ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

The Great Rapprochement

Well kiddo, a long, long time ago, the United States and Great Britain were not very good friends. They had some big arguments over things like money, trade, and even who got to control certain areas of the world. But then, something really cool happened - they started to talk to each other more and try to work out their problems. This is called the great rapprochement.

At first, it was kind of hard for them to trust each other and figure out how to fix their issues. But they realized that it was better to talk and work things out than to fight and be angry at each other all the time. They made some important agreements, like the Treaty of Washington in 1871, which helped them solve some of their disputes peacefully.

Eventually, they became really good friends - the best of friends, some might say! They helped each other out during times of war and worked together on lots of important issues around the world. They even started to visit each other more and trade more freely, which helped make things better for everyone involved.

So, in the end, the great rapprochement was all about two countries that used to not get along learning to talk and work things out so that they could become great friends and partners. And that's pretty cool, don't you think?