The Pact of Cartagena was an exchange of notes that took place at Cartagena on 16 May 1907 between France, Great Britain, and Spain. The parties declared their intention to preserve the ''status quo'' in the western Mediterranean and in the Atlantic, especially their insular and coastal possessions. The pact aligned Spain with the Anglo-French ''

entente cordiale The Entente Cordiale (; ) comprised a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom and the French Republic which saw a significant improvement in Anglo-French relations. Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial de ...

'' against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

's ambitions in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

, where both Spain and France had mutually recognised (and British-recognised) spheres of influence. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the Pact was cited by those Spanish politicians who favoured closer ties with, or even intervention on the side of, the Entente. On 21 April 1915, the leading conservative politician in Spain,

Antonio Maura Antonio Maura Montaner (2 May 1853 – 13 December 1925) was Prime Minister of Spain on five separate occasions. Early life Maura was born in Palma, on the island of Mallorca, and studied law in Madrid. In 1878, Maura married Constanc ...

, made a public statement that:

Spain has the position in northern Africa and in the western Mediterranean which was granted to her by that agreement, she has a community of interests with England and France and the reciprocal promise of maintaining and working in favor of this community, and of this ''status quo'' was given by the powers concerned.

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After the

First Moroccan Crisis The First Moroccan Crisis or the Tangier Crisis was an international crisis between March 1905 and May 1906 over the status of Morocco. Germany wanted to challenge France's growing control over Morocco, aggravating France and Great Britain. The ...

(which was decided at the Algeciras Conference in 1906) strengthened Spain's ties with Britain and France and public support for rearmament increased afterwards, the Spanish government reached an agreement with those two powers. for a mutual defense plan, which are the aforementioned Cartagena Agreements of 1907. In exchange for

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and French support for the defense of Spain, the Spanish fleet would support the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

in case of war with the Triple Alliance against the combined fleets of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

and

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

in the Mediterranean Sea since the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

should focus on the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

against the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Kaise ...

; and the French fleet alone could not contain the Italian and Austro-Hungarian fleets together and it was necessary for France to transport its colonial troops from North Africa to the European continent.La desconocida razón por la que España evitó de milagro entrar en la Primera Guerra Mundial, ABC (10/10/2018)
/ref> With the transfer of technology from the United Kingdom, the Spanish government was able to build the

España-class battleship The ''España'' class was a series of three dreadnought battleships that were built for the Spanish Navy between 1909 and 1921: , , and . The ships were ordered as part of an informal mutual defense agreement with Britain and France, and were ...

and designed the Reina Victoria Eugenia-class battleship that were canceled due to the start of the

. Later, when the Great War broke out in 1914, the Italian government declared its neutrality. As the Pact of Cartagena was signed in part in the face of the danger of the combined strength of the Austro-Hungarian and Italian navies, the Spanish government had political room to also declare its neutrality in the conflict. Spain remained neutral throughout the war, while Italy later joined the Entente

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* * * * {{cite book , last=Rodríguez González , first=Agustín Ramón , year=2018 , chapter=The Battleship ''Alfonso XIII'' (1913) , pages=268–289 , editor-first=Bruce , editor-last=Taylor , title=The World of the Battleship: The Lives and Careers of Twenty-One Capital Ships of the World's Navies, 1880–1990 , location=Barnsley , publisher=Seaforth Publishing , isbn=978-0-87021-906-1 , ref={{sfnRef, Rodríguez González 1907 in France 1907 in Spain 1907 in the United Kingdom France–Spain relations History of Cartagena, Spain Spain–United Kingdom relations Treaties concluded in 1907 Treaties of Spain under the Restoration Treaties of the French Third Republic Treaties of the United Kingdom (1801–1922)

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