It can be said that World War I came about mainly due to Austria's aggressive military actions which brought about the ire of the French and the British. During this time, ironically and for good reasons of co-existence, Italy was an ally of Austria. This allian. had come about around 1800 when Italy tried to annex Tunisia and failed to do so because of France's objections. As a result, Italy signed the Triple Alliance with Austria. Now, because of Austria's military built-up, Fran. a. England quickly began to challenge Austria. Later Italy, concluding that the actions of Austria were a threat to its territorial sovereignty, decided to leave the Triple Alliance to join the Allies.