League of the Three Emperors
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League of the Three Emperors ("Dreikaiserbund") 1873
- Long term cause of the First World War
- Creation of a Conservative league between Germany, Russia and Austria
- Post-Franco-Prussian War
- Alliance against radicals
Conservatives in the three countries were wary of the growing threat (as they perceived it) of liberalism and so created a league of nations that would protect their more conservative forms of government. Although the league provided no formal alliances it listed Socialism and more importantly Republicanism as the greates evils n.b. France had a Republic at the time. It was part of Otto von Bismark's grand foreign policy plan to keep France isolated and keep both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire on his side.
At that time:
- Germany had a Kaiser;
- Austria-Hungary had an emperor; and
- Russia had a tsar who claimed divine right.
The league was resurrected in 1881 but soon fell apart and after 1894 Russia found itself in the opposing camp with Germany.