Curated playlist
20th-century military alliances
- Anglo-Soviet AgreementBritain and the Soviet Union signed a two-clause alliance in Moscow on the 12th of July 1941.
- Anglo-Polish allianceBritain's 1939 promise to defend Poland secretly covered only an attack by Germany.
- Franco-Polish allianceFrance's secret 1921 pact with Poland did not require sending troops. It asked France to keep Germany in check.
- Pact of SteelThe Pact of Steel assumed no war would come for at least three years.
- Warsaw PactThe Warsaw Pact's only two military actions targeted its own members. Hungary's 1956 exit bid was crushed.
- ANZUSNew Zealand's 1985 refusal of the destroyer USS Buchanan cracked the ANZUS treaty.
- Allies of World War IThe United States joined World War I in 1917 without becoming a formal ally.
- Anti-Comintern PactThe Anti-Comintern Pact had a secret clause naming the Soviet Union. The public text did not.
- Axis powersThe Axis powers got their name from a single phrase Mussolini used in 1936.
- Central PowersBulgaria joined the Central Powers in 1915 to win back one region. That region was Vardar Macedonia, held by Serbia.
- Tripartite PactYugoslavia signed the Tripartite Pact, and a coup overthrew its government two days later.
- Triple EntenteThe Triple Entente was not a treaty or a formal alliance. One official called it "nothing more than a frame of mind."
- Allies of World War IIRoosevelt proposed the name United Nations for the Allies in December 1941. Churchill agreed.
- Southeast Asia Treaty OrganizationOnly two of SEATO's eight member nations were actually in Southeast Asia. The alliance was meant to be Asia's NATO.
- Five EyesThe Five Eyes alliance began with a line in a diary. In February 1941, Alastair Denniston, head of the British code-breaking establishment at Bletchley Park, wrote "The Ys are coming!" The "Ys" were Yanks. An entry from the 10th of…