Entente Cordiale

Entente Cordiale (French, “cordial understanding”), term used in international diplomacy that signifies friendly relations, or a community of interests, between two or more countries. It suggests a relationship tantamount to alliance, although a formal alliance or treaty is not necessary to cement an entente cordiale. It does not indicate a mere absence of strained relations, nor is it limited to the maintenance of ordinary relations of international amity. The term came into use about 1840 as an expression of the friendly relations existing at that time between Britain and France.

Entente Cordiale is applied specifically to the agreement of 1904 between France and Britain, which pledged support of each of these countries to the colonial policies of the other and which was aimed ultimately at combating the growing power of Germany. In 1907 the Anglo-French alliance was expanded to include Russia, and the Entente Cordiale thus was transformed into the Triple Entente.