Triple Entente, << ahn TAHNT, >> means triple, or three-way, agreement. When World War I broke out in 1914, the chief powers of Europe formed two opposing groups. Britain, France, and Russia formed a group called the Triple Entente. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy made up the Triple Alliance (see Triple Alliance ). The Triple Entente was only an informal grouping when first formed. But between 1912 and 1914, it became an effective diplomatic combination. After the outbreak of war, the entente powers signed the Declaration of London, in which each power agreed not to make a separate peace. This act transformed the Triple Entente into a formal union.
