Triple Entente: Background and Countries that Conformed it

The Triple Entente was the alliance formed by Great Britain, Russia and France in 1907. More than an agreement between the three countries, it was about the harmonization of three previous agreements: the Franco-Russian alliance, the Franco-British Entente Cordiale of 1904 and the agreement Russian-British of 1907, which made everyone acquire defense obligations.

The common enemy that got these countries, normally confronted, to join, was the Germany of William II. The expansionist policy pursued by the German rulers, who sought to be the dominant power in all of Europe, provoked misgivings from the rest of the continent.

The French had seen how Germany was trying to isolate France politically and take away its influence. Meanwhile, the Russians saw their pan-Slavic strategy in the Balkans and other areas hindered. Likewise, the struggle to achieve more colonial power also meant that crises were continually happening.

Although the British tried not to contract too many military obligations, the truth is that in the end the outbreak of World War I demonstrated the need for this alliance. The Kingdom of Serbia, Belgium and some other nations were joined later by these original members.

Background

Triple Entente is the pact signed by France, Great Britain and Russia, which ended up being one of the participants in the First World War. This coalition tried to counteract the growing power that Germany was acquiring in its attempt to become the main European power.

The origin of the Triple Entente is found in three other agreements signed by its members in the previous years.

Franco-Russian Alliance

Having a common enemy, Germany, was what caused two countries with such conflicting systems to become allies. Thus, the republican France and the Russia of the absolutism of the czars, reached an agreement before the aggressive policy of the regime of Guillermo II.

It was the Russians who initiated the approaches to negotiate the agreement. This was signed in 1894, but it had been taking a while.

At first, the Tsar was not very supportive of the approach to a republic that, in his own words, caused"disgust"and"contempt"for his political system. However, the continuous encounters with Germany caused her to change her mind

Wilhelm II had refused to maintain the agreement he had with Russia, called the Treaty of Reinsurance and, in addition, had maintained the strategy of isolating France that Bismarck had initiated.

All this led to the signing of the agreement on August 17, 1892, although it was not made public until 3 years later.

The treaty declared that its objective was, specifically, to defend itself from the Triple Alliance, the coalition led by Germany. Both powers committed themselves to defend each other if they were attacked.

Entente Cordiale Franco-British

Another of the agreements that led to the Triple Entente was the one signed between France and Great Britain. Although they had been traditional enemies throughout history, circumstances forced them to sit down and negotiate.

The British had lost part of their influence in the world. In Africa, their colonies did not stop presenting problems to them. The war of the boers was a great economic expense and Egypt was a source of instability.

Its historic naval dominance was threatened by Germany, the United States and Russia, which were modernizing and expanding their navies. For its part, France wanted the British to allow them to expand their colonies. All this led to the signing of the treaty in 1904.

Anglo-Russian Entente

The third agreement prior to the formation of the Triple Entente was pursued for quite some time by France. In the face of increasing German aggression in some colonial areas, especially in Morocco, he pressed his two allies to sign an agreement between them.

Although Great Britain and Russia had quite a few differences for some Asian territories, in the end they agreed to sign a treaty.

The signing took place in 1907 and they agreed to share the areas of influence in Central Asia. With this agreement, Germany was practically fenced.

Countries that made up the Triple Entente

France

In the years before the First World War, the foreign policy of the Third French Republic was centered on its bad relations with Germany. We must remember that the Third Republic was born after the Franco-Prussian war that, with the French defeat, forced Napoleon III to leave power.

The Germans were dedicated to isolate the French power, creating the so-called League of Three Emperors with Russia and Austro-Hungary. He also tried to reach agreements with the British and with Italy. Only that policy changed after Bismarck's resignation, when Guillermo II left the Russians out of the League.

The French took advantage of this fact to approach Russia and forge an alliance with them, alleviating their lack of allies. At the same time, it had some confrontations with Great Britain by the distribution of the colonies. Despite popular pressure, the Gallic government chose not to go to war with the British and start negotiating an agreement with them.

That agreement had very reassuring effects for the relations of the two countries. The First Moroccan Crisis in 1905, and that of Agadir in 1911, did nothing but reinforce the relationship before the action of the Germans. In addition, the construction of a new fleet by Germany worried the two nations.

Britain

Great Britain looked with great concern at the German military rearmament, especially in the naval field. The unification of Germany, its victory in the war with France and the growing industrial power were aspects that were threatening to the government of the island.

The concern increased when, from 1890, Germany decided to modernize its fleet. The declared objective was to overcome the traditional power of the British at sea.

Russia

As the influence of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans began to wane, two powers began to compete to replace it: Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Obviously, this caused several incidents that could easily end in war.

For example, Russia supported Serbia openly in its goal of annexing Bosnia, at that time into the hands of the Austro-Hungarians. These sought to end the nascent Serbian nationalism to control the Balkans.

The turn of Russia towards France and Great Britain had several fundamental objectives. The main one was to try to counteract the weight of Italy, Germany and Austria-Hungary. Russia knew that war with these was inevitable because of friction in the Balkans and needed allies.

Other allies

Although they were not strictly part of the Triple Entente, other countries became allies when the war broke out. The German attack on Belgium made this country side allies. Soon Japan would join him, in dispute with the Germans for the Pacific colonies.

Other nations that, at different times, allied with the Triple Entente were Italy, Romania, Portugal, the United States and Greece.

References

1. Garay Caballero, Hugo. Triple Entente, the victorious coalition. Retrieved from abc.com.py
2. Ocaña, Juan Carlos. Triple Entente 1907. Retrieved from historiasiglo20.org
3. Weitsman, Patricia A. Dangerous Alliances: Proponents of Peace, Weapons of War. Recovered from books.google.es
4. Cezara, Anton. How did the Triple Entente manage to win the Great War?. Retrieved from historia.ro
5. Trueland, Elizabeth. International Co-Operation and Conflict 1890s-1920s. Recovered from books.google.es
6. TeInteresa. The triple alliance against the triple entente: thus came Europe to the First World War. Retrieved from teinteresa.es
7. Simkin, John. Triple Entente. Retrieved from spartacus-educational.com
8. The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Triple Alliance And Triple Entente. Retrieved from encyclopedia.com