The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-20
BIRTHDAY OF THE
 TRIPLE ALLIANCE


 This is the birthday of the Triple Alliance, as 1t was on May 20. 1882, that the treaty was signed whereby Italy Joined with Germany and Aus tria in pact to maintain the territo- rial inviolability of the three powers. and Austria was entered into in 1879, but it was not made public until 1888. The Dual Alliance has with stood the test of war, but the Triple Alliance, it is scarcely necessary to state, is a thing of the past.
 The Dreibund or Triple Alliance was one of the browning achievements of Bismarck in the field of weltpolitik. His alliance with Austria marked the beginning of the latter-day division of Europe into warning camps, and, by making Italy a party to the pact, Bis marck believed that he had made Ger | many the dominant power of Europe. It was to deprive France of all pos sib1e allies that Bismarck plotted and planned, and his chance came when Italy and France clashed in their Al rican aspirations. Bismarck was nbt slow to take advantage of the oppor- tunity, and, although Austria and It. ally were hereditary enemies the astute German statesman induced them to forget their differences and join forces with Germany.
 Ita1y's African aspirations, which in the early SO'S cOnn1cLGd W1Ch those OF France, induced her to join with the Teutontc powers, but Italy reaped no benefit from the alliance. For years none but a few statesmen and diplo- l'mats of the countries involved knew of the alliance, and there were no out ward indications of any change in the relations of the three states. The
 masses of Italians hated the Austrians as cordially as ever, neither knowing i or caring that their government had found it expedient to become the ally of the old enemy. The German and Austrian governments, on the other hand, remained suspicious of Italy, their rulers having little confidence in a government based on liberty.
 | The Dreibund was alliance for defense only, and 7 the three nations were bound to aid each other only in wars of a defensive nature. During his reign Bismarck completely domin- ated the affairs of the alliance. When Austria sought help to make war on her present ally, Bulgaria, Bismarck ksternly refused, declaring that All Bulgaria is not, worth the bones of one Herman soldier!"
 It was Bismarck's ambition to make the Dreibund a Quadruple Alliance, with Russia as the fourth member, and for a time he was successful. The government of the Czar was tacitly bound to the Bismarck chariot wheel 1 for several years, put In 1887, as the result of a Balkan clash, Russia with drew from the alliance.
 f France remained isolated and friend less until 1890, when the republic was forced into the arms of autocratic Rus sia. This was the first great defeat I for Bismarck. The treaty between France and Russia, signed in 1891 and
 made public three years later, embit- 1 tered the last years of the Iron Chan 1 ceI1or. England. however, was not | given to alliances, and for some time 1 enained aIoof from both combinations fof powers. It was not until 1908, tWhen King Edward VII visited France and President Loubet paid a return visit to England. that the two/ coun- l tries began those advances which re- suited in the settlement of old scores and the formation of .intente.' '' l Russia and Great Britain had long been at Ioggerheads in Asia, but, with l France as a mediator. the quarrel was patched up, and the Triple Entente
 came into being. Meanwhile France and Italy, which had been estranged 1 since the occupation of Tunis in 1881, reached an agreement as to their spheres of operation in northern Af- rica, and, although Italy remained a | member of the Dreibund until the out break of the present war, she became a Staunch friend of France.