page_title: Germany–Russia relations
section_title: The German and Russian Empires
hierarchical_section_title: Germany–Russia relations / History / The German and Russian Empires
caption_attribution_description: English: A simple map showing the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria and Italy in 1913. The alliance members are puce, other great powers are grey.
context_page_description: Germany–Russia relations display cyclical patterns, moving back and forth from cooperation and alliance to strain and to total warfare. Historian John Wheeler-Bennett says that since the 1740s:
  Relations between Russia and Germany...have been a series of alienations, distinguished for their bitterness, and of rapprochements, remarkable for their warmth....A cardinal factor in the relationship has been the existence of an independent Poland...when separated by a buffer state the two great Powers of eastern Europe have been friendly, whereas a contiguity of frontiers has bred hostility.
  Russia helped liberate Germany in 1812–15 in the Napoleonic Wars, and the two were generally friendly for a century, especially during the time of Otto von Bismarck who established the League of Three Emperors in 1873 with Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. But after Bismarck's dismissal in 1890, his successors chose to support Austria against Russia over competing influence in the Balkans. Germany fought against Russia in World War I. Relations were warm in the 1920s, very cold in the 1930s, friendly in 1939–41, and then turned into war to the death in 1941–45.
context_section_description: Initially, it seemed as if the two great empires would be strong allies.  German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck formed the  League of the Three Emperors in 1872 binding together Russia, Austria, and Germany. The League stated that republicanism and socialism were common enemies, and that the three powers would discuss any matters concerning foreign policy. Bismarck needed good relations with Russia in order to keep France isolated. In 1877–1878, Russia fought a victorious war with the Ottoman Empire and attempted to impose the Treaty of San Stefano on it. This upset the British in particular, as they were long concerned with preserving the Ottoman Empire and preventing a Russian takeover of the Bosphorus. Germany hosted the Congress of Berlin (1878), whereby a more moderate peace settlement was agreed to. Germany had no direct interest in the Balkans, however, which was largely an Austrian and Russian sphere of influence.
  In 1879, Bismarck formed a Dual Alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary, with the aim of mutual military assistance in the case of an attack from Russia, which was not satisfied with the agreement reached at the Congress of Berlin.  The establishment of the Dual Alliance led Russia to take a more conciliatory stance, and in 1887, the so-called Reinsurance Treaty was signed between Germany and Russia: in it, the two powers agreed on mutual military support in the case that France attacked Germany, or in case of an Austrian attack on Russia.  Russia turned its attention eastward to Asia and remained largely inactive in European politics for the next 25 years.
  Germany was somewhat worried about Russia's potential industrialization—it had far more potential soldiers—while Russia feared Germany's already established industrial power.  In 1907 Russia went into a coalition with Britain and France, the Triple Entente.
  The ultimate result of this was that Russia and Germany became enemies in World War I. The Eastern Front saw Germany successful, with victories at Tannenberg, First and Second Masurian Lakes and Lake Naroch. The czarist system collapsed in 1917. The Bolsheviks came to power in the October Revolution.  The new regime signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk  which was highly advantageous to Germany, although it was reversed when Germany surrendered to the Allies in November 1918.
caption: The Triple Alliance (shown in red) was constructed by Germany to isolate France; it responded by a new alliance, the Triple Entente with Britain and Russia. As a result, Russia and Germany were now on opposite sides
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