1879: Germany/UK/Austria Triple Alliance?

Alright, so bear with me.

I'm getting near the end of Erich Eyck's Bismarck and the German Empire, and I'm not getting to wear Germany and Russia start drifting apart. Now this is the first time I've done any reading on the subject, so I'm not sure in the grand scheme of things how accurate this book is, or whatever.

So, say for whatever reason, ol' Otto decides to not disregard Disraeli's (I'm assuming it's Disraeli, the book refers to him as "Beaconsfield") willingness to negotiatie an Anglo-German alliance, and forge on with the talks. So, what would it take Bismarck to decide to foster closer relations with Britain at that time, and what would be the overall effects? Would a possible triple alliance of Germany, the UK, and Austria-Hungary eventually try and draw Italy and/or the Ottomans into their orbit? Or would Italy naturally drift more towards France out of desire for Austrian-owned Italian lands?

Not sure how ASB this could be, if it is, but the few pages Eych wrote on this was intriguing, and it made for an interesting POD.
 
Italy could well become an ally of Germany/Britain/A-H. After all, Austria had South Tyrol and Istria, but France and Savoy and Nice. And Corsica, Tunis, Algeria, Djibouti...
 

yourworstnightmare

Banned
Donor
Italy could well become an ally of Germany/Britain/A-H. After all, Austria had South Tyrol and Istria, but France and Savoy and Nice. And Corsica, Tunis, Algeria, Djibouti...
Yes but Gorizia, Istria and Trieste were more important than Savoie, Corsica and Nice. Although being a friend with Britain and Germany would certainly be most beneficial.

The best way for a Anglo- German alliance is having Frederick III survive.
 

abc123

Banned
Italy would side with Anglo-German alliance because of british fleet in Mediteranean ( Italy is a peninsula and has 2 major islands ) and because they are dependant on british coal and because they will loose all of their colonies if they go into a war against UK...
 
Italy would side with Anglo-German alliance because of british fleet in Mediteranean ( Italy is a peninsula and has 2 major islands ) and because they are dependant on british coal and because they will loose all of their colonies if they go into a war against UK...
This was my logic as well. Also why I thought the Sultan might drift into the Anglo-German sphere as well, even just on the fact that Russia and the Ottomans would never be able to realistically stay in the same alliance bloc.

So, would Russia and France realistically think they had a chance to take on Britain and Germany, let alone Austria, even if Italy and the Ottomans stayed neutral?
 

yourworstnightmare

Banned
Donor
This was my logic as well. Also why I thought the Sultan might drift into the Anglo-German sphere as well, even just on the fact that Russia and the Ottomans would never be able to realistically stay in the same alliance bloc.

So, would Russia and France realistically think they had a chance to take on Britain and Germany, let alone Austria, even if Italy and the Ottomans stayed neutral?
I don't think France and Russia would think they have a shot at winning Germany and Britain if they're not wanked. Germany allied with Britain probably wouldn't need Austria that much, and thus they might not back Austria the same way they did OTL. (i.e. Austria can't count on automatic German support in this case, and might be more careful).
 
The war was very costly for Britain, and according to Parkinson (as in, of the law of expanding bureaucracy), Britain, France and A-H lost most influence during the war. Maybe Britain will prefer to stay out of the war and support Germany & co with money instead.
 
Top