations for all its participants, A. due to the position taken by the English. Prospect, was a military-political. grouping - "consent", in which not all countries had specific military. obligations. Russia and France were allies, bound by mutual wars. military obligations. convention of 1892, and subsequent decisions of the general staffs of both states. At the same time, English pr-in, despite the contacts between the English. and French general staffs and military -mor. command, established respectively in 1906 and 1912, refused to accept certain military. obligations. Education A. softened the differences between its participants, but did not eliminate them. These disagreements were repeatedly revealed (as, for example, friction between England and Russia in Iran at the beginning of the 20th century, between England and France, on the one hand, and Russia, on the other, during the Bosnian crisis of 1908-09 and the Balkan wars 1912–13, etc.), which Germany used in its attempt to wrest Russia away from Africa (see the Bjork Treaty of 1905 and the Potsdam Agreement of 1911). However, finance. the dependence of the royal government on France and the invaders. German plans. imperialism against Russia doomed these German attempts to failure. In turn, the African countries, preparing for war with Germany and its allies, took steps to tear Italy and Austria-Hungary out of the Triple Alliance (see the Barrera-Prinetti Agreement of 1902). Although until the outbreak of World War I Italy formally remained a part of the Triple Alliance, the ties of the A. countries with it grew stronger, and in May 1915 Italy went over to the side of A. From the beginning of World War I, unleashed by Germany, the A. countries acted together. In Sept. In 1914, an agreement was signed in London between England, France and Russia on the non-conclusion of a separate peace, replacing the allied war. contract. Oct. 1915 Japan joined this agreement, which was back in Aug. 1914 declared war on Germany. During the military actions against weapons. Austro-German forces. bloc real participation, the size of the victims in the war and the value of the military. efforts for a victorious outcome of the war of the countries - members of A. were different. The hardships of the war fell to the greatest extent on Russia, as well as on France, on the territory. to-rykh deployed main. military operations. Rus. the army played a decisive role in the collapse of the Germans. plan for a fleeting war (see Schlieffen plan) and helped prevent military. the defeat of France (see the East Prussian operation of 1914, the breakthrough of the Austro-German front in 1916). In the course of the war, new states gradually joined Azerbaijan. By the end of the war, the states of the anti-German coalition (not counting Russia, which left the war after the October Revolution) included: England, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Haiti, Guatemala, Greece, Honduras, China, Cuba, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru , Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Siam, USA, France, Uruguay, Hijaz, Ecuador, Japan. A. became the general designation of the states that fought against Germany and its allies. Just as Germany and its allies developed the imperialist program for the redistribution of the world, the main participants A. - England, France and Russia from the first days of the war also entered into secret negotiations about the goals of the war, which were in direct conflict with the official. defense statements. the nature of the war and were aimed at seizing foreign territories. The Anglo-French-Russian agreement of 1915, which provided for the transfer of the Black Sea straits to tsarist Russia, the London Treaty of 1915 between Africa and Italy, which determined the territory. the acquisition of Italy at the expense of Austria, Turkey and Albania, the Sykes-Picot treaty of 1916 on the division of Turkey's Asiatic possessions between England, France and Russia, and certain other agreements determined the carefully concealed but real imperialist. program of the war participants A. After Vel. Oct. socialist. imperialist revolution. circles of the countries of A. and the USA organized an armament. intervention against the Soviets. state-va with the aim of overthrowing the Soviet. power, the dismemberment of Russia and its transformation into a colony of imperialists. Already 23 Dec. 1917 England and France signed an agreement on joint intervention against the Soviets. Russia and its subsequent division. In March 1918 A.'s intervention began; the United States and a number of other states took an active part in it, together with the countries of Africa proper. However, A.'s campaigns against the Sov. state-va (see. Civil war and foreign military intervention in the USSR 1918-20) were defeated by owls. people led by the communist party. The failure of the antis. A. politics deepened the contradictions of capitalism and led A. to complete collapse. In a vast bourgeois Historiography of A., with many shades, two directions are clearly visible. The first of these directions, presented by him. memoirists and historians (B. Bulow, Likhnovsky, Tirpitz, Erzberger, Hartung, Onken, Brandenburg, Rakhfal, Plön, etc.) and some Amer. Historians (S. Fey, Langer, and others) who seek to rehabilitate Germany and relieve her of responsibility for the outbreak of a world war in 1914 have a negative attitude towards A., seeing in it a means of "encircling Germany." The second direction - Ch. arr. French memoirists and historians (R. Poincare, J. Cayo, Paleolog, Deschanel, Pinon, Renouvin, etc.) and English. Publicists and historians (E. Gray, Buchanan, Lloyd George, G. Nicholson, and others) - on the contrary, blaming Germany, are trying to justify the creation of A. by the aggressiveness of the Germans. ruling circles. Truly scientific. coverage of the issue of The role of A. is given in the works of V. I. Lenin. Owls. ist. science has given scientific. the development of a number of problems related to the history of A. and its influence on the development of international. relations in the late 19th - early. 20th century Published: Intern. relations in the era of imperialism. Documents from the archives of the tsarist and Provisional governments of 1878-1917, M., 1931-40; Sat. treaties of Russia with other states. 1856-1917, (M.), 1952; Doc-you external. politicians of the USSR (vols. 1-3), M., 1957-59; British documents on the origins of the war 1898-1914, ed. by G. P. Gooch and H. Temperley, v. 1-11, L., 1926-38; Documents diplomatiques fran?ais (1871-1914), ser. 1-3, P., 1929-60; Die grosse Politik der Europ?ischen Kabinette 1871-1914, Bd 1-40, V., 1922-27. Lit .: Lenin V.I., Letters from afar. Letter 4. How to achieve peace?, Soch., 4th ed., vol. 23; his, Letter to the Workers of Europe and America, ibid., vol. 28; his, Report at the II All-Russian Congress of Communist Organizations of the Peoples of the East on November 22, 1919, ibid., vol. 30; his own, Political Report of the Central Committee on December 2 (at the VIII All-Russian Conference of the RCP (b) on December 2-4, 1919), ibid.; History of diplomacy, vol. 2-3, M. - L., 1945; Tarle E. V., Europe in the era of imperialism 1871-1919, Soch., vol. 5, M., 1958; Yerusalimsky A.S., Vnesh. politics and diplomacy imperialism at the end of the 19th century, M. - L., 1948; Manfred A. Z., Vnesh. policy of France in 1871-91, M., 1952; Romanov B. A., Essays on diplomacy. history of the Russo-Japanese war 1895-1907, 2nd ed., M. - L., 1955; Stein B. E., "The Russian Question" at the Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920), (M.), 1949; Renouvin P., Rr?clin E., Hardy G., La paix arm?e et la grande guerre (1871-1919), P., 1947. A. Z. Manfred. Moscow.
Entente countries
Entente (fr. "Entente cordiale" - "cordial consent") - a military bloc, which included Great Britain, France and Russia. The West has been negotiating this with Russia for a long time. More 24 DK 1893 Franco-Russian military alliance was concluded. 20 MAY 1902 visit started PresidentÉmile Loubet's France Petersburg. England and France 8 AP 1904 concluded a military treaty, which received the unofficial name "cordial consent" (Entente), and in 1907 - England signed a similar treaty with Russia. 31 AB 1907 A. P. Izvolsky, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, a resolute supporter of orientation towards France and rapprochement with England, achieved the signing of the Anglo-Russian agreement on delimitation spheres influence in Iran Afghanistan and other regions of Asia.
The sphere of influence of Russia remained Northern Iran, England - South-East. The exclusive realm of English interests Afghanistan was recognized. The agreement paved the way for the final formation of the Entente consisting of England, France and Russia. Such a move by Russian diplomacy meant that Russia considered the European, in particular the Balkan, direction of foreign policy to be the main one, agreeing to maintain the status quo in Central Asia and the Far East. Russia also tried to maintain good economic relations with the states of the Triple Alliance. 15 IL 1904 The Russo-German trade agreement was renewed. Block performed in First world war against the Triple Alliance led by Germany. During wars joined the Entente 23 states. Already 12 DK 1916 followed by a note from Germany to the Entente countries about the readiness of the states of Central Europe for negotiations. Russia 26 OK 1917 with the adoption of the Decree and the world actually came out of coalitions.
The leading role in the Entente by 1917 belonged to Great Britain, France and the USA; Japan had significant armed forces in the Far East. The main coordinating centers of the Entente - political and military conferences, as well as the Supreme Council, which consisted of the prime minister ministers Western European powers, representatives of the French, English, American and Italian General Staffs. After the First World War, the bloc of victorious states in the First World War, which in 1918-1920 acted as the main organizer of the armed interventions against Soviet Russia. Political leaders Entente in 1918-1920 - Lloyd George, Clemenceau J., Wilson T.V. Commander-in-Chief with AP 1918 The allied forces in Europe were Marshal Foch F. 23 NY 1918 Entente troops landed in Novorossiysk, Sevastopol and Odessa ( 23 AB 1919).
Soviet poster calling for armed vigilance
Only 16 JAN 1920 this blockade was lifted and a decree followed ( 16 JAN 1920) of the Supreme Union Council of the Entente countries on the resumption of trade relations with Soviet Russia. 14 IN 1919 Entente recognized Kolchak A.V.. as the supreme ruler. The decision of the Supreme Union was adopted Council Entente countries on the resumption of trade relations with the Soviet Russia. Exacerbation of contradictions participants The Entente led it to disintegration.
Soldiers of the First World
“Everyone is looking for and not finding the reason why the war began. Their search is in vain, they will not find this reason. The war did not start for any one reason, the war started for all reasons at once” (Thomas Woodrow Wilson). The First World War covers the period from July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918. It was a large-scale armed conflict. The war divided world history into two eras, opening a completely new page of it, filled with social explosions and upheavals.
This name of the war was established in historiography after the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Prior to this, the name "Great War" was used (eng. TheGreatWar, fr. La grande guerre), in the Russian Empire it was called the "Second Patriotic War", and also informally (both before the revolution and after) - "Germanic"; then in the USSR - "imperialist war".
For almost the entire 19th century, the main powers were heading towards open conflict, as a result of which the fate of not just Europe, but the whole world, was to be decided. England, France, Russia, a little later Germany and Austria-Hungary were not going to compromise.
The threat of war could not be prevented either by the numerous unions formed, since almost all of them turned out to be fictitious, or even by the close relationship of almost all the reigning families. In fact, future enemies - the rulers of Russia, England and Germany - were cousins. But national interests for them stood above reason and family ties.
38 independent states out of 59 that existed at that time were involved in a military conflict on a global scale. And each side had its own reasons for participating in the war.
The First World War is a war between two coalitions of powers: the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria) and the Entente (Russia, France, Great Britain, Serbia, later Japan, Italy, Romania, the USA, etc.).
At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. capitalism has grown into imperialism. The world was almost completely divided between the major powers. But this section could not be final. There were always parts of disputed territories, remnants of crumbling empires (for example, the Portuguese possessions in Africa, which, according to a secret agreement concluded by Great Britain and Germany in 1898, were subject to division between the two powers; the Ottoman Empire slowly fell apart throughout the 19th century and was a tasty pieces for young predators). Having colonies means not only having markets and sources of raw materials, but also being a great and respected power.
The beginning of the 20th century was also marked by the emergence of a number of unifying tendencies: Pan-Germanism, Pan-Slavism, and so on. Each of these movements demanded for itself a vast homogeneous space and sought to break up the existing heterogeneous formations, primarily Austria-Hungary, a mosaic state, united only by the belonging of each of its parts to the Habsburg dynasty.
The global confrontation between the great powers, primarily England and Germany, escalated, and the struggle for the redivision of the world, including the redistribution of colonies, began.
Contradictions manifested themselves in certain regions: the confrontation in the Balkans between Russia and its ally Serbia and Austria-Hungary, along with allied Bulgaria, became especially acute. The situation was aggravated by the fact that England, Germany, France and Italy also pursued their interests here. By 1914, Germany had become the dominant military power in the Balkan region, taking control of the Ottoman army. Russia's desire to master the Black Sea straits was now blocked not only by England, but also by the German-Turkish military alliance.
In the Middle and Far East, the new superpowers of the United States and Japan sought to spread their influence.
In Europe, the political and economic rivalry between Germany and France was obvious, fighting for hegemony in the field of production and marketing in Europe.
She was afraid of a potential German threat, so she switched to the policy of forming an anti-German bloc of states.
She did not want to put up with the penetration of Germany into areas that she considered “her own”: East and South-West Africa. She also wanted to take revenge on Germany for supporting the Boers in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. Therefore, in fact, she was already waging an undeclared economic and commercial war against Germany and was actively preparing for a war with her.
France (as part of the Entente)
She wanted to recoup the defeat inflicted on her by Germany in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. She wanted to return Alsace and Lorraine, separated from France in 1871. She fought with Germany for sales markets, but at the same time she was afraid of German aggression. It was also important for France to keep its colonies (North Africa).
Russia (as part of the Entente)
The main interest for Russia was control over the Dardanelles, she wanted to have free passage for her fleet in the Mediterranean.
In the construction of the Berlin-Baghdad railway (1898), Russia saw an unfriendly act on the part of Germany, an encroachment on its rights in Asia, although in 1911 these differences with Germany were settled by the Potsdam Agreement.
In the Balkans, the influence of Austria was growing, which Russia also did not want to put up with, as well as with the fact that Germany was gaining strength and began to dictate its terms in Europe.
Russia considered itself the main among the Slavic peoples, and tried to support the anti-Austrian and anti-Turkish sentiments of the Serbs and Bulgarians.
Serbia (as part of the Entente)
She wanted to establish herself in the Balkans as the leader of the Slavic peoples of the peninsula, to form Yugoslavia, including all the Slavs living in the south of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Unofficially supported the nationalist organizations that fought against Austria-Hungary and Turkey.
German Empire (Triple Alliance)
Strived for military, economic and political dominance on the European continent. She sought to gain equal rights in the colonial possessions of England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal.
In the Entente, she saw an alliance against herself.
Austria-Hungary (Triple Alliance)
Due to its multinationality, it played the role of a permanent hotbed of instability in Europe. She fought to keep Bosnia and Herzegovina captured by her in 1908. Opposed to Russia, because Russia took on the role of defender of all Slavs in the Balkans, and Serbia.
USA before World War I they were the world's largest debtor, and after the war they became the sole world creditor.
The preparations for a world war as a means of resolving external and internal contradictions of the state were carried out for many years, the creation of a system of military-political blocs began. This was initiated by the Austro-German treaty of 1879, the participants of which pledged to assist each other in case of war with Russia. In 1882, Italy joined them, seeking support in the fight against France for the possession of Tunisia. Thus arose the Triple Alliance of 1882, or the alliance of the Central Powers, directed against Russia and France, and later against Great Britain. In opposition to him, another coalition of European powers began to take shape. The Russo-French alliance of 1891-93 was formed, which provided for the joint actions of these countries in the event of aggression from Germany or aggression from Italy and Austria-Hungary, supported by Germany. The growth of the economic power of Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. forced Britain to gradually abandon the traditional policy of "brilliant isolation" and seek rapprochement with France and Russia. Anglo-French agreement of 1904. disputes between Great Britain and France on colonial issues were settled, and the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907 consolidated the agreement between Russia and Great Britain regarding their policy in Tibet, Afghanistan, and Iran. These documents formalized the creation of the Triple Entente, or Entente- a bloc of Great Britain, France and Russia, opposed to the Triple Alliance. In 1912 the Anglo-French and Franco-Russian maritime conventions were signed, and in 1913 negotiations began on concluding an Anglo-Russian maritime convention.
In preparation for the world war, the states created a powerful military industry, the basis of which was large state-owned factories: weapons, gunpowder, shell, ammunition, shipbuilding, etc. Private enterprises were involved in the production of military products: in Germany - Krupp factories, in Austria-Hungary - Skoda , in France - Schneider-Creusot and Saint-Chamond, in the UK - Vickers and Armstrong-Whitworth, in Russia - the Putilov Plant, etc. Achievements in science and technology were put at the service of preparing for war. More advanced weapons appeared: store-bought rapid-fire rifles and machine guns, which greatly increased the firepower of the infantry; in artillery, the number of rifled guns of the latest systems has sharply increased.
Of great strategic importance was the development of railways, which made it possible to significantly speed up the concentration and deployment of large troop masses in theaters of military operations and to ensure the uninterrupted supply of active armies with human reinforcements and all types of material and technical support. Road transport began to play an increasingly important role. Military aviation emerged. The use of new means of communication in military affairs (telegraph, telephone, radio) facilitated the organization of command and control. The number of armies and trained reserves increased rapidly. In the field of naval armaments, there was a stubborn rivalry between Germany and Great Britain. Since 1905, ships of a new type have been built - dreadnoughts. By 1914, the German fleet had firmly taken second place in the world after the British fleet. Other states also sought to strengthen their navies.
An ideological preparation for war was also carried out: the peoples were inspired by the means of propaganda that it was inevitable.
It is known that the reason for the outbreak of hostilities in 1914 was the assassination in Sarajevo of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by a Serbian nationalist, a member of the Young Bosnia organization Gavrilo Princip. But that was just an excuse. As one of the historians put it, this murder can be called setting fire to the fuse, behind which was a barrel of gunpowder.
England, France, Russia, Italy, the USA - were actively looking for allies in case of war. This eventually led to the formation of opposing military-political groups. Germany was the first to take this path. After the completion of the unification of the country and the formation of the German. In 1879, Germany signed an alliance treaty with Austria-Hungary. The treaty was clearly anti-Russian in nature. The first article stated that if one of the contracting parties was attacked from the outside, the rest were obliged to come to the aid of each other with all their armed forces and not make peace without mutual consent. At the same time, Article Two provided that if one of the contracting parties was attacked not by Russia, but by some other power, the parties were only obliged to maintain neutrality, and only if Russia intervened in the conflict would paragraph one of the treaty come into force. The contract, concluded at first for a period of 5 years, was then repeatedly extended. The Austro-German treaty was the first step towards the creation of a military bloc led by Germany. After Italy joined the treaty in 1882, the Tripartite Alliance was formed. Thus began the division of Europe into two warring camps, which was one of the main reasons for the future world war. After the formation of the Triple Alliance, the countries that opposed Germany began to formalize their military obligations. At the end of the 80s. 19th century there was a sharp aggravation of Franco-German relations, which forced France to seek ways of rapprochement with Russia. For its part, the Russian government was also interested in rapprochement with France and Europe. When in 1887 the threat of German aggression against France arose, she
turned to Russia with an appeal. German Chancellor Bismarck demanded from Russia guarantees of neutrality in the event of a war over disputed border territories between Germany and France. Russia refused, and Bismarck was forced to retreat. Further developments brought France even closer to Russia, as Germany increasingly tried to influence European conflicts. The tension between the countries grew more and more.
For example, the Russian-German contradictions led to the so-called "customs war". At the same time, the Tripartite Alliance again extended its agreements against Russia. There were even rumors of England joining it because of disputes with Russia over territories in the Middle East. Thus, the ground for the conclusion of the Russian-French agreement arose. The parties agreed to consult in case of danger and take joint measures in the event of a threat of attack from Germany and its allies. In the future, this agreement was supplemented by strictly defined military circumstances. According to the military convention, the parties pledged to act so that in the event of war Germany would have to fight both in the east and in the west. The final step in formalizing the Franco-Russian alliance was the ratification of the military convention in 1893. financial relations. The next step in the formation of the Entente was the signing of the Anglo-French agreement of 1904. By signing the agreement of 1904, the parties mutually recognized the rights of England in Egypt and France in Morocco, and did not rule out the annexation (i.e., complete seizure) of these territories . And finally, the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907 was the final step in the unification of countries against the Triple Alliance and in the creation of the Entente (England, France, Russia). The tsarist government, weakened by the Russo-Japanese War and the revolution of 1905-1907, alarmed by the growth of German militarism, sought support from England. However, the negotiations were difficult and more than once were on the verge of collapse. The British side tried not to yield to Russia in dominance over the countries of the Middle East. The negotiations concerned Tibet, Afghanistan and Iran, where the Anglo-Russian contradictions were especially strong. The Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907 turned out to be the most important stage in the final formation of the Entente, which was called the Triple Entente - as opposed to the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy).
