The
Allies of World War I, commonly referred to as the
Entente Powers (from
Triple Entente) or the
Allied Powers, were the countries at war with the
Central Powers during
World War I. The main allies were
France, the
Russian Empire, the
British Empire,
Italy and the
United States. France, Russia, the
United Kingdom (and, by default, its empire), 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).
Although the Dominions and Crown Colonies of the British Empire made significant contributions to the Allied war effort, they did not have independent foreign policies during World War I. Operational control of British Empire forces was in the hands of the five-member British War Cabinet (BWC). However, the Dominion governments controlled recruiting, and did remove personnel from front-line duties as they saw fit. From early 1917 the BWC was superseded by the Imperial War Cabinet, which had Dominion representation. The Australian and Canadian army units were grouped in their own separate army corps, under Australian and Canadian commanders, 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, Ferdinand Foch.
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