The Three Caesars' Alliance or League of the Three Emperors (German: "Dreikaiserabkommen" , Russian: Союз трёх императоров ) was an alliance between the German Empire, the Russian Empire and Austria-Hungary, from 1873 to 1887. Chancellor Otto von Bismarck took full charge of German foreign policy from 1870 to his dismissal in 1890. His goal was a peaceful Europe, based on the balance of power. Bismarck feared that a hostile combination of Austria, France and Russia would crush Germany