History of France
Around 2500 BC the Celts came from Central Europe and settled in Gaul, as the Romans would call the Celts Gaels. Gualish is an early variety of the Celtic language, where the word Gaul is derived from the German word "Wahla", which refers to all non-Germanic speaking peoples (the German w is regularly converted to a g, such as 'war' becoming 'guerre').
The Celts dominated Gaul until 125 BC, when Romans started first settling in Southern France. The Romans would have frequent battles against the Gaels, who eventually made it as far as Rome around 400 BC, but the Gaels did not advance technologically as the Romans did, who under Julius Caesar eventually conquered part of Gaul around 50 BC and which remained in Roman hands until the 5th century AD, when they were invaded by the Franks. The Franks were a west Germanic tribe originating from north and east of the lower Rhine river and who say they are descendents of the Trojans. In time, infighting between the various barbarian tribes weakened the empire until France was divided, later to be united under one Frankish head, Clovis I of the Salian Franks. The Muslims invaded Spain and were now encroaching on French territory, but were defeated by Charles Martel, whose Frankish descendents established the Carolingian dynasty. [Frankish map] Charlemagne, grandson of Charles Martel, reunited the Frankish domains in 1772 and conquered lands as far as Barcelona, Lower Saxony and Bavaria, the Franks drawing from military knowledge they had gained while conscripted for the Roman army. Lands were divided up and given to descendents of Frankish kings, and although alliances frequently changed between them and resulted in much infighting, this great and far reaching unity created a strong basis for what Europe is today – ideas and beliefs which drew their roots from both Roman and Germanic traditions. Charlemagne was eventually crowned Roman Emperor and his son, Louis I, succeeded in keeping the Carolingian Empire together. This lasted until the empire broke apart following his death and, in 843, was divided (in typical Frankish fashion) among Charlemagne's three grandsons, each of the three parts roughly forming what is now present day France, Germany and Italy. [pic] But Middle Francia, given to one of the sons and consisting of Lotharingia, Provence and northern Italy, was not very united, West (France) and East (Germany) Francia subsequently fighting over control of its lands – arguably right up to the Second World War. The different cultures, peoples and traditions of the northern part of the middle kingdom would eventually evolve into what is today Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Lorraine, Switzerland and Lombardy. During the Carolingian Dynasty the lands were frequently invaded by the Vikings, whose aristocracy would mix with the Franks and Gallo-Romans to form the Normans (these settling Vikings were called the Northmen, from which the name Norman was derived). In 1066 William Duke of Normandy invaded England, the last successful foreign invasion onto English soil, where he became king on Christmas Day. His son, King Henry I, was the first of many and famous king Henries in that nation. During this period of rule there were many Frankish kings, the vassals under them maintained extensive powers, the royal kings often struggled to maintain control over them, until in 1023 the English and French royalty agreed not to maintain claims over each other's lands, establishing peace. For almost 300 years during Normandy's grip over England, French became the official language of the government, and a reason why the language of English is now comprised of roughly 40% old French words. By 1328 France was the most powerful nation in Europe, at a population of 15 million. With the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to King Henry II (after her previous marriage to king Louis VII of France – previously Henry was Duke of Normandy – a position which he still maintained, while also Duke of Aquitaine, so he remained Louis VII's strongest prince), most of the western part of France fell under British control. After the death of King Charles IV, Edward III of England claimed rule over France, sparking the Hundred Years' War. But a young French virgin of the name Joan of Arc helped Charles VIII gain victory in war, driving the English back to French Calais. From around 1450, by which time the English only held onto Calais (until 1558), the long Italian wars marked the beginning of early modern France and led to an alliance between France and the Ottoman Empire. During the 16th century Spain and the Austrian Hapsburgs were the greatest powers, although French became the preferred language among Europe's aristocracy. As Holy Roman Emperor Charles V once said:
I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse.
Protestantism spread through France around this time while Louis XIV gained absolute monarchic power, labeled as the Sun King and whose court was the centre of the western world. During the 16th century, France, aided by such great explorers as Jacques Cartier, established colonies in the Americas and founded such renowned cities as Quebec, Montreal, Detroit and New Orleans. But foreign wars weakened the government, eventually leading to the French Revolution and plunging France into a bloodbath near the end of the 18th century. All these wars cost dearly and inevitably stressed a greater burden on the lower classes, who through taxes and other means usually end up paying for the elites' ambitions. This fueled social unrest against the ruling, aristocratic power and resulted in a strong opposition, leading to the formation of the National Assembly: a body which shall represent the people, and all the people. Inevitably the ruling king, Louis XVI, did not take kindly to losing power and took measures against it. However, the assembly met on a nearby tennis court and declared the Tennis Court Oath of 1789, which proclaimed that they should always gather to discuss their disgruntlements, whatever the circumstances. The power struggle between the people's representation through the Assembly and the royalists culminated in riots, looting and anarchy throughout Paris. But the people succeeded with the support of the National Guard, where the French now celebrate July 14 as a turning point towards greater democracy. Gilbert du Motier, a hero of the American independence, when France was aiding the rebellion against Britain, took control of the National Guard and forced the king to recognize the Tricolour Cockade. [A Cockade is a bundle of ribbons of varying colours used to denote one's military or other affinity. The three colours of France was formed from the red and blue depicting Paris (since 1358, after the city's revolt against the King of France and the Dauphin), combined with the white of the previous ruling Bourbon Dynasty. Others argue that the three colours are a combination of the bourgeoisie represented by the blue, the red nobility as the other extreme, and the white clergy in the middle, to create balance. This symbolizes a union between the proletariat and aristocratic classes, and hence the formation of a power sharing democracy. This tricolour has grown to symbolize freedom and brotherhood around the world.] The king lost much of his power and was reduced to a mere figurehead. Unfortunately, the new, upstart democracy, cradled within the hotbed of European class struggle, was still weak, its instability leading to a long period of violent class struggle referred to as the Great Fear. In 1789 the Assembly wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, the first attempt at a constitution for the nation and modeled after the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which is based on a natural doctrine of individual rights. The Assembly continued to take powers away from the old clergy and royal power base, land-grabbing much from the Roman Catholic Church – the largest landowner at the time. However, as with any democracy, rifts began to develop within the Assembly, some supporting the royalists while others a system similar to the British constitutional model. With the constitution of 1791 France now began to function as a constitutional monarchy, while the king had to share power with the elected Legislative Assembly, retaining some royal veto and the ability to elect ministers. The new Legislative Assembly first met in October of 1791, but within a year degenerated into chaos, which further exasperated the Revolution. For preservation of their power, as throughout previous history, the royal elite began forming alliances with other royal families throughout Europe and threatened war against the budding and rebellious plebiscite. Rather than intimidate it, the threat infuriated them into setting up defensive lines. With behind-the-scenes negotiations the Prussian army eventually entered France, fueling mistrust by its peoples against the aristocracy and climaxing with the September Massacres. This victory by the French revolutionary troops established the First French Republic, which enforced the French Republican Calendar. Austrian and Prussian attacks continued against these "dangerous revolutionaries", Louis XVI was suspected of treason, imprisoned, tried and his head eventually severed by guillotine on January 21, 1793. The head of his wife, Marie Antoinette, following soon afterwards on October 16. The resistance was now in its typical frenzy, with mobs entering prisons to sever heads left and right. The Assembly was still weak and could only nod in approval. By this time the monarchy had been abolished and the country declared a full republic. The period of transition expectedly unstable, counter-revolutionary forces arose amid the atmosphere of war-induced poverty and anarchy. Old royalists saw it as an opportunity to regain their power, struggles erupted and culminated in the revolutionary dictatorship – a 14 month period starting September of 1793 and known as the Reign of Terror. During this time as many as 40,000 victims were put to death by guillotine (also referred to as the "National Razor" and perhaps from which the brand name Gillette comes) and other means. One might say from these struggles come the saying, "Heads are gonna roll!" It became a popular event. Vendors sold tickets with a menu of the day's celebrities to be executed. Many would come early to vie for the best seats, while knitting woman as hardcore regulars would act as anachronistic cheerleaders. Parents would even bring their children. As stated by one of its primary leaders, Robespierre, considered incorruptible for his ascetic dedication to his ideals: "Terror is nothing else than swift, severe, indomitable justice; it flows, then, from virtue." Something was certainly flowing from the necks of the accused, but as might be expected with such mob rule, conspiracies and gossip flourished and often little reason beyond personal grudge and slander was sufficient to brutally massacre many. Legalised by the Law of Suspects, passed through legislature. Furthermore, as one might expect from such blood thirsty power grabbing, forces within the revolutionary movement conspired for more power to the point that Robespierre himself was accused. He tried unsuccessfully to kill himself, instead shooting a bullet through his jaw, the next day "virtuously" guillotined. On Robespierre's death, rules were put into place to rotate committee members every three months, to slowly reduce its power and bring back some semblance of stability. A National Convention was formed and publicly announced its intention to "export the revolution", and because of the guillotining of king Louis XVI, the First Coalition formed between much of Europe, in order to attack France. In spite of such a large coalition though, royalist invading forces failed, leaving the republican guard on the offensive and which offered a young officer by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte the opportunity to display his military genius. The republicans now invaded Belgium, the Rhineland, and established a puppet regime in The Netherlands. Peace finally settled between France, Spain and Prussia in 1795. But there still remained civil unrest against certain people still in power, the military was restless and wanted more war, and although the rest of Europe was at temporary peace with France, internal struggles continued until 1799, when Napoleon staged a coup, installed the Consulate, giving birth to the "Napoleonic Era". In 1804 Bonaparte rescued the infant new republic from foreign invasions and declared himself emperor and authoritarian ruler. Royal powers in Europe failed to reinstate a monarchy in France, whose industrialization and middle class prospered under Napoleon. During this era Napoleon, the First Empire formed, with him as its supreme leader. During his rule Napoleon repeatedly displayed his military and ruling genius, defeating coalition after European coalition, taking the battle to the doorsteps of Moscow, only to find it burning to the ground as part of Russia's effective "scorched earth policy" (also used successfully against the Germans during the Second World War). Napoleon returned back to France defeated by the insurmountable Russian winter, but continued in other military campaigns. However, the Spanish gorilla forces proved unrelenting, while other puppet states across Europe, inspired by the French failures of these two fronts, joined to form yet another coalition, eventually defeating Napoleon in the process. A monarchy was re-established in France, Louis XVIII became king, while Napoleon found himself exiled on the island of Elba. However, momentum kept the pendulum swinging until Prince Louis Napoleon, a nephew of Napoleon I, founded the Second Empire in 1852, when he took the throne as Napoleon III. Louis opposed the rising Prussian power but was defeated in 1870, when the Third Republic was created.
After WWI, France (about 80% the size of Texas) rose to become Europe's strongest power, although it failed to suppress the rising power of Adolf Hitler. Germany gained control of France's north, while its south became Vichy France – a puppet state of Germany. However, France was liberated by the Allied powers in 1944, when General Charles de Gaul set up a provisional government, giving birth to the Fourth Republic in 1946. France was losing some of its colonies, prompting the French assembly to invite Gaul back as premier, offering him extraordinary powers. Gaul drafted a new constitution, giving birth to the Fifth Republic.
From the 1960's France began decolonizing Africa and managed to maintain amiable relations with most of its former colonies. Gaul lost power in 1968, after many student protests and factory worker strikes.
The French Language
The name France comes from the Latin word Francia, which literally means "the land of the Franks". Although undoubtedly of Germanic origin, the etymology of the word Franci is uncertain, "the fierce ones" being the most favoured explanation. Others argue that the word Frank is traced to the Latin word "francisca" (from the German word "frankon", or the Old English word "franca"), which means "javelin". During warfare the early Franks loved to throw heavy battle axes, shattering their opponents' shields and anything it was meant to protect. This approach helped them receive their fierce reputation.
The French language has Frankish roots, where the word Frank has the meaning "free", as in the English words "frank", or "frankly" – derived primarily because, after the conquest of Gaul, only the Franks were free of taxation. The early Gaels quickly adopted Latin as their primary language, while the Franks in modern day northern France adopted Latin as their second language during early Salian Frank rule. In this way, from the 8th century onwards, the Frankish spoken by the early Franks was replaced by Old French.
The French language is mostly descended from Latin. The Gaels spoke vulgar Latin, which deviated over time after the invasion by the Franks from the north. Between 400 and 2% of all French words are thought to be of German origin.
For a long period after the Normans invaded England, Old French was the official language of government there. It is now estimated that 40% of English words are descended from Old French.
By colonialism the French language made a large impact on the world, now spoken by roughly 77 million native speakers and more so as a second language – mostly in Francophone Africa. It is an official language in 29 countries.
As it took some time before the northern Franks conquered the southern Gaels, it took time to unite and merge the languages, each region having some influence in the final formulation. Perhaps because the French lost the colonial war (mostly because they were on mainland Europe and busy fighting the Germans and company), the French have become generally protective of their language and resentful of any foreign influence. Even though a 1977 study determined that only 1 in 166 French words were of English origin, organizations and laws were put into force in order to protect the language from such "pollution". Such as the 1994 Toubon Law in France, the Académie Française which overlooks the language's evolution (no such organization exists in English), and the Quebec Board of the French Language in Canada, established in 1961. Quebec law (Canada gives certain autonomy to its provinces) prohibited any public sign from displaying anything other than the French language, creating such absurd concoctions as Le Coca-Cola. In France, "hamburger" is literally translated into something like "a piece of meat surrounded by two buns". However, in 1988, Ford Motor Company raised a legal claim against the government of Quebec for its hindrance of freedom of expression. The case eventually made it to the United Nations, whereby in 1993 it voted in favor of the corporation. There is often talk of "the language police" and the media is closely monitored to ensure the use of French words only. Even so, it is still one of the most beautiful languages in the world.
[ make sure to third party linkout from key words
Summary of French English Relations
This relationship began with a trading alliance among Celts who considered the invading Romans under Julius Caesar a common enemy. After Caesar noticed the English helping their Celtic brothers across the channel, he felt compelled to invade the island. Eventually they became separate provinces under the Roman domain. For the first five hundred years of this new stature they naturally traded and interacted, but the next five hundred years saw invasions of both regions by various Germanic tribes. By the turn of the second millennium England had entrenched relations with Scandinavian countries, while France kept closer ties to the Roman Empire.
In the mid-eleventh century there was a dispute over the English throne and William the Conqueror, of Norman blood (who were mostly of Viking stock at the time), set out to England to became king in 1066. Norman culture took root in England and French became the primary language of the aristocracy. In fact, even to this day the United Kingdom's coat of arms reads the French "Dieu et mon Droit" (God and my Right). The French influence did not reach Scotland, Wales or Ireland until later.
To further complicate relations during this period, the kings of England were also the Dukes of Normandy, which was a very powerful province of France.
Although their relations may have been chilled, the two cultures were still fairly similar, while local, nationalistic roots were not yet entrenched because of the constant battles between warring feudal lords. Later, half of France and all of England fell under Angevin [ control, to later lose against Phillip II of France during the English reigns of Richard the Lionheart, John and Henry III. To further complicate matters, during the middle ages the Auld Alliance was signed between King John of Scotland and Philip IV of France. This alliance (together with Norway until 1326) was specifically aimed against England and benefited them both considerably – especially during the beginning of the Hundred Years War.
Scotland's primary motivation was its own survival, and to prevent its isolation from continental Europe, but by forming the alliance it had forced itself to declare war against England. This marked the beginning of a protracted struggle against its southern neighbour, but with little short-term benefit, due to the costs of launching a full assault against the English in the spring of 1296 – as such began the Wars of Scottish Independence.
Unfortunately, the Scots received little help from the French, who instead formed a truce with England, enabling it to focus its all energy on defeating the mighty William Wallace. Once the Scots were crushed the French were quick to side with the English. The Scots made journey to Paris to remind them of their previous agreement, but were quickly disarmed. The King of Scotland decided instead on retiring in his historic family estate in northeast France.
The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1303, giving England free reign to conquer Scotland. Any hope of rekindling an alliance with the French seemed all but lost to the Scots. But the Scots are a hearty lot and managed to expel the English from their soil by 1326, perhaps a good time because Charles IV was now king of France and welcomed a renewed alliance with Scotland against the feared prospects of a possible war with England. The French welcomed Scotland's overtures, but again formulated an agreement not to Scotland's great advantage, since it had to attack England in the event of a war against France. In return, France only agreed to "aid and counsel" if the tables were turned. This was sufficient assurance for the Scots and enough to tips the scales, saving Scotland as a nation in the time to come.
War between Scotland and England continued. The Scots held on valiantly, impressing King Phillip of France with enough confidence to finally support them. Supplies and aid slowly increased, and by the spring of 1336 he had agreed to send as many as 20,000 troops, cutting short his beloved crusades to recall ships from the Mediterranean in order to transport them. King Edward of England folded yielded to the pressure, returned to the south, but the salvation of Scotland only agonised for France, for the Hundred Years War had hence begun.
Now it was the French who were desperate, facing a full on invasion from England, and pleaded for help from Scotland. But the little raids it had incurred into England were hardly enough to draw sufficient English forces to the north, enabling England to destroy Phillip's entire army, on French soil in Calais.
Now that practically the entire English army was overseas, Scotland took the initiative to push further south, but its efforts were routed and its leader imprisoned by the English for 11 years. In spite of these great gains, Edward III of England leaned towards compassion and settled for much less than he could have gained. This gave Scotland and France time to recover from their losses.
There was a period of moderate peace, but once Edward III reached the end of his years, Scotland and France quickly maneuvered to renew their alliance, France agreeing to pay Scotland 40,000 gold francs and supply it with armor and infantry. In May of 1385, 2,000 French soldiers, the largest to land onto the island to date, entered Leith. But they were shocked to discover the backwards and lacking conditions of the Scottish and were forced to find accommodation throughout the countryside.
Not only were the French knights shocked at the desperate conditions, they were dismayed at the rebellious attitude of the peasantry, as back home they were used to having every beck and call served. But the Scottish were so poor that a democracy of sorts had been allowed to develop amongst the peasantry. Several hundred French knights were killed by peasants who were furious of their arrogance and the French eventually compensate them.
The French were also not impressed by the gorilla military tactics of the Scottish and participated with little enthusiasm. Their role there slowly lost meaning and they were glad to return home, although not before compensating for all the damage and consumption they incurred. They departed on bitter terms, and grumbling they should have joined the English to "rid the earth of that miserable, northern lot".
This though never came about, as France soon found itself in the lowest point of its history and was forced, once again, to request the help of its sporadic ally.
In 1413, Henry V was crowned king of England, but he was much less accommodating than Edward his predecessor and initiated a major campaign, destroying the main French army and systematically conquering Normandy and much of northern France. King Charles of France surrendered and much of the French resistance headed south, facing the same dismal fate that Scotland had to endure beforehand. The Scots obliged, sending as many as 15,000 troops to the mainland. This again tipped the scales of the Hundred Years War, inciting Pope Martin V to call the Scots an "antidote to the English". Charles was elated, although the French were as grateful of Scottish presence as the Scots were of the French. The French aristocracy complained that the Scots were good for nothing other than for drinking wine and eating mutton, while locals saw little difference between them and the English.
Over time Scottish aid was neutralised and the situation looked rather bleak. Until a seventeen year old virgin named Joan of Arc injected new vigour and hope into the tiring French army – the hand of God would save France after all.
The Hundred Years War ended in 1453, and with no war or need for help, French relations with Scotland cooled. Instead, the French sought a closer alliance with the English, as France faced increasing opposition from Spain and Rome. The new alliance effectively sidelined the Scottish in a disgraceful manner, almost cementing the demise of the Scottish-French Auld Alliance.
But King Henry VIII of England proved so aggressive that ties between the French and the Scottish quickly renewed.
Along comes Mary of Guise, the eldest daughter of the Duke of the French House of Guise. Born in Lorraine, happily married at the age of 18, and destined to become one of the most formidable women in Scottish history. In 1538, the wife of King James V of Scotland died, James deciding he wants a second French wife to further the interests of the Scottish-French alliance against the English. He developed an acute interest in Mary but his uncle, King Henry VIII of England, interrupted the union by offering his own hand to Mary instead. This followed shortly after his third wife, Jane Seymour, died from childbirth, and not so long after his second wife was decapitated, his first wife banished. Just before his second wife was beheaded, she joked to the executioner his task should be easier because of her small neck. Considering Henry's questionable marital history, Mary turned down his offer by responding: "I may be a big woman, but I have a very little neck". King Francis I of France felt James's proposal was in greater interest to France, conveying this opinion to Mary's father. Mary was not happy about leaving her family and homeland, but remained a faithful servant to her country and conceded. Henry VIII tried to convince James otherwise, failed, became infuriated and launched aggressions against Scotland. Unfortunately, the new marital bond was insufficient to woo French troops to the rescue, because they were too busy waging war against the Habsburgs in Spain.
The couple got married in Paris and sailed to Scotland with a fleet of ships. Mary became Queen Consort of Scotland, gave birth to two sons, who died, and then to a daughter, Mary I, who became queen regnant 6 days after her birth, when her father the king died. Mary of Guise became Regent of Scotland while the young Queen Mary I was sent off to France to be trained as a wife for the son of the French king, Henry II. During this time ties were good and the two nations would frequently consult one another regarding foreign dealings. During Mary of Guise's regency, Frenchmen were put in charge of the treasury, the Great Seal, while the French ambassador sometimes sat on the Privy Council.
But Mary would experience increasing opposition from the growing number of Protestants, secretly supported by Elizabeth I of England. Because of Mary's French roots, the Scots developed an increasing mistrust of her, while they were generally concerned of domination by either the French or the English. This fear heightened when Mary I married the dauphin, sparking concerns the Scots might become a province of France. Mary of Guise was deposed as a result.
Protestant confidence grew once Protestant Queen Elizabeth ascended to the thrown. Conflicts arose at a time when Mary of Guise died of natural causes, leading to an agreement between all three parties (the French, the English and the Scots) that both the French and the English shall leave, the French negotiating concessions to grant Scotland the right to summon a parliament. The French left with power in the hands of the Protestants. Over time, Mary I returned to Scotland but was executed by her first cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, because of her involvement in three plots to assassinate the queen. In Europe Elizabeth was considered an illegitimate daughter and Mary I the legitimate successor to the previous Queen of England. Both the Scots and the English saw this as a threat, conspiring the protestants on both sides to finally force the French off the island, once and for good.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Spain had risen to become a dominant power in Europe, while England tended to support France as part of the endless European chess game to keep any one country from gaining an upper hand. By 1700 France was becoming the dominant power, while England focused its energies on frustrating the French. The two fought intermittently and around the world throughout the 18th century, the English concerned about increasing colonial expansionism by the French. Within Europe during this century, England sided with Spain and Austria to maintain the balance of power.
The power base in Europe was generally shifting from the old traditional powers of Portugal, Spain and the Dutch, to Britain and France. But the English lacked a sufficient army to confront France, while the French lacked the naval prowess of the Brits. Britain's naval might aided its colonial ambitions and the two powers often collided. In 1756 the Seven Years War erupted, sparked first in North America, spreading quickly to Europe. It was later described by Winston Churchill as the first "world war". In Europe the war pitted Britain, Prussia and a coalition of German states against France, Austria, Sweden, Saxony and Russia – although Russia later switched sides. Afterwards, Portugal joined Britain while Spain formed an alliance with France.
This led to another typical European stalemate, while events in Asia and the Americas effectively ended France's ambitions as a colonial empire.
This is considered critical in English-French relations as it laid the foundations for the dominance of the Anglosphere and English common law in general.
But the British were losing their colonial control as well, as the colonies were gaining strength and seeking independence. The French took advantage of these ambitions by sending aid and offering advice, in order to frustrate the English further. This led to some expensive naval battles, which caused a financial crisis for the French, directly resulting in the French revolution of 1789.
The French revolution was initially popular among the British, but the bloody massacre of the French aristocracy was soon not. And since the revolutionaries openly declared their intent to spread their cause throughout all of Europe, Britain began raising and funding several coalitions against the French uprising.
With such meddling, the French, in turn, supported the United Irishmen by invading the island in 1798, aiding the rebellion there. The fear of such a repeat invasion so close to home convinced the English to formulate the Act of Union, creating the United Kingdom in 1801. To this effect, Northern Ireland acts as a permanent beach head for Britain against future possible foreign invasions "in its backyard".
In 1801 Napoleon came to power and made great expansions on the European mainland. He even contemplated an assault onto the British mainland, but decided he simply lacked the naval power. Instead, he used his new conquered powers throughout Europe to prevent any trade with the English.
But not all countries complied with his plans, spurring Napoleon to wage war against Portugal. Initially Napoleon arranged an agreement with the Spanish for free passage, but used this opening as an advantage to take over control of all of Spain. He transferred power to his brother, but local resistance remained kindled, and with the Portuguese and British supporting the Spanish, Napoleon was forced to pull back from the peninsula, referring to his conflicts there as the "Spanish Ulcer".
The coalition against France grew so strong until the British finally invaded the southern part of it, forcing Napoleon into exile on the island of Elba.
This marked the last occasion in which the two nations warred against one another, although it certainly did not end their rivalry.
Dictatorial rule eventually returned to France in the form of Napoleon III, but he too was overthrown and chose to retired to a peaceful life in Britain.
In 1875 the French and the English cooperated on the Suez Canal, initially built by the French, in order to secure their colonial holdings in Asia. By now the two nations respected each other's strongholds the world over, occasionally helping each other with the difficult task of colonial suppression.
By the beginning of the 20th century the French living in Britain and the English living in France were successfully promoting their own cultures there. This created a stronger bond between the two nations, which strengthened with the expansionary aggressions of a rising German regime. In fact, the bond grew so strong that many argue it was stronger than that between Britain and the US.
Their amiable relationship strengthened further once the two nations fought side by side in the trenches against Germany during the First World War, successfully preventing the aggressor from taking over France. Following this great conflict the two worked together closely to keep the Germans at bay, while they both continued and cooperated in their colonial expansions, which peaked shortly thereafter. It was a time of warm reception when heads of state met.
Then came World War Two and the two nations, once again, fought side by side. When it became clear that France could not be defended, the English offered national unity with the French, just to raise their morale. At that time, the Free French Resistance, led by Charles de Gaulle, was based in London.
Which might bring us back into an interesting full circle, in the form of the Invasion of Normandy. This was a combined allied attack against Germany to regain France, and is the largest amphibious assault in history. What initially started as attacks by the Vikings and then to individual spats between the two nations, now turned into a full on frontal assault from Britain to free the French against the Germans, neighbours of the Viking states. These D-Day forces launched their attacks from the southern coast of England – most notably Portsmouth.
In memory of their sacrifice the British erected the Bayeux Memorial in the Normandy town of Bayeux and onto which is inscribed [translation], "We, once conquered by William, have now set free the conqueror's native land".
This incident most likely marked the closest measure of their relationship because, not long afterwards, France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux countries began to form the European Community. De Gaulle's attempts to exclude the British was seen by that nation as a betrayal of their previous support, while the French ego was bruised when Britain excluded them from the Commonwealth. In modern European matters the two countries have diverging views: Britain supports an open economy of free trade, while France is for protectionism of the core, West European states.
Although the UK entered the European Community somewhat later, and even though it has not yet adopted the Euro, the two countries will certainly forge closer ties within this new arrangement. Although their languages can seem quite different, their mutual roots are quite strong. Inevitably, their cultures and views are also different, but their historical ties and bonds are insurmountable.
| Famous French quotation of the day: |
| Truth is more valuable if it takes you a few years to find it. |
| Renard |
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