Editing Splendid isolation (section)

{{Short description|19th-century British diplomatic practice}}
{{About||the album by Yonderboi|Splendid Isolation (album)|the song by Warren Zevon|Transverse City|the novel by Edna O'Brien|House of Splendid Isolation}}
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'''Splendid isolation''' is a term used to describe the 19th-century British diplomatic practice of avoiding permanent alliances from 1815 to 1902. The concept developed as early as 1822, when Britain left the post-1815 [[Concert of Europe]], and continued until the 1902 [[Anglo-Japanese Alliance]] and the 1904 [[Entente Cordiale]] with France. As Europe was divided into two [[power bloc]]s, Britain became aligned with the [[French Third Republic]] and the [[Russian Empire]] (known as the [[Triple Entente]]) against the [[German Empire]], [[Austria-Hungary]] and the [[Kingdom of Italy]] ([[Triple Alliance (1882)|The Triple Alliance]]).

The term was coined in January 1896 by a Canadian politician, [[George Eulas Foster]]. He indicated his approval for Britain's minimal involvement in European affairs by saying "In these somewhat troublesome days when the great Mother Empire stands splendidly isolated in Europe."{{sfn|Roberts|2000|p=629}}

There is considerable historical debate over the extent to which this approach was intentional or accidental, its impact, or even if it ever existed, other than as a useful phrase.