As Foreign Minister in six successive governments between 1898 and 1905, he was the principal architect of the pre-1914 European alliances. He was the key figure in negotiations which resulted in the entente cordiale with Britain (1904) and he paved the way for the Triple Entente with Britain and Russia (1907). In 1911 as Minister of Marine he arranged for cooperation between British and French fleets in the event of war. In 1914 he was again Foreign Minister and helped to negotiate the secret Treaty of London (1915), which persuaded Italy to fight on the side of the Allies in World War I by guaranteeing the retention of the Dodecanese Islands.