![the entente gold the entente gold](https://i2.wp.com/cubiq.ru/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/The-Entente-Gold.jpg)
![the entente gold the entente gold](https://im.tiscali.cz/games/2003/11/18/202555-the-entente-battlefields-of-world-war-i-1000x800.jpg)
But with hostile public opinion in Britain and France, as well as pro-German sentiment amongst some British politicians, official dealings between Edward and Loubet would have been a hard sell. In 1903, Edward therefore agreed with France’s leftist president, Émile Loubet, that Europe did not need an aggressive Anglo-Russo-German mob.
![the entente gold the entente gold](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tftoR2IN8jI/maxresdefault.jpg)
He had (mis-)spent much of his youth in France, becoming a regular at Parisian can-can cabarets and brothels while he waited for his mother, Victoria, to vacate the throne.īut Edward had also used his gap years (or decades) abroad to get to know French politicians, including extreme republicans, and there was much mutual respect and understanding between them. However, Edward VII was that rare thing, an English monarch who was also a Francophile. The basic idea was for the family to gang up and bash France. This passive-aggressive text is all the stranger because the treaty was conceived in a true spirit of peacekeeping, at a time when Europe was already on the brink of war.īritish and French armies had faced off in Sudan in 1898, and since 1899 the French had been opposing Britain’s war against the Boers in South Africa – though mainly because France coveted more of that continent for itself.Ĭonflict was also being threatened by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, who wanted his uncle, Britain’s King Edward VII, to sign a triple alliance with Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (like Wilhelm, a nephew of Edward’s). It was simply two colonial powers sitting down to divide up the planet. Similar assurances were given about Newfoundland, West Africa, Madagascar and parts of Asia. On Morocco: “His Britannic Majesty's Government (…) recognise that it appertains to France (…) to preserve order in that country.” On Egypt: “The Government of the French Republic (…) declare that they will not obstruct the action of Great Britain in that country.” It’s lucky no one reads the actual text of the Entente Cordiale anymore. It seems to be time for a serious post-Brexit rethink. If it were a statue, it would currently be surrounded by a protective ring of police or toppling off its plinth. The problem with this is that the Entente Cordiale itself is horrifically out of date. After all, the Entente was one of the main reasons why we stood side-by-side in two world wars, and through a cold one, too. Britain and France are, officially, allies. Fortunately, we can always quote the Entente Cordiale, the agreement that we signed on 8 April 1904, to remind us of longer-term issues than the supply of AstraZeneca doses. However, most people would agree that the western world really needs Franco-British friendship if global peace is to be ensured. With Britain and France currently at loggerheads over vaccines, customs regulations and the nationality of mackerel, it feels like same old, same old – after all, we’ve been at each other’s throats pretty well continuously since 1066. The spirit of the Entente Cordiale was idealistic, but the actual text is rather unpleasant