Allies of World War I

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 gray.
European military alliances prior to the war.

Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The key members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire. Many other countries later joined the Entente side in the war: Belgium, Serbia, Italy, Japan, Greece, Romania, and Portugal, which were also drawn into the war.

The United States declared war on Germany on the grounds that Germany violated American neutrality by attacking international shipping and because of the Zimmermann Telegram that was sent to Mexico.[1] The U.S. entered the war as an "associated power", rather than a formal ally of France and Great Britain, because it had not declared war on the Ottoman Empire like those two countries. Although Turkey severed relations with the United States, it did not declare war.

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 From early 1917 the BWC was superseded by the Imperial War Cabinet, which had Dominion representation.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, respectively, who reported in turn to British generals.

In April 1918, operational control of all Entente forces on the Western Front passed to the new supreme commander, Ferdinand Foch.

Contents

History

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:

The war began with the Austrian attack invasion of Serbia on July 28, 1914, in response to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Austrian Empire followed with an attack on Serbian allies Montenegro on August 8. On the Western Front, the two neutral States of Belgium and Luxembourg were immediately occupied by German troops as part of the German Schliefen 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 nearly avoided Belgian efforts of annexation, at the conclusion of hostilities in 1919. On August 23, Japan joined the Entente, which then counted seven members.

On May 23, 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, two more nations joined the Entente, Portugal and Romania.

The direction of the war changed on April 6, 1917, with the entrance of the United States and its American allies. Liberia, China, 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 November 10, 1918. The Russian withdrawal allowed for the final structure of the alliance, which was based on five Great Powers:

Statistics of the Allied Powers[2]
Population Land GDP
Russian Empire (plus Finland), 1914 173.2m (176.4m) 21.7m km2 (22.1m km2) $257.7b ($264.3b)
French Third Republic (plus colonies), 1914 39.8m (88.1m) 0.5m km2 (11.2m km2) $138.7b ($170.2b)
United Kingdom (plus coloniesand Dominions), 1914 46.0m (400.1m) 0.3m km2 (33m km2) $226.4b ($334.8b)
Empire of Japan (plus colonies), 1914 55.1m (74.2m) 0.4m km2 (0.7m km2) $76.5b ($92.8b)
Kingdom of Italy (plus colonies), 1915 35.6m (37.6m) 0.3m km2 (2.3m 2 ) $91.3b ($92.6b)
United States (plus overseas dependencies),[3] 1917 96.5m (106.3m) 7.8m km2 (9.6m km2) $511.6b ($522.2b)
Allied approximate Total by 1917 446.2m 67.5m km2 $1,096.5b

When war finished in November 1918, many new States were formed over the ruins of the Central Powers. The Great Powers recognized these national movements and their help to the common goal, accepting their claims of sovereignty between the signatories of the peace treaties.

Leaders

United Kingdom United Kingdom/British Empire

Dominion of Canada
  • Robert Borden - Prime Minister of Canada (1914-1918)
  • Sam Hughes- Minister of Militia and Defence (1914- January 1915)
  • Joseph Flavelle- Chairmen of Imperial Munitions Board (1915-1919)
  • United Kingdom Julian Byng (June 1916 - June 1917) Canadian Corps commander
  • Edwin Alderson - Commander of the unified Canadian Corps of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (26 January 1915-September 1915)
  • Arthur Currie - Commander of the unified Canadian Corps of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (June 1917 - )[4]
Australia Commonwealth of Australia
  • Andrew Fisher - Prime Minister of Australia (until 27 October 1915)
  • Billy Hughes - Prime Minister of Australia (from 27 October 1915)
  • John Monash - Commander of the Australian Corps (all five Australian infantry divisions serving on the Western Front) (May 1918 - )
India Indian Empire
South Africa Union of South Africa
  • Louis Botha - Prime Minister of South Africa
  • Jan Smuts - Led forces in South-West Africa Campaign and East African Campaign, later member of the Imperial War Cabinet

Russian Empire Russia

France France

Kingdom of Serbia Serbia

Montenegro Montenegro

Belgium Belgium

Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) Italy

Romania Romania

United States United States

Empire of Japan Japan

Portugal Portugal

Personnel and casualties

Pie chart showing 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 powers Mobilized personnel Killed in action Wounded in action Total casualties Casualties as % of total mobilized
Australia 412,9531 61,928[5] 152,171 214,099 52%
Belgium 267,0003 38,172[6] 44,686 82,858 31%
Canada 628,9641 64,944[7] 149,732 214,676 34%
France 8,410,0003 1,397,800[8] 4,266,000 5,663,800 67%
Greece 230,0003 26,000[9] 21,000 47,000 20%
India 1,440,4371 74,187[10] 69,214 143,401 10%
Italy 5,615,0003 651,010[11] 953,886 1,604,896 29%
Japan 800,0003 415[12] 907 1,322 <1%
Montenegro 50,0003 3,000 10,000 13,000 26%
New Zealand 128,5251 18,050[13] 41,317 59,367 46%
Portugal 100,0003 7,222[14] 13,751 20,973 21%
Romania 750,0003 250,000[15] 120,000 370,000 49%
Russia 12,000,0003 1,811,000[16] 4,950,000 6,761,000 56%
Serbia 707,3433 275,000[17] 133,148 408,148 58%
South Africa 136,0701 9,463[18] 12,029 21,492 16%
United Kingdom 6,211,9222 886,342[19] 1,665,749 2,552,091 41%
United States 4,355,0003 116,708[20] 205,690 322,398 7%
Total 42,243,214 5,691,241 12,809,280 18,500,521 44%

Summary of Allied declarations of war on Central Powers

List of the 23 member States of the Entente:

After the Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

Further information: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

After the Miracle of the Marne

Further information: First Battle of the Marne

After the Russian Revolution

Further information: Russian Revolution (1917)

Special case: British Empire

Five Dominions of the British Empire, which were subordinate to London under international law, were admitted to the Conference of Versailles as reward for their huge military involvement:

Special case: Nominal allies

Four States of South America severed relationships with Germany, but did not declare war and had no military involvement:

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:

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ US Declaration of War
  2. ↑ S.N. Broadberry, Mark Harrison. The Economics of World War I. illustrated ed. Cambridge University Press, 2005, pgs. 7-8.
  3. ↑ As Hawaii and Alaska were not yet U.S. states, they are included in the parenthetical figures.
  4. ↑ first Canadian to attain the rank of full general
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ 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
  9. ↑ 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
  10. ↑ 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
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ War dead figure is from a 1991 history of the Japanese Army10,111.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ 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
  17. ↑ 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
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ 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.
  20. ↑ 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.

References

Sources

See List of World War I books