Allies of World War I

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Image:Europe 1914.jpg

The Allies of World War I are sometimes also referred to as the Entente Powers or The Triple Ententé (entente being French for "agreement"). The main allies were France, the Russian Empire, the British Empire, Italy and the United States. France, Russia and Britain entered World War I in 1914, as a result of their Triple Entente alliance. Many other countries later joined the Allied side in the war (see below).

It should be noted that U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and his administration were determined not to define the U.S. as an ally. The United States declared war on Germany on the grounds of German violations of American neutrality, by attacking international shipping. However, the U.S. was not at war with the Ottoman Empire or Bulgaria. Therefore, the U.S. entered the war as an "associated power", rather than a formal ally of France and Britain, and maintained that distance throughout the 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 or defence policies during World War I. However, the Dominion governments controlled recruiting in their countries, and while they did not have operational control of their personnel, they did remove personnel from front line duties as they saw fit. Operational control of British Empire forces was in the hands of the five-member British War Cabinet. From early 1917 the cabinet was superseded by the Imperial War Cabinet, which had Dominion representation. Late in the war, the Australian and Canadian army units were grouped in their own separate army corps, under the command of Australian and Canadian generals, who reported in turn to British and/or French generals.

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

[edit] Allied states

as well as:

[edit] Personnel contributed by 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 combat troops. The numbers do not reflect the length of time each country was involved, or the number of casualties.

Image:Russian Empire 1914 17.svg Russian Empire: 14,000,000
Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British Empire: 8,904,500

Image:Flag of Australia.svg Australia: 300,000[1]
Image:Flag of Canada-1868-Red.svg Canada: 619,636[2]
Image:Imperial-India-Blue-Ensign.svg Indian Empire: 1,500,000[3]
Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand: 100,000
Image:Newfoundland Red Ensign.png Newfoundland: 60,000
Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: 5,000,000+

Image:Flag of France.svg France: 8,410,000
Image:Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Italy: 5,615,000
Image:US flag 48 stars.svg United States: 4,355,000
Romania: 750,000
Image:Flaf of Serbia (1882-1918).png Serbia: 707,300
Image:Flag of Belgium.svg Belgium: 267,000
Image:Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg Greece: 230,000
Image:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal: 100,000
Image:Old Flag of Montenegro.png Montenegro: 50,000

Total: 42,569,436

[edit] See also

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World War I

Theatres

Main events

Specific articles

Participants

See also

Prelude:
• Causes
• Sarajevo assassination
• The July Ultimatum

Main theatres:
• Western Front
• Eastern Front
• Italian Front
• Middle Eastern Theatre
• Balkan Theatre
• Atlantic Theatre

Other theatres:
• African Theatre
• Pacific Theatre

General timeline:
• WWI timeline

1914:
• Battle of Liège
• Battle of Tannenberg
• Invasion of Serbia
• First Battle of the Marne
• First Battle of Arras
• Battle of Sarikamis
1915:
• Mesopotamian Campaign
• Battle of Gallipoli
• Italian Campaign
• Conquest of Serbia
1916:
• Battle of Verdun
• Battle of the Somme
• Battle of Jutland
• Brusilov Offensive
• Conquest of Romania
• Great Arab Revolt
1917:
• Second Battle of Arras (Vimy Ridge)
• Battle of Passchendaele
• Capture of Baghdad
• Conquest of Palestine
1918:
• Spring Offensive
• Hundred Days Offensive
• Meuse-Argonne Offensive
• Armistice with Germany
• Armistice with Ottoman Empire