the.com/united front
Allies who agree on one enemy and nothing else, temporarily.
means A unified stance presented by groups or people who set aside their differences to pursue a shared goal, usually against a common opponent.
from The phrase gained its modern political charge from 20th-century Communist strategy — the 'united front' tactic of allying with other parties or classes (even rivals) against a bigger shared threat, most famously fascism. 'Front' here borrows its military sense: a line where allied forces stand together facing an enemy. The term spread into everyday English for any coalition of convenience, where the alliance is real but the harmony is mostly theater.
- origin
- communist tactic term, coined 1920s Comintern strategy
- shelf life
- usually expires right after the enemy loses
- key feature
- disagreement postponed, not resolved, for strategic convenience
- classic example
- WWII allies, united against Hitler, split immediately after