The Entente Cordiale (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃tɑ̃t kɔʁdjal]; lit. "cordial understanding") was a series of diplomatic agreements signed between the United Kingdom and the French Third Republic on 8 April 1904.
They included the following agreements:
- To resolve their colonial differences in North Africa and other regions.
- To support each other in the event of war.
- To consult on significant foreign policy matters.
- To respect each other's spheres of influence in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
- To settle colonial rivalries over Madagascar, Egypt, and Morocco (the most recent of these being the First Moroccan Crisis).
- To end a long period of colonial rivalry and conflict between the two nations.
- To improve cultural and economic ties between the two nations.
The signing of the Entente marked a dramatic change in Anglo-French relations, as the two countries had previously been bitter enemies for many centuries. The Entente paved the way for a strategic alignment between the two powers that would last until World War II.