Editing Splendid isolation (section)

== Bismarck and Salisbury ==
[[File:Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, Vanity Fair, 1900-12-20.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.8|Lord Salisbury caricatured by [[Leslie Ward|Spy]], 1900]]
After the founding of the [[German Empire|German Reich]] in 1871, [[German Chancellor]] [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]] created the 1873 [[League of the Three Emperors]], or ''Dreikaiserbund'', between Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany. In 1878, the League collapsed due to competing Austrian and Russian aims in the [[Balkans]], with Germany and Austria-Hungary forming the [[Dual Alliance, 1879|1879 Dual Alliance]]. This became the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]] in 1882 with the addition of Italy.{{sfnm |1a1=Keegan |1y=1998 |1p=52 |2a1=Willmott |2y=2003 |2p=15}} 

Unlike his successors, Bismarck viewed a war on two fronts as potentially fatal for Germany; his key foreign policy aims were friendship with Russia, and the isolation of France. When the French attempted to negotiate a Russian alliance in 1881, he persuaded Austria and Russia to join a reconstituted ''Dreikaiserbund''.{{sfn|Medlicott|1945|pp=66–70}} Even after the League finally dissolved in 1887, Bismarck replaced it with the [[Reinsurance Treaty]], a secret agreement with Russia to observe '[[benevolent neutrality]]', in the event of an attack by France on Germany, or Austria-Hungary on Russia.{{sfn|Taylor|1954|pp=316–319}}

British Prime Minister [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Salisbury]] once defined his foreign policy as "to float lazily downstream, putting out the occasional diplomatic boathook."{{sfn|Morgan|Silvestri|1982|p=115}} He defined this as avoiding war with another Great Power, or combination of Powers, and securing communications with the Empire. A recurring concern was Russian access to the Mediterranean, in this case by acquiring [[Constantinople]] and the [[Dardanelles]].{{efn|This was, and remains, a long-standing Russian objective; in 1914, 50 per cent of total Russian exports, and 90 per cent of agricultural, went through the Straits. The [[Russian naval facility in Tartus]] is a key element driving their involvement in the [[Syrian civil war]].{{sfn|Coffey|2016}}}} A factor in the 1853–1856 [[Crimean War]], it resurfaced during the 1875–1878 [[Great Eastern Crisis]], when [[jingoism]] demonstrated a growing sense of insecurity among British media and politicians.{{sfn|Whitehead|2014|pp=308–310}}
[[File:British Empire in 1898.png|thumb|right|upright=1.5|The British Empire in 1898]]
After occupying Egypt in the 1882 [[Anglo-Egyptian War]], Britain negotiated the 1887 [[Mediterranean Agreements (1887)|Mediterranean Agreements]] with Italy and Austria-Hungary. These were not considered treaties, simply an undertaking to discuss problems should they arise, and thus did not require approval by Parliament. Since Britain shared Austrian concern over Russian expansion in South-East Europe, and Austria generally followed Germany, it allowed Salisbury and Bismarck to align without a formal alliance.{{sfn|Charmley|1999|pp=222–223}}

In the 1885 [[Panjdeh incident]], Russian troops occupied an oasis near the disputed border between [[Emirate_of_Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] and Russian-occupied [[Turkmenistan]]. Always sensitive to potential threats in this area, Britain threatened a military response, before both sides backed down, and agreed a negotiated solution.{{sfn|Pillalamarri|2015}} However, the Ottomans refused a British request to allow warships access to the [[Black Sea]], a position strongly supported by all the European powers. Taylor suggests it was "the most formidable display of Continental hostility to Britain between Napoleon's day and Hitler's".{{sfn|Taylor|1962|p= 558}}