Note 96 — Chapter II

For a severer criticism of his actions see G. Lowes Dickinson, The International Anarchy, 1904-1914 (New York, 1926), pp. 94 ff. Dickinson asserts that the Italian Minister broke both the letter and the spirit of the Triple Alliance. The analogy of this agreement to that of Bismarck’s reinsurance treaty with Russia of 1887 was remarked upon by Italian statesmen at the time (see Lansdowne to Currie, Dec. 17, 1901, B.D., I, 284, No. 353). Bismarck’s pacific attitude toward Russia was well known, however, and he was not responsible for the inclusion of the anti-Russian clauses in the Austro-German treaty of the Alliance. See Trützschler v. Falkenstein, Bismarck und die Kriegsgefahr von 1887 (Berlin, 1924), chap. v., and G.P., Vol. V. The Italian government, on the other hand, had not only pursued an anti-French policy, but had been responsible for including the clauses antagonistic to France in the treaty of the Triple Alliance.