Cordiale Agreement Reached by Britain and France in 1904 Crossword Clue

With the Entente Cordiale, Britain and France established the beginning of an alliance and promised each other in the final words of the agreement to support each other diplomatically in order to achieve the implementation of the clauses of this declaration on Egypt and Morocco. However, the agreement was about to oblige the two nations to provide each other with military support; this aspect of the alliance will come later. A motivating factor behind the agreement was undoubtedly France`s desire to protect itself from possible aggression by its old rival Germany, which had gradually strengthened in the years following its victory in the German-French War of 1870-71 and now had the most powerful army in the world. Britain also sought to keep Germany under control, especially in the face of a revised and ambitious German naval program that, if successful, threatened to challenge Britain`s clear dominance at sea. The Entente Cordiale of April 1904, formally entitled «Declaration between the United Kingdom and France concerning Egypt and Morocco», was above all a declaration of friendship between these two great European powers. On its terms, France promised not to question British control of Egypt; Britain, for its part, has recognized France`s right to act in that country, as a power whose dominance largely coincides with that of Morocco, in order to maintain order and provide assistance in bringing about any reform of the government, economy or army that it deems necessary. The confrontation between Germany and the new allies became known as the first Moroccan crisis – a second occurred in the summer of 1911, when France and Germany sent troops to Morocco – and led to a tightening and consolidation of the Entente Cordiale, while Britain and France, who wanted to counter German aggression, went from a simple friendship to an informal military alliance and later to talks and an agreement with France`s ally Russia. By 1912, two powerful and hostile blocs had formed in Europe, with France, Britain and Russia on the one hand, and an increasingly isolated Germany – with relatively lukewarm support from Austria-Hungary and Italy – on the other. Two years later, this explosive situation would erupt in the First World War. The German government, concerned about this agreement, decided to test its borders and sent Emperor Wilhelm II to Morocco in March 1905 to declare its support for the sultan – a clear challenge to France`s influence in that country, which had been sanctioned by the Entente Cordiale. This attempt to shake up the Anglo-French alliance failed, with Britain siding with France; an international conference held the following year in Algeciras, Spain, also recognized France`s claims to the region.