revolution, by distracting the populace with a glorious foreign policy; this shall be discussed later in more depth. As shown by the Morocco crises and numerous other incidents, this policy (Weltpolitik) led to a marked increase in tension within the sphere of international relations. Weltpolitik had, as Bethmann-Hollweg realised, 'challenged everybody, got in everybody's way but actually weakened nobody.3'
             Too much emphasis has been placed on the rigidity of the Alliance System as a cause of the First World War. Allegedly, the rise of Germany triggered an increase in a series of alliances, which threatened to descend Europe into two, competing power blocs; the first, known as the Triple Entente, consisting of Russia, Great Britain and France; the second, or Triple Alliance, involving Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. In truth, the opposite is more valid; had the Alliance System either been much stronger (or much weaker), war on a global scale may well have been averted. The alli
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