en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Entente
3 corrections found
On September 4, 1914, the Triple Entente issued a declaration undertaking not to conclude a separate peace and only to demand terms of peace agreed among the three parties.
The no-separate-peace declaration was signed on September 5, 1914, not September 4.
Full reasoning
Official treaty records date the declaration against a separate peace to September 5, 1914. British treaty records list the declaration as “Signed at London, September 5, 1914,” and a later Hansard reference likewise identifies it as the alliance made on 5 September 1914. So the article’s date is off by one day.
2 sources
- Declaration Between the United Kingdom, France and Russia Respecting the Non-conclusion of Peace During the Present War
“DECLARATION BETWEEN ... TO CONCLUDE PEACE ... Signed at London, September 5, 1914.”
- Franco-Russian Alliance - Hansard
“The policy and liabilities to which His Majesty's Government are committed are those of the Alliance made with France and Russia on the 5th of September, 1914, which has been published.”
At the start of World War I in 1914, all three Triple Entente members entered it as Allied Powers against the Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.
This incorrectly includes the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria as Central Powers at the war’s start. The Ottoman Empire entered in October 1914, and Bulgaria entered in October 1915.
Full reasoning
The sentence is wrong because it describes the situation “at the start of World War I in 1914” but then lists two powers that were not part of the Central Powers at the outset.
- The Library of Congress timeline shows that the Ottoman Empire attacked Russia on October 29, 1914, so it joined after the war had already begun in late July and early August 1914.
- U.S. government educational material on World War I says the conflict later expanded with the entrance of the Ottoman Empire in October 1914 and Bulgaria in October 1915.
- A contemporaneous State Department record from October 1915 refers to Bulgaria as having entered into action only then.
So the article should not describe the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria as part of the Central Powers at the start of the war.
3 sources
- Timeline | Echoes of the Great War: American Experiences of World War I | Library of Congress
The 1914 timeline lists: “October 29 Ottoman Empire attacks Russia.”
- Supporting the Doughboys
“World War I began as a conflict between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Serbia... The war also included the Balkans and the Middle East, especially after the entrance of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) into the war in October 1914 and Bulgaria in October 1915 on the German side.”
- Historical Documents - Office of the Historian
“Bulgaria having entered into action on the side of the enemies... the Government of the Republic declares that a state of war exists between France and Bulgaria from October 16, 1915.”
France and Britain had signed five separate agreements regarding spheres of influence in North Africa in 1904, the Entente cordiale.
This misdescribes the 1904 Entente Cordiale. Its texts covered several issues outside North Africa, including Siam, Madagascar, the New Hebrides, Newfoundland, and West/Central Africa, as well as Egypt and Morocco.
Full reasoning
The 1904 Entente Cordiale was not simply a set of agreements about North Africa. The official text collections show that the agreements covered a much wider range of colonial disputes:
- a “Declaration concerning Siam, Madagascar, and the New Hebrides”;
- a “Convention respecting Newfoundland, and West and Central Africa”; and
- a “Declaration respecting Egypt and Morocco.”
So while Egypt and Morocco were part of the settlement, it is inaccurate to say the Entente Cordiale consisted of agreements regarding spheres of influence in North Africa. The official texts themselves show that major parts of the 1904 settlement concerned Asia, the Pacific, Newfoundland, and West/Central Africa too.
3 sources
- Entente Cordiale - Wikisource, the free online library
The contents list the 1904 texts as: “Declaration concerning Siam, Madagascar, and the New Hebrides”; “Convention respecting Newfoundland, and West and Central Africa”; and “Declaration respecting Egypt and Morocco.”
- Historical Documents - Office of the Historian
The 8 April 1904 convention is introduced as one intended “to put an end... to the difficulties which have arisen in Newfoundland,” and the text also includes frontier provisions in West and Central Africa.
- The Entente Cordiale Between England and France - April 8, 1904
The formal title given on the page is the “Declaration between the United Kingdom and France Respecting Egypt and Morocco,” showing that Egypt and Morocco were one part of the settlement rather than the whole of it.