When was the Entente created? Countries that took part in the First World War

The full composition of the anti-German coalition

Some states did not declare war on the Central Powers, limiting themselves to breaking diplomatic relations.

After the victory over Germany in 1919, the Supreme Council of the Entente practically performed the functions of a “world government”, organizing the post-war order, but the failure of the Entente’s policy towards Russia and Turkey revealed the limit to its power, undermined by internal contradictions between the victorious powers. In this political capacity of "world government", the Entente ceased to exist after the formation of the League of Nations.

Entente intervention in Russia

Active material and economic assistance to the White movement continued until the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles, which formalized Germany's defeat in the war. After which the assistance of the Western allies to the White movement gradually ceases.

In Soviet historical science, the Entente intervention in Russia was viewed as an invasion directed against the Russian state (“Soviet Russia”, identified with Russia in general).

Opinions

Emperor Wilhelm in his memoirs states that in fact the Entente bloc took shape back in 1897, after the signing of a tripartite agreement between England, America and France, known as the “Gentleman’s Agreement”.

In the book "The problem of Japan" anonymous author, published in 1918 in The Hague, allegedly written by an ex-diplomat from the Far East, contains excerpts from the book of Roland Asher, a history professor at the University of Washington in St. Louis. Usher, just like his former colleague, John Bassett Moore, a professor at Columbia University in New York, was often engaged by the State Department in Washington as an adviser on foreign policy, for he was a great expert in international issues relating to the United States, which not much in America. Thanks to a book published in 1913 by Roland Usher, a professor of history at the University of Washington, the contents of a prisoner became known for the first time in the spring of 1897. "Agreement" or "Treat"(agreement or treaty) of a secret nature between England, America and France. This agreement established that if Germany, or Austria, or both together started a war in the interests of “pan-Germanism,” the United States would immediately side with England and France and provide all its funds to assist these powers. Professor Asher further cites all the reasons, including those of a colonial nature, that forced the United States to take part in the war against Germany, the imminence of which he predicted back in 1913. - Anonymous author "The problem of Japan" compiled a special table of points of the agreement concluded in 1897 between England, France and America, dividing them into separate headings, and thus depicting in a visual form the extent of mutual obligations. This chapter of his book is read with extreme interest and gives a good idea of ​​the events that preceded the world war, and of the preparations for it of the Entente countries, which, not yet acting under the name "Entente cordiale", already then united against Germany. The ex-diplomat notes: here we have an agreement concluded, according to Professor Usher, back in 1897 - an agreement that provides for all stages of the participation of England, France and America in future events, including the conquest of the Spanish colonies and control over Mexico and Central America, and the use of China, and the annexation of coal plants. However, Professor Usher wants to convince us that these events were only necessary to save the world from “Pan-Germanism.” It is unnecessary to remind Professor Asher, the ex-diplomat continues, that even if we were to admit the existence of the specter of “pan-Germanism,” then in 1897, of course, no one had heard of it, because by that time Germany had not yet put forward its large naval program, which was made public only in 1898 Thus, if England, France, and the United States really cherished those general plans which Professor Usher ascribes to them, and if they entered into an alliance for the implementation of these plans, it will hardly be possible to explain both the origin of these plans and their execution on such a weak pretext like, like the successes of “pan-Germanism”. So says the ex-diplomat. This is truly amazing. The Gauls and Anglo-Saxons, with the goal of destroying Germany and Austria, and eliminating their competition in the world market in an atmosphere of complete peace, without the slightest remorse, conclude a real division agreement directed against Spain, Germany, etc., developed to the smallest detail. This treaty was concluded by the united Gallo-Anglo-Saxons 17 years before the outbreak of the World War, and its objectives were systematically developed during this period. Now we can understand the ease with which King Edward VII could carry out his policy of encirclement; The main actors had already sung and were ready for a long time. When he christened this union "Entente cordiale", this was unpleasant news for the world, especially for the Germans; for the other side, this was only an official recognition of a de facto fact that had long been known.

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• / O. V. Serova // Ankylosis - Bank. - M. : Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2005. - P. 23. - (Big Russian Encyclopedia: [in 35 volumes] / chief ed. Yu. S. Osipov; 2004-, vol. 2). - ISBN 5-85270-330-3.
• Shambarov V.
• Gusterin P.

The Entente is a military-political bloc of Russia, Great Britain and France. It was created as a counterweight to the “Triple Alliance” (A-Entente - Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy).

Contrary to popular belief, the United States was never part of the Entente, being only its ally. But China was part of the Entente, although it didn’t actually fight.

After the victory over Germany in 1919, the Supreme Council of the Entente practically performed the functions of a “world government”, organizing the post-war order

After the October Revolution, Great Britain, France and Italy, seeing that power in Russia had been taken by the Bolshevik Party, which concluded a truce and began peace negotiations with Germany, decided to support the White forces.

But for help they demanded grain and political concessions on the dismemberment of Russia. The uncompromising position of the leaders of the White movement to restore “One and Indivisible Russia” came into sharp conflict with the plans of the “allies” to dismember it, so they did not always help with what was needed, hoping that in the fight against the Bolsheviks Russia itself would fall apart, and the Bolsheviks in ruins They won’t be able to create anything worthwhile.

A. I. Kuprin wrote in his memoirs about the supply of Yudenich’s army by the British:
"The British sent airplanes, but they were fitted with unsuitable propellers; machine guns - and their inappropriate belts; guns - and to them unexploding shrapnel and grenades. One day they sent 36 cargo ships. It turned out to be fencing equipment: rapiers, breastplates, masks, gloves. The British who were subsequently asked with pale smiles said that the worker socialists were to blame for everything, who supposedly did not allow materials to be loaded for the struggle that threatened their Bolshevik brothers".

Denikin and the English general.

British Secretary of War Winston Churchill wrote: " These shells sent (to Admiral A.V. Kolchak) are a surplus of the British army's reserves; this surplus cannot be sold on the market; if you store shells in England, then Parliament will have to allocate money for the construction of sheds and hire guards to monitor the storage, and therefore such sending of shells cannot be considered unprofitable for the English nation".

Despite all the allied supplies, the Red Army outnumbered the Whites in the number of weapons throughout the civil war: the reserves of the Russian Imperial Army were so large and the allied assistance to the Whites was so insufficient (for example, the British supplied Denikin with only a few dozen tanks).

On December 23, 1917, an Anglo-French agreement was concluded on the division of areas of responsibility in Russia: the Caucasus and Cossack regions were included in the British zone, Bessarabia, Ukraine and Crimea were included in the French zone; Siberia and the Far East were considered the area of ​​responsibility of the United States and Japan.

After the conclusion of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty on March 3, 1918, the Entente declared non-recognition of this agreement. On March 6, a small English landing force, two companies of marines, landed in Murmansk to prevent the Germans from capturing a huge amount of military cargo.

Then, in response to the murder of two Japanese citizens, two companies of Japanese and half a company of British landed in Vladivostok on April 5, but they were returned to their ships two weeks later.

After the defeat of Germany in November 1918, the Entente is trying to fill the resulting military-political vacuum, occupying the Black Sea cities: Odessa, Sevastopol, Nikolaev, as well as Transcaucasia. However, except for the battalion of Greeks that participated in the battles with the troops of Ataman Grigoriev near Odessa, the rest of the Entente troops, without taking part in the battle, were evacuated from Odessa and Crimea in April 1919.

Great Britain created the Northern Russia Support Forces, numbering up to 28 thousand people. They were evacuated in June-October 1919.

Its vassal Australia sent its troops (4,000 soldiers) and in October 1918 occupied Arkhangelsk and Murmansk (withdrew on June 11, 1919).

The US sent about 15,000 troops. Arkhangelsk, Murmansk (withdrawn June-October 1919). The Americans guarded the Trans-Siberian Railway in sections from Mysovsk to Verkhneudinsk and from Iman to Vladivostok and were withdrawn in January-March 1920.

Canada - from October 1918 occupied Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. 500 artillerymen were withdrawn in June 1919. Canadians were also in Siberia - 3500-4000 soldiers, withdrawn in April 1919.

We had both France and Romania, about 2000 soldiers came from Italy, and about the same number from Greece.

I am silent about Germany and Poland. The Germans generally almost ruled the Baltic states and Ukraine despite the defeat.

Japan continued to be active in the Far East, pursuing its own interests, but restrained in this regard by the Americans. The Japanese brought in two divisions with approximately 28,000 bayonets. The ships were brought in. These are the largest forces from one country.

Japanese invaders in the Far East

China watched, was concerned, but did not bother with serious armed forces, sending only one battalion to Arkhangelsk.

In the spring of 1919, England, at the invitation of the local governments of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, landed its troops in Transcaucasia.

Active material and economic assistance to the White movement continued until the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles, which formalized Germany's defeat in the war. After which the assistance of the Western allies to the White movement gradually ceases.

However, despite the rather large forces, the Bolsheviks were able to kick this entire international gang back home, in some places accelerating them with kicks. To be honest, it’s even surprising that Trotsky and company managed to do this.

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By 1914, Europe was split into two major alliances, which included the six most powerful powers. Their confrontation escalated into a world war. Britain, France and Russia formed the Entente, and Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy united in the Triple Alliance. The split into alliances aggravated the explosiveness and completely quarreled the countries.

The beginning of the formation of alliances

Having won a series of victories (1862-1871), Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck created a new German state, united from several small principalities. However, Bismarck feared that after the formation of the new state, neighboring countries, especially France and Austria-Hungary, would feel threatened and begin to take actions to destroy Germany. Bismarck saw the only way out was to create alliances to stabilize and balance the forces on the geopolitical map of Europe. He believed that this could stop the inevitability of war for Germany.

Dual alliance

Bismarck understood that France was lost as an ally for Germany. After the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War and the occupation of Alsace and Lorraine by Germany, the French had a sharply negative attitude towards the Germans. Britain, on the other hand, sought dominance and actively prevented the formation of any alliances, fearing possible competition from them.

Based on these circumstances, Bismarck decided to turn to Austria-Hungary and Russia. As a result, in 1873 they united into the Alliance of the Three Emperors, the participants of which guaranteed mutual support if hostilities suddenly began. Five years later, Russia decided to leave the union. The following year, the remaining members of the alliance formed the Dual Alliance and now began to consider Russia a threat. They agreed to provide military assistance if Russia attacked them or provided military support to anyone else.

Triple Alliance

In 1881, Italy joined the two countries participating in the alliance, and the Triple Alliance was formed, and France was now added to the list of threat factors. Moreover, the alliance guaranteed that if any of its participants found itself in a state of war with two or more states, the alliance would come to the rescue.

Italy, being the weakest member of the alliance, insisted on including an additional clause in the treaty stating that it had the right to withdraw from it if the Triple Alliance acted as an aggressor. Soon after, Italy signed a treaty with France, promising their support if they were attacked by Germany.

"Reinsurance" agreement

Bismarck was frightened by the possibility of a war on two fronts, which meant settling relations with either France or Russia. The Germans' relations with the French were badly damaged, so Bismarck's choice fell on the Russians. The Chancellor invited Russia to sign a “reinsurance agreement.” Under the terms of this treaty, both parties were required to remain neutral in the event of a war breaking out with a third country.

However, this treaty was valid only until 1890, then the German government canceled it, sending Bismarck into retirement. Russia sought to keep the treaty in force, but Germany did not want this. This decision is considered the main mistake of Bismarck's successors.

Franco-Russian alliance

Bismarck's carefully crafted foreign policy began to unravel after his departure. In an effort to expand the German Empire, Kaiser Wilhelm II pursued a policy of aggressive militarization. The expansion and strengthening of the German fleet caused concern in England, France and Russia, which was the reason for the unity of these countries. Meanwhile, the new German government proved insufficiently competent to maintain the alliance created by Germany, and Germany soon faced the distrust and hostility of the European powers.

In 1892, Russia, within the framework of a secret convention, entered into an alliance with France. The terms of this alliance provided for mutual assistance in case of war, without imposing other restrictions. The Alliance was created as a counterweight to the Triple Alliance. Germany's departure from the political course laid out by Bismarck put it in a dangerous position. Now the empire faced the threat of war on two fronts.

Increasing tension between Europe's major powers has forced Great Britain to consider the need to join one of the alliances. Britain did not support France in the Franco-Prussian War, but the countries nevertheless concluded the Entente Cordiale treaty among themselves in 1904. Three years later, a similar treaty appeared between Great Britain and Russia. In 1912, the Anglo-French Naval Convention made this connection even stronger. The alliance came into force.

World War

When Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in 1914, Austria-Hungary's response was immediate. Over the next few weeks, a full-scale war broke out across Europe. The Entente fought the Triple Alliance, which Italy soon abandoned.

The parties to the conflict were confident that the war would be fleeting and would end by Christmas 1914, but it lasted 4 long years, during which time the United States was also drawn into the conflict. Over the entire period, it claimed the lives of 11 million soldiers and 7 million civilians. The war ended in 1919 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

The Entente (from the French Entente, Entente cordiale - cordial agreement) - an alliance of Great Britain, France and Russia (Triple Entente), took shape in 1904-1907 and united more than 20 states during the First World War (1914-1918) against the coalition of the Central Powers , including the USA, Japan, Italy.

The creation of the Entente was preceded by the conclusion of a Russian-French alliance in 1891-1893 in response to the creation of the Triple Alliance (1882) led by Germany.

The formation of the Entente is associated with the disengagement of the great powers at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, caused by a new balance of power in the international arena and the aggravation of contradictions between Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy on the one hand, France, Great Britain and Russia, on the other.
The sharp intensification of Anglo-German rivalry, caused by Germany's colonial and trade expansion in Africa, the Middle East and other areas, and the naval arms race, prompted Great Britain to seek an alliance with France and then with Russia.

In 1904, a British-French agreement was signed, followed by a Russo-British agreement (1907). These treaties actually formalized the creation of the Entente.

Russia and France were allies bound by mutual military obligations determined by the military convention of 1892 and subsequent decisions of the general staffs of both states. The British government, despite contacts between the British and French general staffs and naval commands established in 1906 and 1912, did not make specific military commitments. The formation of the Entente softened the differences between its participants, but did not eliminate them. These differences were revealed more than once, which Germany took advantage of in an attempt to tear Russia away from the Entente. However, strategic calculations and aggressive plans of Germany doomed these attempts to failure.

In turn, the Entente countries, preparing for war with Germany, took steps to separate Italy and Austria-Hungary from the Triple Alliance. Although Italy formally remained part of the Triple Alliance before the outbreak of World War I, the ties of the Entente countries with it strengthened, and in May 1915 Italy went over to the Entente side.

After the outbreak of the First World War, in September 1914 in London, an agreement was signed between Great Britain, France and Russia on the non-conclusion of a separate peace, replacing the allied military treaty. In October 1915, Japan joined this agreement, which in August 1914 declared war on Germany.

During the war, new states gradually joined the Entente. By the end of the war, the states of the anti-German coalition (not counting Russia, which withdrew from the war after the October Revolution of 1917) included Great Britain, France, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, Greece, Italy, China, Cuba, Liberia, Nicaragua , Panama, Peru, Portugal, Romania, San Domingo, San Marino, Serbia, Siam, USA, Uruguay, Montenegro, Hijaz, Ecuador, Japan.

The main participants of the Entente - Great Britain, France and Russia, from the first days of the war entered into secret negotiations on the goals of the war. The British-French-Russian agreement (1915) provided for the transfer of the Black Sea straits to Russia, the London Treaty (1915) between the Entente and Italy determined the territorial acquisitions of Italy at the expense of Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Albania. The Sykes-Picot Treaty (1916) divided Turkey's Asian possessions between Great Britain, France and Russia.

During the first three years of the war, Russia drew off significant enemy forces, coming quickly to the aid of the Allies as soon as Germany launched serious offensives in the West.

After the October Revolution of 1917, Russia’s withdrawal from the war did not disrupt the Entente’s victory over the German bloc, because Russia fully fulfilled its allied obligations, unlike England and France, who more than once broke their promises of help. Russia gave England and France the opportunity to mobilize all their resources. The struggle of the Russian army allowed the United States to expand its production power, create an army and replace Russia, which had emerged from the war - the United States officially declared war on Germany in April 1917.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the Entente organized an armed intervention against Soviet Russia - on December 23, 1917, Great Britain and France signed a corresponding agreement. In March 1918, the Entente intervention began, but the campaigns against Soviet Russia ended in failure. The goals that the Entente set for itself were achieved after the defeat of Germany in the First World War, but the strategic alliance between the leading Entente countries, Great Britain and France, remained in the following decades.

The general political and military leadership of the bloc's activities in various periods was carried out by: Inter-Allied Conferences (1915, 1916, 1917, 1918), the Supreme Council of the Entente, the Inter-Allied (Executive) Military Committee, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces, the main headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, commanders-in-chief and headquarters at individual theaters of military operations. Such forms of cooperation were used as bilateral and multilateral meetings and consultations, contacts between commanders-in-chief and general staffs through representatives of the allied armies and military missions. However, the difference in military-political interests and goals, military doctrines, an incorrect assessment of the forces and means of the opposing coalitions, their military capabilities, the remoteness of the theaters of military operations, and the approach to the war as a short-term campaign did not allow the creation of a unified and permanent military-political leadership of the coalition in the war.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources