Entente CordialeThe Entente Cordiale (French for "friendly understanding") is a series of agreements signed on April 8, 1904, between the United Kingdom and France. Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial expansion addressed by the agreement, the signing of the Entente Cordiale marked the end of centuries of intermittent conflict between the two nations, and the start of the peaceful co-existence that continues to the present day. The agreement had its roots in a meeting between the French statesman Léon Gambetta and the then Prince of Wales at the Château de Breteuil in March 1881. After becoming King in 1901 Edward VII promoted the idea, and an agreement was negotiated between French foreign minister Theophile Delcassé, and Lord Lansdowne, the\nBritish Foreign Secretary. The agreement that eventually resulted was signed by Lord Lansdowne and Paul Cambon, the French Ambassador, on 8 April 1904. It resolved differences concerning influence and control in various countries including Egypt, Morocco, Madagascar, Siam, West and Central Africa, and fishing rights off Newfoundland. The agreement also acknowledged the right of free passage through the Suez Canal. The year after its signing, Britain's sympathetic attitude toward France's position in Morocco helped to ward off a challenge from Germany to the status quo in the North African kingdom. The agreement also paved the way for the diplomatic and military cooperation that preceded World War I. The Entente Cordiale, along with the Anglo-Russian Entente and the Franco-Russian Alliance later became part of the Triple Entente between the UK, France and Russia. commemorating 100 years of Entente Cordiale]]
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"No Sane man will dance." - Cicero (106-43 B.C.) |
