[1] It was an ironic reference to the original Holy Alliance created after the Napoleonic War in 1815 by Tsar Alexander I of Russia.
[3] In the context of World War II, the term has been used for the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, which partitioned Poland.
[4] The term was also used by the short-lived Biafra to refer to Nigeria's allies: the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.
[6][7][8] For example, during the Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in its Fourteenth Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 27 February to 6 March 1970, stated they were "Deeply concerned at the strengthening of the unholy alliance among the racist regimes of Pretoria, Salisbury, Lisbon and their collaboration with other imperialist powers".
[9] In its resolution 3151 G (XXVIII) of 14 December 1973, the UN General Assembly condemned what it termed an unholy alliance between South African apartheid and Zionism.