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The Franco-Russian Alliance (french: Alliance Franco-Russe, russian: Франко-Русский Альянс, translit=Franko-Russkiy Al'yans), or Russo-French Rapprochement (''Rapprochement Russo-Français'', Русско-Французское Сближение; ''Russko-Frantsuzskoye Sblizheniye''), was an alliance formed by the agreements of 1891–94; it lasted until 1917. The strengthening of the German Empire, the creation of the Triple Alliance of 1882, and the exacerbation of Franco-German and Russo-German tensions at the end of the 1880s led to a common foreign policy and mutual strategic military interests between
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. The development of financial ties between the two countries created the economic prerequisites for the Russo-French Alliance.


History

The history of the alliance dates to the beginning of the 1870s, to the contradictions engendered by the Franco-Prussian War and the Treaty of Frankfurt of 1871. The Russian government had supported France during the war scare of 1875 when Russian and British protests forced Germany to stop threatening an attack on France. In 1876, the German chancellor,
Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...
, attempted unsuccessfully to obtain from Russia a guarantee to preserve the territory of Alsace-Lorraine as part of Germany in exchange for unconditional support by Germany for Russian policy in the East. In 1877, during the new Franco-German war scare, Russia maintained friendly relations with France. However, after the Berlin Congress of 1878, French diplomacy, in aiming at a rapprochement with Great Britain and Germany, assumed a hostile position vis-à-vis Russia. France's alienation from Russia and her policy of colonial seizures lasted until 1885 when the Franco-German contradictions became heightened after the French defeat in Annam. Early in 1887, new complications arose in Franco-German relations. France appealed to the Russian government for aid. In concluding the so-called Reinsurance Treaty with Germany in 1887, Russia insisted on maintaining for France the same conditions that Germany had stipulated for its ally, Austria. At the end of the 1880s, Russo-German economic discrepancies grew stronger. The Russo-French political rapprochement contributed to the influx of French capital into Russia. At the end of the 1880s and the beginning of the 1890s, Russia received a number of large loans from France. The deterioration of Russo-German relations, the resurrection of the Triple Alliance in 1891, and the rumors that Great Britain would join the alliance laid the grounds for the conclusion of a political agreement between Russia and France. During a visit by a French squadron to Kronstadt in July 1891, the agreement of 1891 was concluded in the form of an exchange of letters between the ministers of foreign affairs. France was interested significantly more than Russia in a military alliance and endeavored to supplement the 1891 agreement with military obligations. As a result of the negotiations, the representatives of the Russian and French general staffs signed a military convention on August 17 (August 5 in Russian calendar), 1892, which provided for mutual military aid in the event of a German attack. By an exchange of letters between December 27 (December 15), 1893, and January 4, 1894 (December 23, 1893), both governments announced their ratification of the military convention. This formalized the Russo-French military-political alliance. It was a response to the formation of a military bloc (the Triple Alliance) headed by Germany. In Europe, two opposing hostile imperialist blocs had formed. Relying on Russian support, France intensified its colonial policy. After the Fashoda Incident of 1898 with Great Britain, it endeavored even more to strengthen the alliance with Russia. The alliance with France also facilitated the tsarist government's expansion into
Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...
in the 1890s. During the preparatory period and the first years of the existence of the Russo-French Alliance, the determining role was played by Russia, but in time the situation altered. By constantly receiving new loans from France, Russian tsarism gradually fell into financial dependence on French imperialism. Prior to World War I, the cooperation of the
general staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...
s of both countries assumed closer forms. In 1912 a Russo-French naval convention was signed. Russia and France entered the war united by the treaty of alliance. This had a significant effect on the course and outcome of the war since it forced Germany from the first days of the war to fight on two fronts. This led to the defeat of Germany in the battle of the Marne, to the collapse of the
Schlieffen Plan The Schlieffen Plan (german: Schlieffen-Plan, ) is a name given after the First World War to German war plans, due to the influence of Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen and his thinking on an invasion of France and Belgium, which began on 4 ...
, and finally to the defeat of Germany. The Russo-French Alliance was nullified by the Soviet government in 1917.A.J.P. Taylor, ''The struggle for mastery in Europe, 1848-1918.'' (1954), pp 325-345.


See also

*
Causes of World War I The identification of the causes of World War I remains controversial. World War I began in the Balkans on July 28, 1914, and hostilities ended on November 11, 1918, leaving 17 million dead and 25 million wounded. Moreover, the Russian Civil ...
*
Foreign alliances of France The foreign alliances of France have a long and complex history spanning more than a millennium. One traditional characteristic of the French diplomacy of alliances has been the ''"Alliance de revers"'' (i.e. "Rear alliance"), aiming at allying w ...
*
French entry into World War I France entered World War I when Germany declared war on 3 August 1914. World War I largely arose from a conflict between two alliances: the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) and the Triple Entente (France, Russia, and Britain ...
*
Historiography of the causes of World War I Historians writing about the origins of World War I have differed over the relative emphasis they place upon the factors involved. Changes in historical arguments over time are in part related to the delayed availability of classified historical a ...
*
International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919) International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...
*
Triple Entente The Triple Entente (from French '' entente'' meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well a ...


References


Further reading

* Albrecht-Carrié, René. ''A Diplomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna'' (1958) * Bovykin, V. I., & Spring, D. W. (1979)
The Franco–Russian Alliance
''History'', 64(210), 20–35. * Hamel, Catherine. ''La commémoration de l’alliance franco-russe : La création d’une culture matérielle populaire, 1890-1914'' (French) (MA thesis, Concordia University, 2016)
online
* Kennan, George Frost.
The fateful alliance: France, Russia, and the coming of the First World War
' (1984) ; covers 1890 to 1894. * * Keiger, J.F.V. ''France and the World since 1870 (2001) * * Otte, T. G. "From 'War-in-Sight' to Nearly War: Anglo–French Relations in the Age of High Imperialism, 1875–1898," ''Diplomacy and Statecraft'' (2006) 17#4 pp 693–714. * Rich, Norman. ''Great power diplomacy, 1814-1914'' (1992) pp 216-62, 391-407. * Taylor, A.J.P. ''The struggle for mastery in Europe, 1848-1918'' (1954), pp 325–345


External links


The original text of the agreement
{{Great power diplomacy 1892 in France 1892 in the Russian Empire 19th century in France 20th century in France 19th century in the Russian Empire 20th century in Russia France–Russia military relations 19th-century military alliances 20th-century military alliances 1892 treaties Treaties of the Russian Empire Military alliances involving France Military alliances involving Russia Bilateral treaties of Russia Bilateral treaties of France