ending an alliance without breaking it?

[Xorgrim]

Hi, i am new to Medieval and have a problem I cannot solve on my own.
Well, I checked the manual used the search engine in this forum and in the main hall but I couldn't find any info, whether it is possible to change relations to another faction from ally back to neutral other than having to choose allies when two of mine go to war.
Story is this:
I am playing England Early, and I wanted France right from the start. So I allied with the Germans and the Spanish.
It worked well. Now France is mine.
Now I want the Iberian penninsula. Spain is at war with Aragon. So I still side with spain and we finish of Aragon together. While doing that my spies take already care of spanish ambassadors and generals.
Ok Aragon is done, Spain is next.
Now, if I just attack, I break the alliance. Bad for my reputation. I would prefer to end it formally and then declare war.
Can an ambassador do that?
If I move him to spanish armies he will try to bribe. Is it different if I move him to the spanish king?
Also if I have neutral relations to another country: Attacking it will bring us to war but can I formally declare war first?

[Gregoshi]

Greetings and welcome to the Org Xorgrim

I don't think you should worry about that too much. No matter what you do, eventually you'll be at war with everyone. You might want to wait a bit before tackling Spain and build up your provinces. This will improve your army and keep the people happy, i.e. no rebellions. During that time Spain might just save you the hassle. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Sundance]

Declaring war is not possible. You have to attack or do other hostile actions (like not letting a crusade through your territory).
As far as I know there is also no way to end an alliance without declaring war or the choose your sides thing.
You may try to offer him one of your provinces by moving all military units out. Sometimes it leads an ally into temptation. And when he attacks he instead of you gets the negative reputation.
By the way, I would prefer to ally with the Aragonese against Spain, because after all you will have two weak opponents in the end instead of one strong opponent. (Forget this if Aragon was stronger than Spain in your campaign)

[wordsmith]

The only way is if the spanish go to war with one of your allies you get to choose which nation to remain allied to and lose no influence. Also if you go to war with one of spains allies they must make a similar decision, ususally the ai decides not to remain allied to the player under those curcumstances.