General Discussion

Xithras

(16,191 posts)

5. The Revolutionary War was largely a proxy war between England and France.

Tue Sep 3, 2013, 12:34 PM

Sep 2013

Between 1740 and 1775, France and England had fought against each other in two wars that spanned a total of 19 years. The peace between them was uneasy, and it was widely understood that there would be another war between them in the very near future (and there was, starting in 1792). The French weren't really interested in helping the colonists gain their freedom, and in fact our freedom worked against France's own long term interests, but they WERE interested in keeping the British military busy and bleeding, to weaken them for a future war.

It was a classic "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" scenario.

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

42 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Should France have gotten involved in the US Revolutionary War? [View all] Nye Bevan Sep 2013 OP

Certainly not from the French people's point of view. See 1789 for what happened next. Tierra_y_Libertad Sep 2013 #1

Assisting the Americans ran up French debt and they lost their main fleet FarCenter Sep 2013 #8

They didn't do it for us. They did it for France. Marr Sep 2013 #2

No shit, how many bites at the apple are these folks going to take to sell their war? TheKentuckian Sep 2013 #4

It's like stepping back in time to 2003. Marr Sep 2013 #7

We should not have fought the Crown sarisataka Sep 2013 #3

The Revolutionary War was largely a proxy war between England and France. Xithras Sep 2013 #5

+1 One_Life_To_Give Sep 2013 #21

Yup, and at least 1 point France tried to sell us out. zipplewrath Sep 2013 #32

France got in seeking to gain opportunity ... Historic NY Sep 2013 #6

Exactly. BlueMTexpat Sep 2013 #10

It was a low-cost way to damage Britain cthulu2016 Sep 2013 #9

yep dembotoz Sep 2013 #12

It was a bad move for the French king. JVS Sep 2013 #11

They actually had the gall to put troops on the ground to aid the insurgents! karynnj Sep 2013 #13

Were the Americans religious zealots that had recently attacked France? LondonReign2 Sep 2013 #16

I wasn't attempting an analogy. karynnj Sep 2013 #18

Are you suggesting we put troops in Syria then? LondonReign2 Sep 2013 #19

Isn't Britain not going to war during our civil war a better analogy? hootinholler Sep 2013 #14

Yep and I was going to add the burning of Atlanta would be even more analogous. n/t Nuclear Unicorn Sep 2013 #29

It was in their strategic interest to do so LittleBlue Sep 2013 #15

Yes shenmue Sep 2013 #17

Which ones zipplewrath Sep 2013 #33

+infinity (nt) LostOne4Ever Sep 2013 #35

Sorrow for one denies sorrow for the other? LanternWaste Sep 2013 #39

We haven't killed any... yet zipplewrath Sep 2013 #42

France wanted to bloody Britain's nose. NuclearDem Sep 2013 #20

France did not go in out of sympathy for our brave patriots. KamaAina Sep 2013 #22

Lame. whatchamacallit Sep 2013 #23

Actually, I have found several of the posts in this thread very informative. Nye Bevan Sep 2013 #26

Well I'm glad whatchamacallit Sep 2013 #31

Les pommes et les oranges marmar Sep 2013 #24

France engaged in what was, essentially, a century-long war against Britain... malthaussen Sep 2013 #25

The French wanted to help the South during the Civil War. Manifestor_of_Light Sep 2013 #27

I don't know - but consider the possibilities - hedgehog Sep 2013 #28

The US today would probably resemble Canada. Nye Bevan Sep 2013 #30

Effect on the Monarch zipplewrath Sep 2013 #34

The West Coast may well have been split between Mexico hedgehog Sep 2013 #36

yes. we had common enemies. GalaxyHunter Sep 2013 #37

a much stronger analogous thread, e.g., the Ottoman War of Succession 1509-12 LanternWaste Sep 2013 #38

Helping us helped push them into bankruptcy and helped hasten their own Revolutionary war. liberal_at_heart Sep 2013 #40

Yes, I am willing to bankrupt the US treasury to assist Syria. Dr Fate Sep 2013 #41