Reinsurance Treaty

The Reinsurance Treaty was a secret agreement between the German Empire and the Russian Empire, negotiated by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and Russian foreign minister Nikolay Girs and in force from 1887 to 1890. It bound each power to benevolent neutrality if the other became involved in a war with a third country, except if Germany attacked France or Russia attacked Austria-Hungary, and separately committed Germany to neutrality if Russia acted against Ottoman control of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. The treaty formed part of Bismarck's strategy of preventing an alliance between France and Russia while preserving the balance of power on the European continent. Germany's new leadership allowed the treaty to lapse in 1890 after Bismarck's dismissal, and Russia's subsequent alliance with France in 1894 is widely regarded by historians as a major strategic setback for Germany and one of the long term causes of the First World War.