Today, we are in the midst of a new struggle for hegemony between the United States, Russia and China following the end of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Incidentally, Britain is currently in turmoil over the issue of leaving the EU, but on the surface its relationship with France, as a member of Western Europe, appears to be on good terms.
However, looking back at history, the struggle for hegemony between Britain and France has been extremely fierce.
I would like to consider this issue in this article.
1. History of the United Kingdom
The official name of the United Kingdom is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
It is a unique governing system in which four “countries” based on historical background – England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland – form a single sovereign state in a personal union.
Recently, the names of countries such as “England” and “Scotland” have come up often in the world of sports such as the “Rugby World Cup” and the “Football World Cup”. Also, there is the “Northern Ireland conflict” and the differences in opinions between countries on the “Brexit issue” are due to historical reasons.
The origins of the currently popular Halloween event in Japan lie in the autumn harvest festival and exorcism rituals performed by the ancient Celts. It is said to have originated in Ireland or Scotland.
(1) Before the Norman Conquest
The situation in Britain before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 was as follows.
“England” was inhabited by the “Angles” (the ancestors of the English), but because it was a Roman province during the ancient Roman era, Romans, Gauls, and Germanic peoples migrated there, mainly as soldiers.
“Wales” was originally inhabited by Celtic people and was not conquered by the Anglo-Saxons. The “Legend of King Arthur” is the story of the king of the Britons (the indigenous Celtic people) who resisted the Anglo-Saxons.
Scotland was originally inhabited by the Picts (a Caucasian tribe), but due to repeated clashes with the Roman army and Vikings, as well as intermarriage between different ethnic groups, the ethnic groups gradually became integrated.
Northern Ireland was originally inhabited by the Gaels (a Celtic people).
In this way, unlike Japan, which is a homogeneous ethnic group, Britain is a country of many different ethnic groups that have intermingled and merged through repeated conflicts.
(2) What is the Norman Conquest?
In 1066, England was conquered by William II, Duke of Normandy of France. This was the Norman Conquest.
The Duchy of Normandy was originally a country created by the Normans (a mix of various ethnic groups including Danes, Norwegians, Norman Gaels, Orkney Vikings, and Anglo-Danes) who invaded France in the 9th century.
William II, Duke of Normandy, claimed the right to the throne in the struggle for succession following the death of Edward the Confessor of England, and invaded Britain. After finally winning a number of battles, William II ascended to the throne as King William I of England (the Conqueror), and established the “Norman dynasty.”
The Norman Conquest was the last successful foreign invasion and conquest in British history.
The Norman Conquest also brought the French language and culture to England.
(3) After the Norman Conquest
William the Conqueror established the kingdom’s structure by introducing the advanced “feudal system” of the continent, and before long England, with its superior population and economic power, overwhelmed Wales and Scotland.
From the 14th to the 15th century, the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) broke out between England and France over the right to succession to the French throne. In the first half of the war, England continued to win, but in the end, thanks in part to the efforts of Joan of Arc, France was victorious.
The Hundred Years’ War resulted in an increase in nationalism and national rivalry in both Britain (then England) and France, and became the foundation of today’s national consciousness.
Even after the Hundred Years’ War, there was a 30-year power struggle and civil war between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, both male branches of the Plantagenet family, over the succession to the throne in England. This was the “War of the Roses” (1455-1485). It was so named because the House of Lancaster had a red rose as its emblem and the House of York had a white rose as its emblem.
Ultimately, Henry VII, a member of the House of Tudor who was a descendant of the House of Lancaster through the female line, defeated the House of York by force and married Princess Elizabeth of York, thus establishing the Tudor dynasty.
Then, during the “Age of Discovery” from the mid-15th century to the mid-17th century, Britain, together with other European countries such as Spain, Portugal, France, and Germany, expanded into Africa, Asia, and the Americas. This marked the beginning of an era of “imperialism,” when the British Empire prospered as they plundered and exploited the indigenous peoples of the lands they “discovered” and colonized them.
During the American War of Independence (1775-1783), England fought against France, which supported America, but eventually surrendered and was forced to recognize American independence in the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
France may have seen the American War of Independence as a golden opportunity to weaken Britain, its long-time and hated enemy.
The Napoleonic Wars (1796-1815) were a war started by Napoleon. They began as a “war of revolutionary defense” to protect the French Revolution from foreign interference, but gradually transformed into a “war for the expansion of revolutionary ideals” and ultimately into a “war of aggression for territorial expansion.”
In these Napoleonic Wars, Britain was a leading participant in the “Great Coalition” from start to finish (First Coalition: 1793-1797, Second Coalition: 1799-1802, Third Coalition: 1805, Fourth Coalition: 1813). The Great Coalition was a military alliance of European countries that opposed the French Revolution and Napoleon’s continental domination.
In 1815, at the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon, who was trying to make a comeback, was defeated by the allied forces of Britain, Prussia, and others, and was exiled to the island of St. Helena, ending the Napoleonic Wars.
The conflict and war between Britain and France over mainland Europe, its American colonies, and its Indian colonies from the late 17th century to the early 19th century is called the Second Hundred Years’ War (1689-1815).
This is a general term for wars ranging from the Williamite Wars (1689), through the Carnatic Wars (1744-1761), the Battle of Plassey (1757), the French and Indian Wars (1754-1763), the American War of Independence (1775-1783), and the Napoleonic Wars (1796-1815).
As a result of the Second Hundred Years’ War, Britain won the colonial struggle against France, formed vast colonies overseas, and developed triangular trade between Europe, the New World, and Africa across the Atlantic Ocean, enjoying the prosperity of the British Empire. In the mid-18th century, the Industrial Revolution occurred, and Britain established its position as a hegemonic power.
In the First World War (1914-1918), Britain formed the Allied Powers with Russia, France, Japan, and others, and fought fierce battles with its allies, Germany, Austria, and others, resulting in heavy casualties. However, America, which upheld the Monroe Doctrine (isolationism) of not interfering in conflicts between European countries, only entered the war at the last minute, so the damage was minimal. This led to the establishment of American hegemony after the Second World War.
During World War II (1939-1945), Britain fought alongside France, the United States, and others as part of the Allied Powers against the Axis Powers such as Germany, Italy, and Japan, but after the war, it lost its hegemony to the United States and became an “old superpower.”
As mentioned above, the UK has a deep relationship with France, and it is a biological fact that 45% of British DNA matches French DNA.
The two countries have repeatedly quarreled with each other, but one way of interpreting this is that it was like a quarrel between brothers.
2. History of France
Originally, the land of France (then called Gaul) was inhabited by the Gauls and Celts.
The Gauls were conquered by the Roman Empire, but the “Great Migration” of Germanic peoples, who were then chased by the Huns, occurred in 375. After that, in the second half of the 5th century, the Germanic “Franks” founded the “Kingdom of the Franks” (the origin of the Kingdom of France).
Later, France’s victory in the Hundred Years’ War against England strengthened its absolute monarchy, and during the Renaissance, France became a global colonial empire.
Louis XIV established the Bourbon dynasty at its peak, but the absolute monarchy collapsed with the French Revolution in 1789.
With the advent of Napoleon, France gained vast territory across the European continent, but with the failure of the Russian Expedition and Napoleon’s downfall, it lost much of the territory it had gained.
After that, it went through two empires, and is now a republic (the Fifth Republic).