France, relations with. From the Norman Conquest of 1066 England was involved in a series of French wars arising out of the continental possessions (and claims) of the Norman and still more of the Angevin kings. The wine trade with Bordeaux was greatly valued. The Hundred Years War began in 1337, and in 1420 Henry V was recognized as the heir to the French throne. Disaster speedily followed, and by 1453 only Calais remained in English hands (it was finally lost in 1558). Meanwhile the French used the Auld Alliance with Scotland to add to English embarrassments.

A new era of Anglo-French conflict began in the later 17th cent. when under Louis XIV France emerged as the most formidable kingdom in Europe. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–13) Britain secured Gibraltar, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, and confirmed her position as a great power. The War of the Austrian Succession (1740–8) and the Seven Years War (1756–63) made Britain the leading European force in North America and India. The French obtained partial revenge when their intervention in the War of American Independence (1776–83) hastened the loss of the colonies. Despite the fears aroused in Britain by the radical political and social ideas of the French revolutionaries, the wars from 1793 to 1815 were essentially a continuation of those waged over the balance of power in Europe, colonies, and naval supremacy. France was finally defeated in 1814–15, although Castlereagh was careful to ensure that she remained strong enough to play a major role in the balance of power.

For the rest of the century the British continued to rank France (along with Russia) above all the states which posed a threat to their interests. The two fought on the same side in the Crimean War, but it needed the resolution of colonial rivalries to bring about the Entente of 1904, and it was solidly cemented only by the growing fear of Germany. France became the main battleground for the British army in the 1914–18 war. Yet relations soon deteriorated after 1919 in both Europe and the Middle East. Even the advent of Hitler failed to produce a close alliance until 1939. The dramatic fall of France followed in June 1940. At the end of the war Britain was the victorious power most interested in the revival of her neighbour, but the Soviet threat soon aligned Britain much more closely to the USA. The ill-conceived Anglo-French bid to overthrow the Nasser regime in Egypt in 1956 ended in tears, while President de Gaulle vetoed two belated British attempts to join the European Economic Community (in 1963 and 1967). Even after entry in 1973 Britain remained too semi-detached in her policies to satisfy the French.

C. J. Bartlett