View source for Treaty of Dunkirk

{{Short description|Contract}}
{{Use dmy dates|date = April 2019}}
{{Verification|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox Treaty
| name                = Treaty of Dunkirk
| long_name           = Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance between the United Kingdom and France
| image               =
| image_width         =
| caption             =
| type                = Mutual defence treaty
| date_drafted        =
| date_signed         = 4 March 1947
| location_signed     = [[Dunkirk]], [[France]]
| date_sealed         =
| date_effective      = 8 September 1947
| condition_effective = 
| date_expiration     = 8 September 1997
| signatories         =
| parties             = 
* {{flag|French Fourth Republic|name=France}}
* {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| ratifiers           = 
| depositor           = 
| language            = 
| languages           = [[English language|English]] and [[French language|French]]
| wikisource          = Treaty of Dunkirk
}}
The '''Treaty of Dunkirk''' was signed on 4 March 1947, between [[France]] and the [[United Kingdom]] in [[Dunkirk]] ([[France]]) as a ''Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance'' against a possible [[Germany|German]] attack in the aftermath of [[World War II]]. It entered into force on 8 September 1947 and according with article VI paragraph 2 of its [[wikisource:Treaty of Dunkirk|text]] it remained in force for a period of fifty years.

According to [[Marc Trachtenberg]], the German threat was a pretext for defense against the [[USSR]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Trachtenberg |first1=Mark |title=A Constructed Peace: Appendices |url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/trachtenberg/appendices/appendixII.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020111043918/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/trachtenberg/appendices/appendixII.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 January 2002 |website=sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/trachtenberg/ |date=1998}}</ref>

This Treaty preceded the [[Treaty of Brussels]] of 1948 (also known as the "[[Treaty of Brussels#Modification|Brussels Pact]]"), which established the [[Western Union (alliance)|Western Union]] among [[Belgium]], [[France]], [[Luxembourg]], the [[Netherlands]] and the [[United Kingdom]], that became [[Western European Union]] in 1955, after the entry into force of the Treaty of Brussels of 1954 (also known as [[Modified Brussels Treaty|"Modified Brussels Treaty (MBT)"]]), when [[Italy]] and [[West Germany]] were admitted.

{{Structural evolution of the European Union}}

==See also==
* [[Treaty of Brussels]]
* [[Western Union (alliance)|Western Union]]
* [[North Atlantic Treaty]]
* [[Treaty establishing the European Defence Community]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{wikisource|Treaty of Dunkirk}}
*[https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/treaty_of_alliance_and_mutual_assistance_between_the_united_kingdom_and_france_dunkirk_4_march_1947-en-1fb9f4b5-64e2-4337-bc78-db7e1978de09.html Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance between the United Kingdom and France]
* [http://www.ena.lu/signing_treaty_dunkirk_march_1947-020703059.html Signing of the Treaty of Dunkirk]

{{Common Security and Defence Policy}}

{{Authority control}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunkirk Treaty}}
[[Category:Military alliances involving the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Military alliances involving France]]
[[Category:1947 in France]]
[[Category:1947 in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:France–United Kingdom treaties]]
[[Category:Treaties concluded in 1947]]
[[Category:Treaties entered into force in 1947]]
[[Category:20th-century military alliances]]
[[Category:Treaties of the French Fourth Republic]]
[[Category:Military history of Dunkirk|Treaty]]
[[Category:France–United Kingdom military relations]]
[[Category:Military history of the European Union]]
[[Category:March 1947 in Europe]]
[[Category:March 1947 in the United Kingdom]]