In 1870, there was a conflict between France and Prussia known as the Franco-Prussian war. This resulted in the unification of the German states.

During this war, Germany took control over Alsace-Lorraine, which had been an important part of Northeastern France because it produced resources such as coal. This created tension between France and Germany.

Britain, Russia, and Germany tried tried to maintain relationships prior to conflict because they were related through Queen Victoria. This clearly did not work out, and they ended up at war.

The Dreikaiserbund, which was an entente between Germany, Austria and Russia, was created for they were afraid of France because it was the only country that did not have a King in Europe and it had a powerful military.

While all of this was happening, Britain avoided any involvement, and preferred to stay more isolated from the other countries. In 1878, Russia defeated the Ottoman Empire in a war over territory in order to control the Dardanelle Sea route.

This made Germany mad because they did not was Russia to have as much territory and control. The Treaty of Berlin was created at the Congress of Berlin, which marked the end of the Dreikaiserbund.

The end of the Dreikaiserbund created a lot of tension between Germany and Austria-Hungary against Russia. Germany and Austria decided to create The Dual Alliance as protection from Russia.

German leaders saw this alliance as a way to prevent Germany from being isolated and to maintain peace in Europe.

In 1882, Italy joined this alliance and created the Triple Alliance. Italy did not entirely trust Austria-Hungary, so they made a secret alliance with France after joining Triple Alliance.

Entente: An affiliation between Great Britain, France, and Russia (created in 1894).

Alliance: A military agreement between Italy, Germany, and Austria-Hungary (created in 1882).

Russia wanted to protect themselves from the Triple Alliance, and from this they formed their own in 1894 known as the Franco-Russian Alliance. Britain and France continued to be rivals where Germany was surprised at this event.