Franco-Austrian Alliance

If any country had been acting the most restless on the global stage recently, it would have to be France, which had always viewed the British as its rivals.

Taking a closer look at Britain's achievements over the past two years, it had seized Central America, acquired Persia, and established comprehensive control over the Middle East.

Coupled with the assistance of Australasia, Britain held absolute say in both Europe and the World League. As the undisputed strongest nation on the European continent, France found its own voice in Europe falling far short of Britain's.

The Naval Limitation Treaty made it impossible for France to catch up with Britain at sea, and its isolated and helpless diplomatic position also filled the French with a sense of crisis.

After much consideration, the French felt it necessary to find themselves an ally—a reliable ally of great-power status to relieve their pressure.

Looking closely at all the nations in Europe, the only ones currently worthy of being called great powers were Russia and Italy.

Neither of these two countries was clearly dependable. A complete Russia might have had the strength to help France, but the current Russia was an incomplete version damaged by civil war, and the Russians had no inclination to participate in matters outside of Russia; Nicholas II's attention was entirely focused on recovery and development.

Italy, of course, went without saying. After Mussolini established his dictatorship, Italy's presence in international affairs had dropped dramatically.

Moreover, Italy's performance in World War I had indeed been rather poor. Such an ally might even become a burden to the French, and Italy was eliminated by them first.

Aside from these, there were not many countries left in Europe that could offer assistance to France. After careful deliberation and selection, the French finally cast their