<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Franco - Russian Alliance, or Russo - French Rapprochement, was an alliance formed by the agreements of 1891--93; it lasted until 1917 . The strengthening of the German Empire, the creation of the Triple Alliance of 1882, and the exacerbation of Franco - German and Russo - German contradictions at the end of the 1880s led to a common foreign policy and mutual strategic military interests between France and Russia . The development of financial ties between the two countries created the economic prerequisites for the Russo - French Alliance . </P> <P> The history of the alliance dates to the beginning of the 1870s, to the contradictions engendered by the Franco - Prussian War and the Treaty of Frankfurt of 1871 . The Russian government had supported France during the war scare of 1875 when Russian and British protests forced Germany to stop threatening an attack on France . In 1876, the German chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, attempted unsuccessfully to obtain from Russia a guarantee to preserve the territory of Alsace - Lorraine as part of Germany in exchange for unconditional support by Germany for Russian policy in the East . In 1877, during the new Franco - German war scare, Russia maintained friendly relations with France . However, after the Berlin Congress of 1878, French diplomacy, in aiming at a rapprochement with Great Britain and Germany, assumed a hostile position vis - à - vis Russia . France's alienation from Russia and her policy of colonial seizures lasted until 1885 when the Franco - German contradictions became heightened after the French defeat in Annam . Early in 1887, new complications arose in Franco - German relations . France appealed to the Russian government for aid . In concluding the so - called Reinsurance Treaty with Germany in 1887, Russia insisted on maintaining for France the same conditions that Germany had stipulated for its ally, Austria . </P>

Why did france and russia form an alliance
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