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Alliances and battle lines

The pacts that drew the lines wars were later fought along: from the old dynastic alliances to NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

Figures Klemens von Metternich
  1. Foedus Cassianum

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Alliance between the early Roman Republic and the Latin League that ended the Latin War and set terms for shared defense and division of spoils. It anchored Rome's position in Latium for over a century.

  2. Macedonian-Carthaginian Treaty

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Secret alliance negotiated between Hannibal of Carthage and Philip V of Macedon against Rome during the Second Punic War. Roman forces captured envoys carrying the text, exposing the pact and triggering the First Macedonian War.

  3. Union of Krewo

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Agreement under which Grand Duke Jogaila of Lithuania married Queen Jadwiga of Poland, converted to Christianity, and joined the two states under one crown. It began four centuries of Polish-Lithuanian union.

  4. Kalmar Union

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Union letter joining the kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden under a single monarch, Eric of Pomerania. The union dominated Scandinavia until Sweden left in 1523.

  5. Treaty of Hunkar Iskelesi

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Russo-Ottoman defensive alliance whose secret article obliged the Ottomans to close the Dardanelles to foreign warships at Russia's request. It alarmed Britain and France and fed the Eastern Question.

  6. Dual Alliance

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Defensive alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary against Russian attack, with terms kept secret for years. It became the core of one of the two blocs that went to war in 1914.

  7. Anglo-Japanese Alliance

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Alliance between Britain and Japan aimed at checking Russian expansion in East Asia. It was Britain's first peacetime alliance in decades and emboldened Japan before the Russo-Japanese War.

  8. Entente Cordiale

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Agreements settling colonial disputes between Britain and France, notably trading British primacy in Egypt for French primacy in Morocco, with secret articles on Morocco's future. It began the alignment that became the Triple Entente.

  9. Anti-Comintern Pact

    The Anti-Comintern Pact, a union of Germany and Japan against Communism and the Third International, was signed in November 1936 and joined by Italy a year later.

    • This was a union of Germany and Japan against Communism and the Third International. It was signed in November 1936 and was joined by Italy a year later.
      Tragedy and Hope , p. 489-491
  10. Pact of Steel

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Full military and political alliance between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, committing each to join the other's wars. It bound Italy to Germany on the eve of the Second World War.

  11. Atlantic Charter

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Joint declaration by Roosevelt and Churchill setting out principles for the postwar world, including self-determination and freer trade. It became a founding reference for the United Nations.

  12. Founding of NATO

    Twelve Western nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, creating a collective defense alliance in which an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all.

  13. North Atlantic Treaty

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Founding treaty of NATO, binding North American and Western European states to treat an attack on one as an attack on all. It anchored Western defense through the Cold War and beyond.

  14. Founding of ANZUS

    Australia, New Zealand and the United States sign the ANZUS security treaty in San Francisco, binding the three Pacific allies in collective defense.

  15. Founding of SEATO

    Eight nations sign the Manila Pact creating the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, a US-led anti-communist alliance for the region. It proved weak and was dissolved in 1977.

  16. Founding of the Baghdad Pact (CENTO)

    Turkey and Iraq sign a mutual defense pact in Baghdad, soon joined by Britain, Pakistan and Iran, forming the anti-Soviet alliance later renamed the Central Treaty Organization. It dissolved in 1979.

  17. Founding of the Warsaw Pact

    The Soviet Union and seven Eastern European states sign the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Warsaw, creating the Eastern bloc's military alliance in response to West Germany joining NATO.

  18. Warsaw Pact

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Treaty of friendship and mutual defense binding the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites in a military alliance under Soviet command. It was NATO's counterpart until its dissolution in 1991.

  19. Dissolution of the Warsaw Pact

    Member states sign a protocol in Prague formally dissolving the Warsaw Pact after the collapse of communist rule in Eastern Europe, ending the Cold War's military division of the continent.

  20. AUKUS

    also in State, law, and coercion

    Trilateral security partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, centered on providing Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. Its announcement canceled a French submarine deal and angered Paris.

Further reading