The political and military alliance between Scotland and France which began formally with the treaty of 1295 between John Balliol and Philip IV of…

spec. in Historical use. the League, (a) a league formed in 1576 under the direction of the Guises, to prevent the accession of Henry IV to the…

A pact or association between countries to maintain a state of neutrality or defend neutral interests, spec. (more fully League of Armed Neutrality)…

†(a) an alliance of German states from 1785 to the early 1790s, originally comprising Prussia, Hanover, and Saxony, and subsequently enlarged to…

= German Confederation n. (b) at German, n. adj.compounds 1b.

an alliance formed in 1815, after the fall of Napoleon, between the sovereigns of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, with the professed object of uniting…

the Concert of Europe: a group of countries consisting of the chief European powers acting together with unity of purpose. Now historical.

A league or alliance formed by the seven Roman Catholic cantons of Switzerland (canton, n.1 5a).

The Triple Alliance (see triple, adj. adv.compounds 1c) of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, formed in 1882 against Russia and France. Also trans…

= Soviet bloc n. at additions.

(a) an alliance of individuals, groups, or political parties supporting a shared communist cause (now rare); (b) Communist countries considered…

(a) a loose alliance of eastern and central European countries (now rare); (b) = Soviet bloc n. at Soviet, n. adj.additions (now historical).

an alliance of countries with similar interests to the Soviet Union; (in later use) spec. the countries of eastern and central Europe under Soviet…

figurative. The relation between countries regarded as a common pivot on which they revolve; esp. the political association of 1936 (becoming in 1939…

the close relationship (later a formal alliance) formed in 1936 between Fascist Italy and National Socialist Germany, which effectively came to an…

(a) = Eastern bloc n. (a) (now rare); (b) = Eastern bloc n. (b) (now historical).

= communist bloc n.

(in early use) a proposed customs union involving Western European nations; (later) an association of nations formed in 1954 from the former…

the League of Arab States, an association formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 in order to consolidate political and other relationships between member…

an association of western European nations (Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom) which was formed in 1948 for…

an agreement made in 1949 to ensure the defence of countries with seaboards on the North Atlantic (cf. N.A.T.O.).

A military alliance of the United States and Canada with a number of European nations. Frequently attributive.

= NATO, n.

A military alliance, lasting from 1954 to 1977, of Australia, New Zealand, France, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the…

Western European Union.

a military alliance of the Soviet Union with certain other European nations (see quot. 1978), formed by the Treaty of Warsaw, signed on 14 May…

= Atlantic Pact n.

The Association of South-East Asian Nations, a regional organization established in 1967 and intended to promote economic cooperation and growth…

Prefixed to a numeral in the names of various associations of nation states having common economic… (originally) an association of twenty…