History II / From 1870 to 1914: Towards the First World War
Practice question · True or false

Every member of the Triple Alliance fought on that alliance’s side when war broke out in 1914.

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  1. Count the members and then count who was fighting alongside Germany in August 1914.
  2. One of the three stayed neutral and later joined the other side.
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False

Why

False. Italy declared neutrality in 1914, arguing the alliance was defensive and Austria had been the aggressor, and joined the Entente in 1915 after being offered territory. It is the clearest single piece of evidence against the idea that the alliance system operated automatically.

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