An entente () is a type of

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

military alliance A military alliance is a formal Alliance, agreement between nations that specifies mutual obligations regarding national security. In the event a nation is attacked, members of the alliance are often obligated to come to their defense regardless ...

in which the signatories promise to consult each other or to cooperate in the event of a crisis or military action.Volker Krause, J. David Singer "Minor Powers, Alliances, And Armed Conflict: Some Preliminary Patterns", in "Small States and Alliances", 2001, pp 15-23, (Print) (Online

/ref> Examples include the Entente Cordiale between France and the United Kingdom and the Triple Entente between France, Russia and the United Kingdom. It has been found that during wars, signatories of ententes are less likely to assist each other than signatories of defense pacts but more likely than signatories of non-aggression pacts. It has also been found that great powers are less likely to start wars against their partners in ententes than against their partners in nonaggression and defensive pacts or states with no alliance with them.

References

Treaties by type {{Treaty-stub