Antha ( fr. Entente “agreement”) - the military-political bloc of Russia , Great Britain and France , created as a counterbalance to the “ Triple Alliance ” ( A-Entente - Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy); formed mainly in the years 1904-1907 and completed the delimitation of the great powers on the eve of the First World War . The term originated in 1904 originally to refer to the Anglo-French Union, and the expression l'Entente cordiale (“cordial consent”) was used in memory of the short-term Anglo-French Union in the 1840s, which had the same name.
Content
Education Entente
The creation of the Entente was a reaction to the creation of the Triple Alliance and the strengthening of Germany , an attempt to prevent its hegemony on the continent, initially from Russia (France initially took an anti-German position), and then from Great Britain . The latter, in the face of the threat of German hegemony, was forced to abandon the traditional policy of " brilliant isolation " and go over to - however, also traditional - the policy of blocking against the most powerful power of the continent. Particularly important incentives for such a choice of Britain were the German naval program and the colonial claims of Germany. In Germany, in turn, such a turn of events was declared an “entourage” and served as a pretext for new military preparations, positioned as purely defensive.
The confrontation between the Entente and the Triple Alliance led to the First World War, where the adversary of the Entente and its allies was the Central Powers bloc, in which Germany played a leading role.
Key Dates
- 1891 - an agreement between the Russian Empire and the French Republic on the creation of a Franco-Russian alliance is signed.
- August 5 (17), 1892 - signing of a secret military convention between Russia and France.
- 1893 - the conclusion of the defensive alliance of Russia and France.
- 1904 - the signing of the Anglo-French agreement .
- 1907 - the signing of the Russian-English agreement .
The full composition of the anti-German coalition
A country | Date of entry into the war | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
Serbia | July 28, 1914 | After the war, became the basis of Yugoslavia . | |
Russia | August 1, 1914 | Concluded a separate peace with Germany on March 3, 1918. | |
France | August 3, 1914 | ||
Belgium | August 4, 1914 | Being neutral , she refused to miss the German troops, which led to her entry into the war on the side of the Entente. | |
Great Britain | August 4, 1914 | ||
Montenegro | August 5, 1914 | After the war, became part of Yugoslavia . | |
Japan | August 23, 1914 | ||
Egypt | December 18, 1914 | ||
Italy | May 23, 1915 | As a member of the Triple Alliance , she first refused to support Germany , and then went over to the side of her opponents. | |
Portugal | March 9, 1916 | ||
Hejaz | May 30, 1916 | Part of the Ottoman Empire with the Arab population, proclaiming independence during the war. | |
Romania | August 27, 1916 | It entered into a separate peace on May 7, 1918 , but on November 10 of the same year it re-entered the war. | |
USA | April 6, 1917 | Contrary to popular belief, they never entered the Entente, being only its ally. | |
Panama | April 7, 1917 | ||
Cuba | April 7, 1917 | ||
Greece | June 29, 1917 | ||
Siam | July 22, 1917 | ||
Liberia | August 4, 1917 | ||
China | August 14, 1917 | China officially entered the World War on the side of the Entente, but participated in it only formally; Chinese armed forces did not take part in hostilities [1] . | |
Brazil | October 26, 1917 | ||
Guatemala | April 30, 1918 | ||
Nicaragua | May 8, 1918 | ||
Costa Rica | May 23, 1918 | ||
Haiti | July 12, 1918 | ||
Honduras | July 19, 1918 | ||
Bolivia | |||
Dominican Republic | |||
Peru | |||
Uruguay | |||
Ecuador | |||
San marino |
Some states did not declare war on the Central Powers, limiting themselves to breaking off 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 policy of the Entente with regard to Russia and Turkey revealed the limit to its power, undermined by the internal contradictions between the victorious powers. In this political capacity of the “world government”, the Entente ceased to exist after the formation of the League of Nations .
The Entente's Intervention in Russia
The October Revolution in Russia initially had significance for Russia's allies on the Entente primarily in the sense of disastrous military prospects for them (Russia's withdrawal from the war). Great Britain, France and Italy, believing that power in Russia was seized by the pro-German party, which concluded an armistice and began peace negotiations with Germany on Russia's withdrawal from the war, decided to support forces that did not recognize the power of the new regime.
On December 22, a conference of representatives of the Entente countries in Paris recognized the need to liaise with the anti-Bolshevik governments of Ukraine , the Cossack regions , Siberia , the Caucasus and Finland and open loans to them. On December 23, 1917, the Anglo-French agreement on the division of responsibilities in Russia was concluded: the Caucasus and Cossack regions entered the UK zone, Bessarabia, Ukraine and the Crimea entered the zone of France; Siberia and the Far East were considered as a zone of responsibility of the USA and Japan.
After the conclusion of the Brest Peace Treaty on March 3, 1918, the Entente declared its non-recognition of this agreement, but did not proceed to military actions against the Soviet government, trying to negotiate with it. On March 6, a small English landing force, two companies of marines, landed in Murmansk to prevent the Germans from seizing a huge amount of military cargo delivered by the Allies to Russia, but did not undertake any hostile actions against the Soviet government (until June 30 [2] ). In response to the murder of two Japanese citizens, on April 5, two Japanese companies and a half-British company landed in Vladivostok, but two weeks later they were returned to the ships.
The aggravation of relations between the countries of the Entente and the Bolsheviks began in May 1918. Then Germany demanded that Soviet Russia strictly comply with the conditions of the Brest Peace — in particular, to intern, that is, to completely disarm and confine in the concentration camps, all the servicemen of the Entente countries and its allies on Soviet territory. This led to the uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps, the landing of 2,000 troops of the British in Arkhangelsk in August 1918 and the advancement of the Japanese in Primorye and Transbaikalia.
After the defeat of Germany in November 1918, the Entente is trying to fill the military-political vacuum formed with the withdrawal of German (and Turkish - in Transcaucasia ) troops, occupying Russian Black Sea cities: Odessa , Sevastopol , Nikolaev , and Transcaucasia. However, in addition to the battalion of the Greeks, who participated in the battles with the detachment of ataman Grigoriev near Odessa, the rest of the Entente troops, without accepting the battle, were evacuated from Odessa and the Crimea in April 1919.
In the Far East , Japan continued to be active, pursuing its own interests, but restrained in this regard by the Americans. England in the spring of 1919 at the invitation of local governments: 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 formed the defeat of Germany in the war. After that, the assistance of the Western allies to the White movement gradually stops.
In Soviet historical science, the intervention of the Entente in Russia was viewed as an invasion directed against Soviet Russia , identified by the Soviet government with Russia as a whole. In modern Russia, the intervention of the Entente is less often seen as an armed attack, since during the civil war the power was on both sides on equal terms, and each side was supported by certain countries.
Opinions
Emperor Wilhelm II, in his memoirs [3], claims that the Entente bloc actually took shape as early as 1897, after the signing of a tripartite agreement between England, America and France, known as the “Gentleman's Agreement”.
The book “The problem of Japan” by an anonymous author, published in The Hague in 1918, allegedly written by an ex-diplomat from the Far East, contains excerpts from the book by Professor of History at the University of Washington at St. Louis Roland Asher. Asher, just like his former colleague, a professor at Columbia University in New York, John Basset Moore, was often hired by the Washington State Department as a foreign policy adviser, for he was a great connoisseur in international matters concerning the United States in America, not much. Thanks to the book of history professor at the University of Washington Roland Asher, published in 1913, it became known for the first time about the content of the secret nature of the Agreement concluded in the spring of 1897 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 of its funds to assist these powers. Professor Asher later cites all the reasons, including those of a colonial nature, which forced the United States to take part in the war against Germany, the proximity of which he had predicted as early as 1913. - The anonymous author of “The problem of Japan” made a special table of points of the agreement between England, France and America concluded in 1897, dividing them into separate headings, and thus depicting the size of mutual obligations in a visual form. This chapter of his book is read with extraordinary interest and gives a good idea of the events that preceded the world war, and of the preparations of the Entente countries for it, which, not yet speaking under the name Entente cordiale , were already united against Germany. At the same time, the ex-diplomat remarks: here we have an agreement concluded, according to Professor Asher, back in 1897, an agreement that provides for all stages of the engagement 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 stations. Nevertheless, Professor Asher wants to persuade us that these activities were necessary only in order to save the world from “Pan-Germanism”. Needless to remind Professor Asher, the ex-diplomat continues, that even if he acknowledged the existence of the ghost of “Pan-Germanism”, in 1897 more, of course, no one had heard of this, for by that time Germany had not yet put forward its large maritime program, which 1898 Thus, if England, France, and the United States really cherished the general plans that Professor Asher ascribes to them, and if they formed an alliance to carry out these plans, it is hardly possible to explain the appearance of these plans and their implementation by such a weak excuse , as the successes of "pangermanism". So says the ex-diplomat. This can truly be amazed. The Gauls and the Anglo-Saxons with the aim of destroying Germany and Austria, and the elimination of their competition in the world market in an atmosphere of complete peace, without the slightest remorse of conscience enter into this section against Spain, Germany, etc., developed to the smallest detail. This treaty was concluded by the united Gallo-Anglo-Saxons for 17 years before the beginning of the World War, and its goals were systematically developed during this period. Now you can understand the ease with which King Edward VII could carry out his encirclement policy; the main actors have long been sung and were ready. When he dubbed this union “Entente cordiale,” it was bad news for the world, especially for the Germans; for the other side, this was only official recognition of a long-known de facto.
See also
- Balkan Entente
- Baltic Entente
- Middle Eastern Entente
- Small Entente
- Mediterranean Entente
- States of Europe in 1914
Notes
- ↑ China in the First World War
- ↑ Chapter Three. For the power of the Soviets // Kozlov I. A. , Shlomin V. S. The Red Banner Northern Fleet. - 3rd ed., Ext. - M .: Military Publishing , 1983. - 295 p.
- ↑ Wilhelm II Events and people 1878-1918. - Minsk: " Harvest ", 2003. - p. 51-52
Literature
- in Russian
- Manfred A.Z. Formation of the French-Russian Union. - M .: Science , 1975. - 376 p.
- Entente / O.V. Serov // Ankylosis - Bank. - M .: The Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2005. - P. 23. - (The Great Russian Encyclopedia : [in 35 t.] / Ed. Yu. S. Osipov ; 2004–2017, v. 2). - ISBN 5-85270-330-3 .
- Tarle E.V. Europe in the era of imperialism. 1871–1919 // Tarle E.V. Works. - M., 1958. T. 5;
- Taylor A.J.P. Struggle for domination in Europe. 1848-1918. - M .: Publishing house of foreign literature , 1958. - 644 p.
- Shambarov V.Ye. For Faith, Tsar and Fatherland . - M .: Algorithm , 2003. - 655 p.
- in other languages
- Girault R. Diplomatie européenne et imperialisme (1871–1914). - P., 1997.
- Schmitt BE Triple entente and triple alliance. - NY, 1934