Triple Alliance ( 1882 ) The Triple Alliance was the military alliance among Germany , Austria – Hungary , and Italy , ( as opposing the Triple Entente which consisted of an alliance between Britain , France and Russia ) , that lasted from 1882 until the start of World War I in 1914 . Each member promised mutual support in the event of an attack by any other great power , or for Germany and Italy , an attack by France alone . In a supplementary declaration , Italy specified that its undertakings could not be regarded as being directed against Great Britain . Shortly after renewing the Alliance in June 1902 , Italy secretly extended a similar guarantee to France . By a particular agreement , neither Austria – Hungary nor Italy would change the Status quo in Balkan area without a previous consultation . When Austria – Hungary found themselves at war in August 1914 with the rival Triple Entente ( Britain , France , and the latter ' s ally , Russia ) , Italy pledged to support the Central Powers : Germany , Austria - Hungary , and later the Ottoman Empire ( Turkey ) . However , because Germany and Austria – Hungary had taken the offensive while the Triple Alliance was supposed to have been a defensive alliance , Italy did not enter into the war . Later on , Italy entered the conflict on the side of the Entente against Austria – Hungary in May 1915 and Germany in August 1916 . Germany . The chancellor of Germany and the man responsible for the Triple Alliance was Otto von Bismarck . Bismarck wanted to prevent a war on two fronts , which is why he targeted these two countries specifically . Austria – Hungary . By the late 1870s , Austrian ambitions in both Italy and Germany had been choked off by the rise of new national powers . With the decline and failed reforms of the Ottoman Empire , Slavic opposition in the occupied Balkans grew and both Russia and Austria – Hungary saw an opportunity to expand in this region . In 1876 , Russia offered to partition the Balkans , but Andrássy declined because Austria – Hungary was already a " saturated " state and it could not cope with additional territories . The whole Empire was thus drawn into a new style of diplomatic brinkmanship , first conceived of by Andrássy , centering on the province of Bosnia and Herzegovina , a predominantly Slav area still under the control of the Ottoman Empire . On the heels of the Great Balkan Crisis , Austro - Hungarian forces occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina in August 1878 and the empire eventually annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 1908 as a common holding under the control of the finance ministry , rather than attaching it to either territorial government . The occupation of Bosnia - Herzegovina was a step taken in return to Russian advances into Bessarabia . Unable to mediate between Turkey and Russia over the control of Serbia , Austria – Hungary declared neutrality when the conflict between the two powers escalated into the Russo - Turkish War ( 1877 – 1878 ) . In order to counter Russian and French interests in Europe , an alliance was concluded with Germany in October 1879 and with Italy in May 1882 . World War I started in 1914 . Italy . The Kingdom of Italy , like some of the other European powers , wanted to set up colonies and build up an overseas empire . With this aim in mind , Italy joined the German - Austrian Alliance to form the Triple Alliance , partly in anger at the French seizure of Tunisia in 1881 ( the so - called " Schiaffo di Tunisi " by Italian press ) , which many Italians had seen as a potential colony , and partly to guarantee herself support in case of foreign aggression : the main alliance compelled any signatory country to support the other parties if two other countries attacked . At the time , most European countries tried to ensure similar guarantees , and because of the Tunisian crisis Italy found no other big potential ally than its historical enemy , Austria – Hungary , against which Italy had fought three wars in the 34 years before the first treaty signing . However , Italian public opinion remained unenthusiastic about their country ' s alignment with Austria – Hungary , a past enemy of Italian unification , and whose Italian populated districts in the Trentino and Istria were seen as occupied territories by Italian irredentists . In the years before World War I , many distinguished military analysts predicted that Italy would attack its supposed ally in the event of a large - scale conflict . Italy ' s adherence to the Triple Alliance was doubted and from 1903 plans for a possible war against Rome were again maintained by the Austrian general staff . Mutual suspicions led to reinforcement of the frontier and speculation in the press about a war between the two countries into the first decade of the twentieth century . As late as 1911 Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf , chief of the Austrian general staff , was advocating a military strike against Austria ' s supposed Italian ally . This prediction was strengthened by Italy ′ s invasion and annexation of Tripoli , bringing it into conflict with the German - backed Ottoman Empire . Italy ' s ideas for maintaining the balance of power in Europe clearly gravitated towards major alliances and Italy ' s reasoning for not siding with the Central Powers was that the Triple Alliance was a defensive alliance , but Germany and Austria – Hungary had taken the offensive .