Entente Powers/Allies
1914–1918
Entente in blue; Central Powers in orange Principal Entente Powers:  France  United Kingdom  Italy[a]  Russia[b] (until 1917)  United States[c] (from 1917)  Japan Associated allies and co-belligerents: 1914:  Serbia  Belgium  Montenegro  Luxembourg Czechoslovak Legion Assyrian volunteers Kuwait  Egypt 1915: Nejd and Hasa Asir Provisional Government of National Defence 1916:  Portugal  Romania Hejaz 1917:  Greece  China  Siam  Brazil Transcaucasian DFR 1918: Centrocaspian Dictatorship  Armenia Nations that declared war on the Central Powers, but didn't fight them:  San Marino  Andorra  Cuba  Panama  Liberia  Guatemala  Nicaragua  Costa Rica  Haiti  Honduras Nations that severed diplomatic ties with the Central Powers, but didn't fight them: Bolivia  Dominican Republic  Peru  Uruguay  Ecuador Nations that were aligned to the Entente, but didn't get involved:  Norway  Monaco  El Salvador  Tibet Soviet states that fought the Central Powers:  Russian Soviet Republic  Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets Red Latvian Riflemen Taurida Soviet Socialist Republic Baku Commune
Status	Military alliance
Historical era	World War I
• Established	1914
• Disestablished	1918
Preceded by Succeeded by Anglo-Portuguese Alliance Treaty of London (1915) Franco-Russian Alliance Anglo-Japanese Alliance Entente Cordiale Anglo-Russian entente of 1907 Franco-Japanese Treaty of 1907 Anglo-Portuguese Alliance Anglo-Japanese Alliance Entente Cordiale Franco-Polish alliance (1921) Little Entente

The Entente, or the Allies, were an international military coalition of countries led by France, the United Kingdom, Russia, the United States, Italy, and Japan against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria in World War I (1914–1918).

By the end of the first decade of the 20th century, the major European powers were divided between the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance. The Triple Entente was made up of the United Kingdom, France, and Russia. The Triple Alliance was originally composed of Germany, Austria–Hungary, and Italy, but Italy remained neutral in 1914. As the war progressed, each coalition added new members. Japan joined the Entente in 1914 and, despite proclaiming its neutrality at the beginning of the war, Italy also joined the Entente in 1915. The term "Allies" became more widely used than "Entente"^{[citation needed]}, although the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and Italy were also referred to as the Quadruple Entente and, together with Japan, as the Quintuple Entente.^[1][2] The colonies administered by the countries that fought for the Allies were also part of the Entente powers such as American Philippines, Belgian Congo, British India, French Algeria, and Japanese Korea.

The United States joined near the end of the war in 1917 (the same year in which Russia withdrew from the conflict) as an "associated power" rather than an official ally. Other "associated members" included Serbia, Belgium, Montenegro, Asir, Nejd and Hasa, Portugal, Romania, Hejaz, Panama, Cuba, Greece, China, Siam, Brazil, Armenia, Luxembourg, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Haiti, Liberia, and Honduras.^[3] The treaties signed at the Paris Peace Conference recognized the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan, and the United States as "the Principal Allied and Associated Powers".^[4]

Background

When the war began in 1914, the Central Powers were opposed by the Triple Entente, formed in 1907 when the agreement between the United Kingdom and Russia complemented existing agreements between the three powers.

Fighting commenced when Austria invaded Serbia on 28 July 1914, purportedly in response to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to Emperor Franz Joseph I; this brought Serbia's ally Montenegro into the war on 8 August and it attacked the Austrian naval base at Cattaro, modern Kotor.^[5] At the same time, German troops carried out the Schlieffen Plan, entering neutral Belgium and Luxembourg; over 95% of Belgium was occupied but the Belgian Army held their lines on the Yser Front throughout the war. This allowed Belgium to be treated as an Ally, in contrast to Luxembourg which retained control over domestic affairs but was occupied by the German military.

In the East, between 7 and 9 August the Russians entered German East Prussia on 7 August, Austrian Eastern Galicia. Japan joined the Entente by declaring war on Germany on 23 August, then Austria on 25 August.^[6] On 2 September, Japanese forces surrounded the German Treaty Port of Tsingtao (now Qingdao) in China and occupied German colonies in the Pacific, including the Mariana, Caroline, and Marshall Islands.

Despite its membership of the Triple Alliance, Italy remained neutral until 23 May 1915 when it joined the Entente, declaring war on Austria but not Germany. On 17 January 1916, Montenegro capitulated and left the Entente;^[7] this was offset when Germany declared war on Portugal in March 1916, while Romania commenced hostilities against Austria on 27 August.^[8]

On 6 April 1917, the United States entered the war as a co-belligerent, along with the associated allies of Liberia, Siam and Greece. After the 1917 October Revolution, Russia left the Entente and agreed to a separate peace with the Central Powers with the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918. Romania was forced to do the same in the May 1918 Treaty of Bucharest but on 10 November, it repudiated the Treaty and once more declared war on the Central Powers.

These changes meant the Allies who negotiated the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 included the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan and the United States; Part One of the Treaty agreed to the establishment of the League of Nations on 25 January 1919.^[9] This came into being on 16 January 1920 with Britain, France, Italy and Japan as permanent members of the Executive Council; the US Senate voted against ratification of the treaty on 19 March, thus preventing the United States from joining the League.

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