The Catastrophe of 1914: Russia's Choice

..., a quite acceptable method for resolving disputes. The answer is not at all clear, but the abrupt increase in the probability of war in the early 20th century was obvious, with Europe permeated by a network of military and political alliances. The Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy was opposed by the Russian-French bloc. In 1904, the Anglo-French treaty or Entente was signed. In 1904-1913, this arrangement was regularly shattered by international crises, each of them marked by ...