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A map of the World showing the Triple Entente participants in World War I. Those fighting on the Entente's side (at one point or another) are depicted in green, the Central Powers in orange, and neutral countries in grey.

Map Europe alliances 1914-en

European military alliances prior to the war.

The Entente Powers or Allies (French; Italian language: Alleati

Romanian language
Puterile Antantei / Aliații
Russian
Союзники, Soyuzniki; Serbian language: Савезници, Saveznitsi; Turkish language: İttifak Devletleri) were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the French Republic, the British Empire and the Russian Empire; Italy ended its alliance with the Central Powers and entered the war on the side of the Entente in 1915. Japan, Belgium, Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, Romania and the Czechoslovak legions[1] were secondary members of the Entente.[2]

The United States declared war on Germany in 1917 on the grounds that Germany violated U.S. neutrality by attacking international shipping and because of the Zimmermann Telegram sent to Mexico.[3] The U.S. entered the war as an "associated power," rather than a formal ally of France and the United Kingdom, in order to avoid "foreign entanglements."[4] Although the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria severed relations with the United States, neither declared war.[5]

Although the Dominions and Crown Colonies of the British Empire made significant contributions to the Allied war effort, they did not have independent foreign policies during World War I. Operational control of British Empire forces was in the hands of the five-member British War Cabinet (BWC). However, the Dominion governments controlled recruiting, and did remove personnel from front-line duties as they saw fit.

From early 1917 the BWC was superseded by the Imperial War Cabinet, which had Dominion representation. The Australian Corps and Canadian Corps were placed for the first time under the command of Australian and Canadian Lieutenant Generals John Monash and Arthur Currie,[6] respectively, who reported in turn to British generals.[citation needed] In April 1918, operational control of all Entente forces on the Western Front passed to the new supreme commander, Ferdinand Foch.

History[]

Triple Entente

A 1914 Russian poster depicting the Triple Entente.

The original alliance opposed to the Central Powers was the Triple Entente, which was formed by three Great European Powers:

  • France French Republic
  • Flag of the United Kingdom British Empire
  • Flag of Russia Russian Empire

The war began with the Austrian attack invasion of Serbia on 28 July 1914, in response to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Austrian Empire followed with an attack on Serbian allies Montenegro on 8 August.[citation needed] On the Western Front, the two neutral States of Belgium and Luxembourg were immediately occupied by German troops as part of the German Schlieffen Plan.

Of the two Low Countries, Luxembourg chose to capitulate, and was viewed as a collaborationist State by the Entente Powers: Luxembourg never became part of the Allies, and only narrowly avoided Belgian efforts of annexation, at the conclusion of hostilities in 1919. On 23 August Japan joined the Entente, which then counted seven members.[citation needed]. The entrance of the British Empire brought Nepal into the war.

On 23 May 1915, Italy entered the war on the Entente side and declared war on Austria; previously, Italy had been a member of the Triple Alliance but had remained neutral since the beginning of the conflict. In 1916, Montenegro capitulated and left the Entente, and two nations joined, Portugal and Romania.[citation needed]

On 6 April 1917 the United States and its American allies entered the war. Liberia, Siam and Greece also became allies. After the October Revolution, Russia left the alliance and ended formal involvement in the war, by the signing of the treaty of Brest Litovsk in November effectively creating a separate peace with the Central Powers. This was followed by Romanian cessation of hostilities, however the Balkan State declared war on Central Powers again on 10 November 1918. The Russian withdrawal allowed for the final structure of the alliance, which was based on five Great Powers:

  • France French Republic
  • Flag of the United Kingdom British Empire
  • US flag 48 stars United States
  • Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned Kingdom of Italy
  • Merchant flag of Japan (1870) Empire of Japan
Statistics of the Allied Powers (in 1913)[7]
Population Land GDP
Russian Empire (plus Poland and Finland) 173.2m (176.4m) 21.7m km2 (22.1m km2) $257.7b ($264.3b)
French Third Republic 39.8m (88.1m) 0.5m km2 (11.2m km2) $138.7b ($170.2b)
The British Empire 446.1m 33.3m km2 $561.2b
Empire of Japan (plus colonies) 55.1m (74.2m) 0.4m km2 (0.7m km2) $76.5b ($92.8b)
Kingdom of Italy (plus colonies) 35.6m (37.6m) 0.3m km2 (2.3m 2 ) $91.3b ($92.6b)
United States (plus overseas dependencies),[8] 96.5m (106.3m) 7.8m km2 (9.6m km2) $511.6b ($522.2b)
Allied approximate total 928.7m 79.2m km2 $1,703.3b

Leaders[]

France France[]

United Kingdom British Empire[]

Canada Dominion of Canada[]

Australia Commonwealth of Australia[]

British Raj British India[]

Union of South Africa Union of South Africa[]

New Zealand New Zealand[]

Russian Empire Russia[]

Kingdom of Serbia Serbia[]

Kingdom of Montenegro Montenegro[]

Kingdom of Greece Greece[]

  • Eleftherios Venizelos: Prime minister of Greece after 13 June 1917.
  • Constantin I: King of Greece, he retired from the throne, without formally resigned.
  • Alexander: King of Greece, he became King of Greece after his father retired from the throne.
  • Panagiotis Danglis: Greek general in the Hellenic Army.

Belgium Belgium[]

Kingdom of Italy Italy[]

  • Victor Emmanuel IIIKing of Italy
  • Antonio Salandra – Prime Minister (until 18 June 1916)
  • Paolo Boselli – Prime Minister (18 June 1916 – 29 October 1917)
  • Vittorio Emanuele Orlando – Prime Minister (from 29 October 1917)
  • Luigi Cadorna – Commander-in-Chief of the Italian army
  • Armando Diaz – Chief of General Staff of the Italian army
  • Luigi, Duke of Abruzzi – Commander-in-Chief of the Adriatic Fleet of Italy (1914–17)
  • Paolo Thaon di Revel – Admiral of the Royal Italian Navy

Kingdom of Romania Romania[]

United States United States[]

Embarked for France

The use of naval convoys to transport U.S. troops to France, 1917.

Empire of Japan Japan[]

  • Emperor TaishōEmperor of Japan
  • Ōkuma Shigenobu – Prime Minister of Japan (16 April 1914 – 9 October 1916)
  • Terauchi Masatake – Prime minister of Japan (9 October 1916 – 29 September 1918)
  • Hara Takashi – Prime minister of Japan (29 September 1918 – 4 November 1921)

Portugal Portugal[]

  • Bernardino Machado – President of Portugal (until 12 December 1917)
  • Afonso Costa – Prime Minister of Portugal (until 15 March 1916; then again 25 April 1917 – 10 December 1917)
  • António José de Almeida – Prime Minister of Portugal (15 March 1916 – 25 April 1917)
  • Sidónio Pais – Prime Minister of Portugal and War Minister (11 December 1917 – 9 May 1918) and President of Portugal (from 9 May 1918)
  • José Maria Norton de Matos – War Minister (until 10 December 1917)
  • João Tamagnini Barbosa – Interim War Minister (9 May 1918 – 15 May 1918)
  • Amílcar Mota – Secretary of State for War (15 May 1918 – 8 October 1918)
  • Álvaro de Mendonça – Secretary of State for War (from 8 October 1918)
  • Fernando Tamagnini de Abreu – Commander of the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (CEP)
  • José Augusto Alves Roçadas – Commander of the Portuguese Forces in Southern Angola
  • José Luís de Moura Mendes – Commander of the Portuguese Forces in Eastern Africa (until June 1916)
  • José César Ferreira Gil – Commander of the Portuguese Forces in Eastern Africa (from June 1916)
  • Sousa Rosa – Commander of the Portuguese Forces in Eastern Africa (from 1917)

Thailand Siam[]

Brazil Brazil[]

See main Article: Brazil during World War I

  • Venceslau Bras – President of Brazil
  • Admiral Pedro Frontin, Chief of DNOG (Brazilian Expeditionary Fleet)
  • General Napoleão Felipe Aché, Chief of Brazilian Military Mission in France
  • Dr. Nabuco Gouveia – Chief of the Brazilian Medical Delegation

Personnel and casualties[]

WorldWarI-MilitaryDeaths-EntentePowers-Piechart

A pie-chart showing the military deaths of the Allied Powers.

These are estimates of the cumulative number of different personnel in uniform 1914–1918, including army, navy and auxiliary forces. At any one time, the various forces were much smaller. Only a fraction of them were frontline combat troops. The numbers do not reflect the length of time each country was involved. (See also: World War I casualties.)

Allied power Mobilized personnel Killed in action Wounded in action Total casualties Casualties as % of total mobilized
Australia 412,9531 61,928[10] 152,171 214,099 52%
Belgium 267,0003 38,172[11] 44,686 82,858 31%
Canada 628,9641 64,944[12] 149,732 214,676 34%
France 8,410,0003 1,397,800[13] 4,266,000 5,663,800 67%
Greece 230,0003 26,000[14] 21,000 47,000 20%
India 1,440,4371 74,187[15] 69,214 143,401 10%
Italy 5,615,0003 651,010[16] 953,886 1,604,896 29%
Japan 800,0003 415[17] 907 1,322 <1%
Monaco 80[18] 8[18] 0 8[18] 10%
Montenegro 50,0003 3,000 10,000 13,000 26%
Nepal 200,000[19] 30,670 21,009 49,823 25%
New Zealand 128,5251 18,050[20] 41,317 59,367 46%
Portugal 100,0003 7,222[21] 13,751 20,973 21%
Romania 750,0003 250,000[22] 120,000 370,000 49%
Russia 12,000,0003 1,811,000[23] 4,950,000 6,761,000 56%
Serbia 707,3433 275,000[24] 133,148 408,148 58%
Siam 1,2842 19 0 19 2%
South Africa 136,0701 9,463[25] 12,029 21,492 16%
United Kingdom 6,211,9222 886,342[26] 1,665,749 2,552,091 41%
United States 4,355,0003 116,708[27] 205,690 322,398 7%
Total 42,244,409 5,741,389 12,925,833 18,744,547 49%

Summary of Allied declarations of war on Central Powers[]

The following table shows the timeline of the several declarations of war among the belligerent powers. Entries on a yellow background show severed diplomatic relations only, not actual declarations of war. Unless stated otherwise, declarations of war by and on the United Kingdom include de facto declarations by and on other members of the British Empire.

Date Declarer On
1914
28 July Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary Kingdom of Serbia Serbia
30 July Russian Empire Russia Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
1 August German Empire Germany Russian Empire Russia
1 August Monaco Monaco German Empire Germany
3 August German Empire Germany France France
4 August German Empire Germany Belgium Belgium
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom German Empire Germany
5 August Kingdom of Montenegro Montenegro Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
6 August Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary Russian Empire Russia
Kingdom of Serbia Serbia German Empire Germany
9 August Kingdom of Montenegro Montenegro German Empire Germany
11 August France France Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
12 August United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
22 August Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary Belgium Belgium
23 August Empire of Japan Japan German Empire Germany
25 August Empire of Japan Japan Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
1 November Russian Empire Russia Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire
2 November Kingdom of Serbia Serbia Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire
3 November Kingdom of Montenegro Montenegro Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire
5 November United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom
France France
Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire
1915
23 May Kingdom of Italy Italy Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
3 June San Marino San Marino Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
21 August Kingdom of Italy Italy Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire
14 October Kingdom of Bulgaria Bulgaria Kingdom of Serbia Serbia
15 October United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom
Kingdom of Montenegro Montenegro
Kingdom of Bulgaria Bulgaria
16 October France France Kingdom of Bulgaria Bulgaria
19 October Kingdom of Italy Italy
Russian Empire Russia
Kingdom of Bulgaria Bulgaria
1916
9 March German Empire Germany Portugal Portugal
15 March Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary Portugal Portugal
27 August Kingdom of Romania Romania Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
Kingdom of Italy Italy German Empire Germany
28 August German Empire Germany Kingdom of Romania Romania
30 August Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire Kingdom of Romania Romania
1 September Kingdom of Bulgaria Bulgaria Kingdom of Romania Romania
1917
6 April United States United States German Empire Germany
7 April Cuba Cuba German Empire Germany
10 April Kingdom of Bulgaria Bulgaria United States United States
13 April Bolivia Bolivia German Empire Germany
20 April Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire United States United States
2 July Kingdom of Greece Greece German Empire Germany
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire
Kingdom of Bulgaria Bulgaria
22 July Thailand Siam German Empire Germany
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
4 August Liberia Liberia German Empire Germany
14 August Republic of China (1912–1949) China German Empire Germany
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
6 October Peru Peru German Empire Germany
7 October Uruguay Uruguay German Empire Germany
26 October Brazil Brazil German Empire Germany[28]
7 December United States United States Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
7 December Ecuador Ecuador German Empire Germany
10 December Panama Panama Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
16 December Cuba Cuba Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
1918
23 April Guatemala Guatemala German Empire Germany
8 May Nicaragua Nicaragua German Empire Germany
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
23 May Costa Rica Costa Rica German Empire Germany
12 July Haiti Haiti German Empire Germany
19 July Honduras Honduras German Empire Germany
10 November Kingdom of Romania Romania German Empire Germany

Special case: Insurgent nationalities[]

Four insurgent nationalities, which voluntarily fought with the Allies and seceded from the constituent states of the Central Powers at the end of the war, were allowed to participate as winning nations to the peace treaties:

  • Poland Poles
  • Bohemia Czechoslovak Legions: armed by France, Italy and Russia
  • Flag of Hejaz 1920 The Hejaz: armed by Britain in Arabia
  • Armenia Armenians: seceded from Russia and fought against Ottoman Empire.

See also[]

Footnotes[]

  1. Karel Schelle, The First World War and the Paris Peace Agreement, GRIN Verlag, 2009, p. 24
  2. First World War.com – Feature Articles – The Causes of World War One
  3. US Declaration of War
  4. Tucker&Roberts pp. 1232, 1264
  5. Tucker&Roberts p. 1559
  6. Perry (2004), p.xiii
  7. S.N. Broadberry, Mark Harrison. The Economics of World War I. illustrated ed. Cambridge University Press, 2005, pgs. 7–8.
  8. As Hawaii and Alaska were not yet U.S. states, they are included in the parenthetical figures.
  9. first Canadian to attain the rank of full general
  10. Australia casualties
    Included in total are 55,000 killed or missing in action and died of wounds6,85-.
    The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2005-2006 is the source of total military dead.4-
    Totals include 2,005 military deaths during 1919–215-. The 1922 War Office report listed 59,330 Army war dead1,237.
  11. Belgium casualties
    Included in total are 35,000 killed or missing in action and died of wounds6,85 Figures include 13,716 killed and 24,456 missing up until Nov.11, 1918. "These figures are approximate only, the records being incomplete." 1,352.
  12. Canada casualties
    Included in total are 53,000 killed or missing in action and died of wounds.6,85
    The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2005-2006 is the source of total military dead.4
    Totals include 3,789 military deaths during 1919–21 and 150 Merchant Navy deaths5-. The losses of Newfoundland are listed separately on this table. The 1922 War Office report listed 56,639 Army war dead1,237.
  13. France casualties
    Included in total are 1,186,000 killed or missing in action and died of wounds6,85. Totals include the deaths of 71,100 French colonial troops. 7,414-Figures include war related military deaths of 28,600 from 11/11/1918 to 6/1/1919.7,414
  14. Greece casualties
    Jean Bujac in a campaign history of the Greek Army in World War One listed 8,365 combat related deaths and 3,255 missing8,339, The Soviet researcher Boris Urlanis estimated total dead of 26,000 including 15,000 military deaths due disease6,160
  15. India casualties
    British India included present-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
    Included in total are 27,000 killed or missing in action and died of wounds6,85.
    The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2005-2006 is the source of total military dead.4
    Totals include 15,069 military deaths during 1919–21 and 1,841 Canadian Merchant Navy dead5. The 1922 War Office report listed 64,454 Army war dead1,237
  16. Italy casualties
    Included in total are 433,000 killed or missing in action and died of wounds6,85
    Figures of total military dead are from a 1925 Italian report using official data9.
  17. War dead figure is from a 1991 history of the Japanese Army10,111.
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 Monaco 11-Novembre : ces Monégasques morts au champ d'honneur | Nice-Matin
  19. Jain, G (1954) India Meets China in Nepal, Asia Publishing House, Bombay P92
  20. New Zealand casualties
    Included in total are 14,000 killed or missing in action and died of wounds6,85.
    The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2005-2006 is the source of total military dead.4
    Totals include 702 military deaths during 1919–215. The 1922 War Office report listed 16,711 Army war dead1,237.
  21. Portugal casualties
    Figures include the following killed and died of other causes up until Jan.1, 1920; 1,689 in France and 5,332 in Africa. Figures do not include an additional 12,318 listed as missing and POW1,354.
  22. Romania casualties
    Military dead is "The figure reported by the Rumanian Government in reply to a questionnaire from the International Labour Office"6,64. Included in total are 177,000 killed or missing in action and died of wounds6,85.
  23. Russia casualties
    Included in total are 1,451,000 killed or missing in action and died of wounds6,85. The estimate of total Russian military losses was made by the Soviet researcher Boris Urlanis.6,46–57
  24. Serbia casualties
    Included in total are 165,000 killed or missing in action and died of wounds6,85.The estimate of total combined Serbian and Montenegrin military losses of 278,000 was made by the Soviet researcher Boris Urlanis6,62–64
  25. South Africa casualties
    Included in total are 5,000 killed or missing in action and died of wounds6,85
    The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2005-2006 is the source of total military dead.4
    Totals include 380 military deaths during 1919–2115. The 1922 War Office report listed 7,121 Army war dead1,237.
  26. UK and Crown Colonies casualties
    Included in total are 624,000 killed or missing in action and died of wounds6,85.
    The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2005-2006 is the source of total military dead.4
    Military dead total includes 34,663 deaths during 1919–21 and 13,632 British Merchant Navy deaths5. The 1922 War Office report listed 702,410 war dead for the UK1,237, 507 from "Other colonies"1,237 and the Royal Navy (32,287)1,339.
    The British Merchant Navy losses of 14,661 were listed separately 1,339; The 1922 War Office report detailed the deaths of 310 military personnel due to air and sea bombardment of the UK1,674–678.
  27. United States casualties
    Official military war deaths listed by the US Dept. of Defense for the period ending Dec. 31, 1918 are 116,516; which includes 53,402 battle deaths and 63,114 other deaths.[1], The US Coast Guard lost an additional 192 dead 11,481.
  28. Declarations of War, 1914–1918

References[]

Sources[]

See List of World War I books

  • Ellis, John and Mike Cox. The World War I Databook: The Essential Facts and Figures for All the Combatants (2002)
  • Esposito, Vincent J. The West Point Atlas of American Wars: 1900–1918 (1997) despite the title covers entire war; online maps from this atlas
  • Falls, Cyril. The Great War (1960), general military history
  • Higham, Robin and Dennis E. Showalter, eds. Researching World War I: A Handbook (2003), historiography, stressing military themes
  • Pope, Stephen and Wheal, Elizabeth-Anne, eds. The Macmillan Dictionary of the First World War (1995)
  • Strachan, Hew. The First World War: Volume I: To Arms (2004)
  • Trask, David F. The United States in the Supreme War Council: American War Aims and Inter-Allied Strategy, 1917–1918 (1961)
  • Tucker, Spencer, ed. The Encyclopedia of World War I: A Political, Social, and Military History (5 volumes) (2005), online at eBook.com
  • Tucker, Spencer, ed. European Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia (1999)



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