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Events on Saturday 20 May 1882 2
1882The Triple AllianceVienna, Austria-HungaryGermany, Austria-Hungary and Italy signed a defensive pact. Italy would spend 1914 arguing it did not apply, and joined the other side in 1915.
1882Triple Alliance formedGermany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy sign a defensive pactGermany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy signed the Triple Alliance in Vienna on 20 May 1882, committing each to mutual support if attacked by another great power. The pact was engineered chiefly by Otto von Bismarck to isolate France. It shaped European alliance politics until the outbreak of the First World War.