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{{short description|French term for re-establishment of friendly relations}}
In [[international relations]], a '''rapprochement''', which comes from the [[French language|French]] word ''rapprocher'' ("to bring together"), is a re-establishment of cordial relations between two countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/rapprochement|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719224740/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/rapprochement|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 19, 2012|title=rapprochement - definition of rapprochement in English from the Oxford dictionary|work=oxforddictionaries.com}}</ref> This may be done due to a mutual enemy, as was the case with [[German Empire|Germany]] for [[French Third Republic|France]] and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] and their signing of the [[Entente Cordiale]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Théophile Delcassé and the making of the Entente Cordiale|author=Andrew, Christopher M.|oclc=641439750}}</ref> It has also been done, particularly in the cold war between the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[United States]], in an effort to reduce tensions and the likelihood of war.

In the political scene of an individual country, rapprochement means the bringing together of diverse political factions as, for example, during [[Metapolitefsi#Metapolitefsi through Democracy: The transition that worked|metapolitefsi]] in [[Greece]].

== Historical examples ==

=== The Great Rapprochement ===
Relations between the United States and the United Kingdom warmed significantly in the period leading up to [[World War I]]. After multiple border and influence disputes in the 19th century, particularly that of the [[Venezuelan crisis of 1895|Anglo-American border dispute in Venezuela]], interests in the western hemisphere aligned. Public opinion in the United Kingdom supported the United States in the [[Spanish–American War]], though previously they were skeptical of American domination of the Caribbean.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Britain and the Americas : culture, politics, and history : a multidisciplinary encyclopedia|editor=Will Kaufman|editor2=Heidi Slettedahl Macpherson|isbn=9781849723817|pages=48–49|oclc=299474335}}</ref> Rather than intervene, the British government remained neutral. Likewise, the government of the United States refused to aid the Boers in the [[Second Boer War|Boer War]], and instead sold limited amounts of war materials to the United Kingdom.<ref name=":0" /> The roots of this rapprochement were both not only strategic, but cultural; many notable political figures including [[Theodore Roosevelt|President Theodore Roosevelt]] supported the United Kingdom on the basis of supporting Anglo-Saxon culture.<ref name=":0" />

=== Entente Cordiale ===
The Entente Cordiale was a series of diplomatic agreements between the United Kingdom and France in 1904 that saw the warming of relations and simplification of overseas borders.<ref name=":1" /> In particular, the original cause for the negotiations was the disputed north African colonies of both colonial powers.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Cross-Channel currents 100 hundred years of the Entente Cordiale|author=Johnson, Douglas|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780203624586|oclc=1086417487}}</ref> Diplomats agreed to colonial concessions in order to prevent colonial conflict between the two; it would eventually grow to be a military alliance acting as a counterweight to the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]] that would see conflict in World War I. Rather than a formal agreement to military aid, the Entente Cordiale grew with the various diplomatic crises leading up to World War I. The effects of rapprochement could be seen with Franco-British unity in the [[First Moroccan Crisis|Moroccan Crisis]] against the German Empire.<ref name=":1" />

=== Chinese-American rapprochement ===
[[File:President Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong.jpg|thumb|right|250px|General Secretary [[Mao Zedong]] (left) shakes hands with President [[Richard Nixon]] (right) during [[Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China|the latter's visit to China in 1972]].]]

The mending of [[Sino-American relations|relations]] between the [[United States]] under [[Richard Nixon]] and the [[People's Republic of China]] from 1972 onward can be considered to be rapprochement. In a 1979 reversal of previous diplomatic policy, the [[Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations]] ended the official recognition of the [[Taiwan|Republic of China]] and caused the American withdrawal of troops from Taiwan.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=People's Republic of China-United States: Establishment of Diplomatic Relations|journal=International Legal Materials|volume=18|issue=1|pages=272–275|doi=10.1017/s0020782900043886|s2cid=249005911 |issn=0020-7829}}</ref> It was the culmination of a warming of relations, effectively recognizing the People's Republic of China (as opposed to the Republic of China) as the sole government of China.

=== Détente ===
The period known as [[détente]], or "relaxation", between the United States and the Soviet Union during the 1970s was a time of rapprochement. Treaties limiting the scope and number of strategic weapons, including [[SALT I]], were signed. This was partially in response to construction of missile defense systems, which would allow a nation to launch a [[Pre-emptive nuclear strike|first strike]] and shoot down retaliation.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1969-1976/salt|title=Milestones: 1969–1976 - Office of the Historian|website=history.state.gov|access-date=2019-03-04}}</ref> As such, agreements were signed to reduce the feasibility of a first strike, and further agreements sought to reduce strategic weapons systems, rather than cap them.<ref name=":2" /> This led to more cordial relations between the two superpowers.

== Methods and causes ==
Rapprochement often begins with a joint policy, treaty or statement, such as with the SALT I treaty or the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations. Often, the rapprochement occurs specifically in an attempt to counter another power, like with Chinese-American rapprochement targeted towards the Soviet Union.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Sino-Soviet Split : Cold War in the Communist World|author=Lüthi, Lorenz M.|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1282964754|oclc=824163308}}</ref> Likewise, France and the United Kingdom sought to counter the German Empire.<ref name=":1" />

== See also ==
* [[The Great Rapprochement]]
* [[Entente Cordiale]]
* [[Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations]]
* [[Détente]]

==References==
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[[Category:Diplomacy]]

Rapprochement - Revision history

RaashPabri: Just completed a comprehensive guide.