<P> The Entente Cordiale ( French pronunciation : ​ ( ɑ̃tɑ̃t kɔʁdjal ) ) was a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the French Third Republic which saw a significant improvement in Anglo - French relations . Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial expansion addressed by the agreement , the signing of the Entente Cordiale marked the end of almost a thousand years of intermittent conflict between the two states and their predecessors , and replaced the modus vivendi that had existed since the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 with a more formal agreement . The Entente Cordiale was the culmination of the policy of Théophile Delcassé , France 's foreign minister from 1898 , who believed that a Franco - British understanding would give France some security against any German system of alliances in Western Europe . Credit for the success of the negotiation belongs chiefly to Paul Cambon , France 's ambassador in London , and to the British foreign secretary Lord Lansdowne . </P>
which british territories did the entente coridale cover
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland French Third Republic