Alliance

The Alliance is one of the two major political factions of the mortal races in Azeroth, its counterpart being the Horde.

Current Members
The major partners in the Alliance are:


 * The night elves
 * Led by High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind, alongside Fandral Staghelm who fights for power over Tyrande.
 * Capital is Darnassus, on the new (failed) World Tree of Teldrassil in northern Kalimdor
 * Larger outposts include Auberdine (primary port), Astranaar and Feathermoon Stronghold
 * The humans (Primarily of Stormwind)
 * Led by the child king Anduin Wrynn with Highlord Bolvar Fordragon serving as regent.
 * Capital is Stormwind in Elwynn Forest, in the subcontinent of Azeroth
 * The Kingdom of Stormwind's influence also extends to Lakeshire in the Redridge Mountains, Darkshire in Duskwood, Southshore in Hillsbrad and Sentinel Hill in Westfall.
 * The dwarves of Khaz Modan and Bael Modan
 * Led by King Magni Bronzebeard
 * Capital is Ironforge, in Dun Morogh
 * The dwarven kingdom of Khaz Modan also includes Thelsamar in Loch Modan and Menethil Harbor in the Wetlands.
 * The gnomes of Gnomeregan
 * Led by High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque
 * Long-time capital was Gnomeregan, west of Ironforge
 * Current capital is Ironforge, shared with the dwarves, who took them in following the fall of Gnomeregan
 * The draenei
 * Led by the Prophet Velen
 * Long-time capital was Shattrath City, in Terokkar Forest on Draenor, now Outland
 * Current capital is the Exodar, on Azuremyst Isle south of Teldrassil
 * The draenei still maintain several outposts on their former homeworld - the Temple of Telhamat and Telredor being among a few
 * Refugees of the Eredar who broke with Archimonde and Kil'jaeden when they were corrupted by Sargeras

Alliance Forces

 * League of Arathor
 * Stormpike Guard
 * Silverwing Sentinels

Other smaller powers are also part of the Grand Alliance:


 * The forces at Theramore Isle, led by Lady Jaina Proudmoore.
 * The Half-elves.
 * A few Half-orcs.
 * A few small pockets of surviving high elves, such as the Quel'Danil Lodge in the Hinterlands.
 * The children of Cenarius, working closely with the Night Elves throughout Kalimdor.
 * The Broken draenei who call themselves the Kurenai, or "Redeemed", residing in Nagrand in Outland
 * Wildhammer dwarves near Mount Hyjal,in The Hinterlands-Aerie Peak and Shadowmoon Valley.

Alliance-aligned

 * The Wildhammer Clan of dwarves of the Aerie Peak in Hinterlands are closely tied to the Alliance, but politically independent (although some may have rejoined since the events of the The Burning Crusade).
 * The furbolgs of Stillpine Hold have been cooperating with the draenei, an outgrowth of their good relations with the night elves, plus the Wintersaber Trainers in Winterspring are Alliance aligned.

The Alliance of Lordaeron


The modern Alliance is the successor to the Alliance of Lordaeron, which was created at the behest of King Terenas Menethil II of Lordaeron and Lord Anduin Lothar of the kingdom of Stormwind following the First War, five years after the reckoning. The human, dwarf, gnome, and high elf races allied together to fight off the orcish Horde.

Aftermath of the Second Invasion
Events of the Second Invasion led to an alliance with both the night elves and the Horde. The former became permanent, while the latter did not.

Following the Second Invasion, several of the surviving high elves rebranded themselves as blood elves, and left the Alliance shortly after the invasion, following an attempted purge by Grand Marshall Garithos. The true high elves remain loyal to the new Alliance, most notably the ones dwelling in Theramore under Lady Jaina Proudmoore and in the Hinterlands at the Quel'Danil Lodge.

Few years later, the Draenei joined the Alliance. Stranded a world away from home, they are trying to establish a new base on Azeroth from the ruins of the Exodar as well as gain the trust and cooperation of the Alliance.

Organization
The Alliance is not a uniform governmental body, but is a coalition of mutual military and economic aid. Housing the Alliance Assembly, Theramore can be considered the official home of the new Alliance, but both the people and the leadership of Stormwind find it hard to accept. The inability of Stormwind to act forced both Theramore and the night elves to step in, resulting in a growing gap of cooperation between the two continents. Effectively, today's Alliance is in fact two Alliances not only working largely seperately but also holding some kind of dislike against each other. Above all, where Jaina Proudmoore and Tyrande Whisperwind are good at coordinating their efforts on Kalimdor, Lady Katrana Prestor of Stormwind is doing a fine job of undoing the Alliance in the Eastern Kingdoms.

In the past, certain rules, customs, and regulations were a constant hindrance to mutual actions across the entire Alliance. This made cooperation sluggish, and considerably slowed the rate at which the Alliance was able to reclaim its former lands and glory. Despite the problems and intrigues within their leadership, all parts of the Alliance are steadfast in their desire to reclaim and rebuild, and all members share a distrust of the Horde. According to the RPG books (Lands of Mystery and Lands of Conflict), about 300,000 souls belong to the allied races, across two continents. The Alliance is a great and peaceful body overall, their might being legendary, but their desire for peace, even stronger.

Even now, as always, humans are the glue that hold the Alliance together, being the most numerous and diplomatic of the five races. However, the driving force of the Alliance is slowly but steadily shifting to the night elves, who today are a major aspect of the Alliance military forces - whereas the armies of Stormwind keep being held inactive within the city walls.

The two Alliances
Although no official statements have been drafted, there are essentially two Alliances now, one on Kalimdor and one that operates out of Stormwind Keep on the continent of Azeroth. The alliance citizens in the east consider those who left to have abandoned them. They understand the war with the Burning Legion is over, and that there was a victory; but life is so treacherous with demons, necromancers, undead, warlocks, and rogue Horde bands attacking, it certainly does not feel like there was a victory. If those heroes who won the war were so powerful, why didn't they come home to help drive out the undead and take back their lands?

The newer Alliance, incidentally, is also upset with the older one, as it attacked Durotar without Theramore's approval, and the city was nearly razed because of Admiral Proudmoore's foolhardy actions. Although most in the city agree with the forces who attacked Durotar, they do not appreciate the newcomers goading the orcs into attacking their new home.

The Weak Link
Although the Alliance has built an impressive army in the past years, finding strength in its diversity and numbers, weak points still exist that the Alliance’s enemies can (and do) take advantage of when fighting.

Pride:
The Alliance is proud of itself. Their people are sophisticated and learned, and they excel in the intellectual pursuits such as arcane magic and engineering. Even after three bloody wars, they still view themselves as overall smarter than the Horde, and believe that greater brain power wins out over primal force. This is even after they fought alongside the Horde in the Third War and saw how they had changed. They underestimate the Horde, especially the new Horde under Thrall, and could easily be guilty of underestimating their enemies’ abilities.

Arcane Magic:
Yes, their powerful command of the arcane is a point of strength in the Alliance’s arsenal, but arcane magic also shows a weakness. The magi are weak and easy to kill, if an enemy can break through their protections.

Physical Strength:
If you put an orc, a tauren, a human and a dwarf in a room with no weapons, most everyone can make a good guess as to who would come out alive. The front lines of the Alliance’s armies are always in danger against the physically stronger Horde.