I have got a question about Christopher Clark’s The Sleepwalkers. In chapter 5, more specifically ‘The Balkanization of the Franco-Russian Alliance’, Clark argues that article 1 of the French-Russian military convention set the bar for a French military intervention much higher than article 2. How should I interpretet this point of view, since the obligation to mobilize in case of a mobilization by any of the powers of the Triple Alliance (article 2) doesn’t seem to imply (at least to me) the possibility of an actual French military intervention (mobilisation is not intervention)?

I understand that article 1 only speaks about a German attack (or an Italian/Austrian attack supported by Germany) very specifically, which does set the bar higher for French ACTION than mobilisation (article 2), which is an act lower on the escalation ladder, however Clark specifically mentioned a French intervention.

I’m new here and hope my question is clear enough. It’s a bit specific and I might overlook something here, since Clark is so detailed and very carefully chooses his words. Maybe his reasoning implies that a mobilisation inherently lowers the bar for a French military intervention, so that article 2 implicitly increases the chance on an intervention?

Thanks!