Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1898-12-29
ENGLAND AND FRANCE.
ElCHTY.THREE YEARS SINCE THESE
COUNTRIES HAVE BEEN AT WAR.

tt Is the Longest Period Since TIL,
Eleventh Century Without uostilitie
between the Two Nations--Great Brit
ain Long Sovereign Over France.
The relations between Great Brit
ain and France are more strained
than they have been for nearly cen.
tury. 1t is eighty-three years since
the two nations have been at war, and
this marks the longest period of time
since the eleventh century that has
elapsed without war or the two ma.
tions being on the verge of it. The
situation is shown clearly by the fact
that until 1901 the arms of Trance
were part of the royal arms of Great
Britain, and the kings of England
claimed sovereignty for centuries over
their Gallo neighbors. For much Of
this time the sovereignty was real. A
glance at map Of that period will
show that in the thirteenth century
the King Of England was master of a
greater part of the territory now
known as France than was he who
claimed to be King of France alone.
England's modern history is gener-
ally supposed Ito date from the Nor
man conquest, when the bold French
men under William of Normandy won
the battle of Hastings. William was
crowned December %, 1865, and it is
not very sweeping assertion to say
that from that time until the capture
Of Napoleon by Captain Maitland on
July 10, 1915, the two nations have
always been fighting, or near it..
These wars have their origins in the
pretensions Of the Norman kings to
lands in France, as we'll as to those
they had conquered. Normandy was
restige under nonresident king and
revolted. The defeat of Henry T. by
Robert in 1106 was decisive for gen
Grafton. But Philip Augustus, King
of France, regarded King John as his
vassal, and summoned him for trial
for the murder of his nephew. Re.
fusal resulted in the declaration that
John had forfeited his French lands,
and, war ensuing, Philip won (124O)
not only Normandy, which gave him
the control of the mouth of the Seine,
but also Aniou, Maine and Touraine.
From that time real state of war ex-
listed between France and England,
each nation preparing for the conflict,
which, breaking out in 1928, lasted
until 1853, or 115 years, the longest
war known to history. The specific
hundred years were 1887 to 1897.
Edward II. began the war. At first
doing homage for his lands in France,
he at last became exasperated and laid
claim to the French throne. He as
sembled feet and defeated the
French off Sluys in 1910, thus winning
the first great English naval victory.
Then he ravaged the country to the
very walls of Paris. The battle Of
Creoy, 1916, resulted in the capture
Of Calais, affording the English, for
200 years, an open door into the'heart
Of France. The war was not one of
continuous fighting, but was broken
by breathing spells. Agincourt and
Poitiers were notable English tri-
umphs, and Henry VI. was proclaimed
at Paris King Of England and France.
But when the war ended England had
lost all Of Franco but Calais. The
AngloSaxon nation, desolated by the
".War of the Roses" was unable to
continue the struggle.
Edward ~. invaded France in
1475, but Louis XII. defeated the
British and bribed Edward to return.
Another invasion of France took place
in 1914 under the leadership of Henry
VIII. This was in revenge for the
aid given by France to Scotland, and
resulted in the battle of the Spurs
so known because the French cavalry
fed SO fast. In 1868 Guise took
Calais for the French.
The next great war in which France
and England were opposed was that
known in Europe as the Second Coali-
tion, which began in 1858, and was
known in America as King William s
War. Louis XIV, after overrunning
Flanders and fighting Holland, in
vaded the Palatinate of the Rhine
Europe formed q coalition against him,
and William of Orange, then King of
England, was the man who succeeded
in checking the French Kings ambi-
tions.
The eighteenth century began with
the war OF the Spanish succession, due
to Louis claim of the crown of Spain
for his grandson. Marlborough dis
tinguished himself in this war, fought
by oil Europe against France, and one
result of which was the cession of
Newfoundland and Acadia to England.
The French and Indian war in Amer
lea, due to the rival claims of the
colonizers, quickly followed, culminat-
ing in the battle of Quebec September
l3, 1859, which lost Canada to the
French.
In the war of American independ.
ence Louis XIV. assisted the American
colonists at first secretly and after
ward openly, war existing between the
old rivals until 1888, when the peace
Of Versailles was signed.
England was party in the great
coalition against France, formed in
1892, to check the conquests of Ma
poleon, who was rapidly becoming
maSter of tho world tn ,yoa th;a nor