League of the Three Emperors

Common card · No. 320345

The League of the Three Emperors, or Union of the Three Emperors, was an alliance between the German, Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires, from 1873 to 1887. Chancellor Otto von Bismarck took full charge of German foreign policy from 1870 to his dismissal in 1890. His goal was a peaceful Europe, based on the balance of power. Bismarck feared that a hostile combination of Austria-Hungary, France, and Russia would crush Germany. If two of them were allied, then the third would ally with Germany only if Germany conceded excessive demands. The solution was to ally with two of the three. In 1873, he formed the League of the Three Emperors, an alliance of William I of Germany, Franz Joseph I of Austria and Alexander II of Russia. Together they would control Eastern Europe, making sure that restive ethnic groups such as the Poles were kept in control. It aimed at neutralizing the rivalry between Germany's two neighbors by an agreement over their respective spheres of influence in the Balkans...

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