I’m not necessarily a Francophile. But I like seeing a people get their due. Besides, two good friends celebrate their birthday on Bastille Day so . . .
I’ve visited France more than any other foreign country (save Canada). I had the pleasure of traveling there in 1997, 2001, 2016, and 2019. I’ll be heading there again in 2024. Even though I don’t know the language at all I feel welcome and comfortable there.
France is our nation’s oldest friend. Heck, had we not won an alliance from them in the winter of 1777-78 we likely never would have won our independence outright from Great Britain. Fear of France reestablishing its empire here also prompted Britain to sign an overly generous peace with us in 1783.
France's history is intertwined with our outstanding northern neighbor. In some ways, that even prompted our war of rebellion. Parliament's promises in the Quebec Act which were meant to satiate their Francophile subjects in Canada threatened many Colonists' dreams of what our future could be. The expansion of French legal and religious customs down along our frontier unified the Colonies in their fight against England.
France was also one of our thorniest foreign policy dilemmas in our early nationhood. Whether one was a supporter of their revolution or against it was a marker of partisan politics in the 1790s. And then debate erupted in the first decade of the next century as to whether or not we should involve ourselves in the messy wars stirred up by Napoleon. Eventually that led to war between the U.S. and Great Britain again in 1812.
There was also a silly episode in and around the time of our Civil War in which France provoked us by setting up a dictatorship in Mexico. Eventually they withdrew that feeble plan.
A great deal of our cultural identity came from France. Our nation's capital was largely modeled after Paris's elegant city plan. And until the early 20th century we tended to borrow French terms to describe what was new and fashionable.
As a Social Studies teacher one inevitably comes across students mocking France for its losses in modern day wars. But the record suggests something else was true. World War I was an astounding victory for France. Within the opening weeks of the war, France lost control over approximately 1/7 of her territory and her industrial plant. And still France held off the Germans. For four long years.
Throughout the war their industry remained sophisticated. So sophisticated that we armed our men and pilots with French munitions and planes. We provided men and food.
France's army was the global gold standard of fighting forces when World War I ended. And when that army failed to repel German invaders in 1940 it struck those in the West as an inconceivable event. France's fall in 1940 was a catastrophic and unforeseen event in American foreign policy. Their collapse both led to tension between America and Britain and brought us closer together in renewed understanding of the seriousness of Hitler's threat to Europe and the world.
France bled with us in World War II. Normandy was a region that had often sat on the sidelines of war. In 1944 it was the central stage. The civilian loss of life in Normandy equaled the Allies' military loss of life liberating that region.
France's rebuilding after liberation was astounding. Their armies helped us conquer Germany. Their economy quickly rebounded after the war and, with Germany, buoyed the recovery of Western Europe. A recovery that was vital for U.S. victory in the Cold War.
France is a friend who sometimes gets us into trouble. The ties between our countries explain (in part) our involvement the Vietnam War. Sometimes they counter our intentions with other European allies (and adversaries). They are leaders of an economic entity, the Eurozone and EU, that rivals America for economic heft.
France is an exotic destination that many Americans still seek out for vacation and travel. I know I'll be back.
No comments:
Post a Comment