One of the goals of the foreign policies of the Great Powers in the pre-war years was to maintain the ‘Balance of Power’ in Europe. This evolved into an elaborate network of secret and public alliances and agreements. For example, after the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), Britain seemed to favor a strong Germany, as it helped to balance its traditional enemy, France. After Germany began its naval construction plans to rival that of Britain, this stance shifted. France, looking for an ally to balance the threat created by Germany, found it in Russia. Austria-Hungary, facing a threat from Russia, sought support from Germany.

When World War I broke out, these treaties only partially determined who entered the war on which side. Britain had no treaties with France or Russia, but entered the war on their side. Italy had a treaty with both Austria-Hungary and Germany, yet did not enter the war with them; Italy later sided with the Allies. Perhaps the most significant treaty of all was the initially defensive pact between Germany and Austria-Hungary, which Germany in 1909 extended by declaring that Germany was bound to stand with Austria-Hungary even if it had started the war.

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This is what President Bush had to say. You can see more at www.whitehouse.gov.

Congress should stop playing politics with the past and focus on helping us prevent terrorist attacks in the future. Members of the House should not be deceived into thinking that voting for this unacceptable legislation would somehow move the process along. Voting for this bill does not move the process along. Instead, voting for this bill would make our country less safe because it would move us further away from passing the good bipartisan Senate bill that is needed to protect America.

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Mike Moncrief is the Mayor of Fort Worth. Go to www.fortworthgov.org to read more.

Michael J. “Mike” Moncrief, a life long resident of Fort Worth, is the 43^rd mayor of the City of Fort Worth. He was first elected as mayor on May 3, 2003. He was re-elected to his third term on May 12, 2007.

Mayor Moncrief is a successful Fort Worth business owner who is involved in various community and civic affairs. He has served as an elected official at various levels of government for more than 30 years.

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