What alliances existed before world war one?
One one side, was the Triple Entente of England, France and Russia. These three nations were allied against Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. Historically, since the 12/13th century, England had always set itself against the dominant power on the Continent. With the rapid rise of Prussian/German power in the late 1800s, England came to view Germany as the dominant power and sought alliances to curb growing German power in Central Europe. France, which lost to Germany/Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War, and Russia, which was concerned about possible German expansion eastward, joined in the alliance. Germany, facing strong potential enemies on its Western and Eastern borders, also sought allies. Austria-Hungary shared a common German ethnic bond with Germany and Italy was wary of French influence. These three nations formed the Central Alliance. These two alliances led directly to World War I. When Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary gave Serbia a lis
