Which countries belonged to the Triple Entente before World War I?

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20th-century international relations American naval scholar Alfred Thayer Mahan, undated photo.

The Triple Entente was an association formed by Great Britain, France, and Russia.12

It was not a single formal treaty but rather the result of three separate agreements that brought these nations together:
* The Franco-Russian Alliance (formalized in 1894)1
* The Entente Cordiale between Britain and France (1904)12
* The Anglo-Russian Entente (1907)12

While these nations had differing interests and were not originally united solely to balance German power, the association became the nucleus of the Allied Powers during World War I. To the German government, the formation of this group appeared to be a policy of encirclement, which significantly influenced the diplomatic tensions leading up to the war.12