<P> The Triple Entente (from French entente (ɑ̃tɑ̃t) "friendship, understanding, agreement") refers to the understanding linking the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the signing of the Anglo - Russian Entente on 31 August 1907 . The understanding between the three powers, supplemented by agreements with Japan and Portugal, was a powerful counterweight to the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria - Hungary, and Italy . </P> <P> However, Italy did not side with Germany and Austria during World War I and joined the Entente instead in the Treaty of London (1915). </P> <P> Historians continue to debate the importance of the alliance system as one of the causes of World War I . At the start of World War I in 1914, all three Triple Entente members entered it as Allies against the Central Powers: Germany and Austria - Hungary . </P> <P> However, the Triple Entente, unlike the Triple Alliance or the Franco - Russian Alliance, was not an alliance of mutual defense . Thus, Britain felt free to make its own foreign policy decisions in the 1914 July Crisis . </P>

Why did great britain france and russia formed the triple entente in 1907