the third long-term cause was "alliances". the bigger countries of europe formed two sides. they were called the "triple entente" and the "triple alliance." the triple entente included france, great britain, and russia. the triple alliance was germany, austria-hungary, and italy. great britain, france, and russia were worried about the growing strength of germany, so they promised to help each other if any one of them was attacked. germany objected to this arrangement because, with france and great britain on the west and russia on the east, germany would be surrounded. so germany formed an alliance with austria-hungary and italy.