In the late 19th century and early 20th there were a series of alliances between the superpowers of Europe. These powers included Britain, Russia, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. The complex nature of the numerous alliances between the different powers along with the Balkan crises and the significant need for the preservation of Imperial power were largely responsible for the ensuing world war.
The alliance system developed in two parts. The first largely instigated by the German chancellor Otto Von Bismarck to preserve peace and the second when Bismarck's system collapsed in 1890.
The defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian war of 1970-71 was the completion of Germany's unification and the beginning of the rise of a new European power causing many new alliances to be formed. …
