Alliance (WoW)  

The Alliance is one of the two major powers in Azeroth, alongside the Horde, and contains 5 of the available player races: Human, Dwarf, Gnome, Night Elf, and Draenei

History

The various Human kingdoms have held ties to the Dwarves and the High Elves for many years. The Humans created their ties to the Elves by joining with them to fight against the Forest Trolls. In exchange, the Elves taught the Humans how to wield magic, and it has been a part of their culture and symbolic of the Alliance as a whole since.

However, it was when Ner'zhul's original Horde came through the Dark Portal and crushed the Kingdom of Azeroth that these powers united to form a resistance. Although this coalition was much stronger than Azeroth fighting alone, the Orcs were no longer alone either, and very nearly overran the Alliance in the second war as well. If it were not for the treachery of Gul'dan by taking a large contingent of the army with him on a personal mission, the siege of Lordaeron would have been complete. Given this opening, the Alliance powers rallied and drove the Horde back off their shores and caused the standing armies to retreat through the Dark Portal.

During the third war, Medivh's spirit came to Arthas to convince him to take his people and flee to Kalimdor. Arthas was corrupted by the Lich King and slew his own father, leaving the Kingdom of Lordaeon in upheaval. After that, Medivh visited the mage Jaina Proudmoore instead, and she made her way to the southern parts of Kalimdor, establishing an outpost on the island of Theramore in Dustwallow Marsh. In the Battle of Mount Hyjal, the Alliance powers that were present, along with the Horde and the Night Elves, stood in resistance of the Scourge to prevent Archimonde from being summoned. Ultimately, the Night Elves sacrificed their immortality to end the battle by destroying the world tree, Nordrassil. However, were it not for the assistance of the Humans and Orcs, the Night Elves would not have been successful. They later joined the Alliance with the realization that they could no longer turn a blind eye toward the rest of the world.

Although the most major battle was fought, there were continued battles between the various powers. The High Elves, now known as the Blood Elves, withdrew from the Alliance after being nearly sacrificed repeatedly by the Alliance commander. So when World of Warcraft finally began, it was the Humans, the Dwarves and the Gnomes, and the Night Elves who comprised the forces of the Alliance.

One year later, the Draenei ship, Exodar, crashed into Azuremyst Isle and they made contact with the nearby Night Elves and later the rest of the Alliance. Being followers of The Light and sworn enemies of the Burning Legion, the Draenei took to the Humans well, and became the fifth partner in the Alliance. They provided shamans, which previously were exclusive to the Horde.