Franco-Russian Alliance

The Franco-Russian Alliance (French: Alliance Franco-Russe, Russian: Франко-Русский Альянс, romanized: Franko-Russkiy Al'yans), also known as the Dual Entente or Russo-French Rapprochement (Rapprochement Franco-Russe, 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 and Russia. The development of financial ties between the two countries created the economic prerequisites for the Russo-French Alliance.

This article is about the 1892–1917 alliance. For the 1936–1939 alliance, see Franco-Soviet Alliance.

The agreements[edit]

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.

Causes of World War I

Foreign alliances of France

French entry into World War I

Historiography of the causes of World War I

International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919)

List of military alliances

Military alliance

Triple Entente

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Bovykin, V. I., & Spring, D. W. (1979). . History, 64(210), 20–35.

The Franco–Russian Alliance

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online

Kennan, George Frost. (1984) ; covers 1890 to 1894.

The fateful alliance: France, Russia, and the coming of the First World War

Keiger, John F. V. (1983). . Macmillan. ISBN 9780333285527.

France and the origins of the First World War

Keiger, J.F.V. France and the World since 1870 (2001)

(1949). The Coming of the First World War. London: Longmans Green and Co.

Mansergh, Nicholas

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