The American political scientist Huntington said in his Clash of Civilizations: "Unless we hate the non-my race, we cannot love my race." "The nation-state is an imaginary community formed in the process of struggle with the outside world. The earliest concept of the nation-state was formed during the Hundred Years' War between England and France, when Britain and France fought a war lasting 116 years from 1337 to 1453, and the entire war had a profound impact on Britain and France, and even on Europe.
The Promotion of Military Technology in the Hundred Years' War between England and France
From the 11th century onwards, England and France had been an inseparable whole, the ruling classes of the two countries had always been related by blood, and the British upper class was accustomed to communicating in French, but by the middle of the 14th century, a contradiction had triggered a divergence between the two countries.
The reason is that the French king began to unify the country from the 13th century, in 1328, the Capetian dynasty that ruled France for more than 300 years had no male heir, so it was seized by the branch Valois family, and the first thing after the new king succeeded to the throne was to abolish the english king Edward III, the ownership of the French territory of Aquitaine, which triggered a century-long Anglo-French war.
Edward III
In the eyes of the British, they have the blood of the French royal family, and the Valois family has not yet had its own pure blood and has no right to succeed to the French throne, so Edward III issued a letter of war to the French king, swearing that he had the right to inherit the French throne. The whole war was not continuous, but stopped and stopped, stopped and fought, and at first France won more wars, after all, it was a home war, and France also had the most advanced heavy cavalry.
These heavy cavalry were called knights, and knights were the freest, most well-equipped, and most combative military force of their time. Horses give knights unparalleled speed to infantry, armor gives knights unprecedented defense and health, and a long sword is the most important weapon in close combat. The amount of money spent on a set of knightly equipment is equivalent to the output of 500 hectares of land a year.
The French heavy cavalry was invincible and invincible for more than 300 years. At this time, England was not only caught in the Anglo-French War, but also the backyard was on fire, and Scotland also launched an attack on Britain. But the British still won the war, not only with less, but also with a heavy blow to the French army. Because this war Edward III not only involved civilians in the war, but also the beginning of professional soldiers, he used the state treasury to raise a professional army.
And through rigorous training, we have created a professional army that is quick to respond and strong. In the past, the knightly legions were mercenaries, and although they were attached to the feudal lords, their military obligations were limited to 40 days per year, and the maximum was not more than 60 days. In fact, knights at this time were keen to earn extra money, and went to war for more remuneration, breaking away from fixed lords and turning themselves into "mercenaries".
Moreover, Edward III also developed a longbow, and to use this long-range, lethal weapon, it was necessary to have sharp reflexes, strong physique, and strict discipline and coordination. This requires years of training and practice, which is obviously something that a noble knight on a high-headed horse would not do. At that time, the free peasants in England were obliged to perform military service, so many high-quality longbowmen were created.
However, in the following decades, France also continued to reform, and they developed not only a standing army, but also a hundred spear army. Similar to the Special Forces, 6 people formed a small detachment, which included a heavy cavalry, 2 archers, and 3 non-personnel. This army was not only well-equipped and well-trained, but King Charles VII of France also equipped them with artillery.
Artillery of the Duke of Burgundy
This cannon, known as the Duke of Catelynburgundy, weighs 3 tons. In order to produce this cannon, all the factories were almost 24/7, especially the blacksmiths who handled the ore, and gave the highest wages at that time. The war also promoted the development of related shipbuilding industry, the "Tower of London Jesus" built by Henry V of England weighed 1,000 tons, the "Tower of London Holy Spirit" also weighed nearly 800 tons, and there were 7 ships weighing 600 tons, the development of these shipbuilding technologies undoubtedly promoted the construction level of cargo ships.
France had the advantage of fighting on its own, but at the beginning of the war it was unable to play its due advantage. Later, after changing the method of warfare, especially breaking the military monopoly position of the aristocratic cavalry in Western Europe, the professional soldiers of the civilians were formed, and the French sought breakthroughs in military technology and the development of special artillery technology in the continuous defeat, which laid the foundation for the victory of the subsequent war, and also indirectly promoted the development of metallurgical technology in Britain and France.
The Hundred Years' War between England and France ushered in a national movement
In 1358, the Zachary Rebellion broke out in France, and due to successive years of war, a large number of peasants were displaced, they could not hide in castles like these nobles and merchants, and in order to cope with the war, these lords often snatched the peasants' food and livestock. At this time, the situation of land annexation in France intensified, resulting in a widening income gap between the peasant class. Moreover, these feudal lords took the opportunity to plunder the peasants' land and infringe on the interests of these peasants. To make matters worse, the year of the Great Famine, which struck the Black Death and killed 1/3 of France, led to the peasant revolt, which quickly spread throughout northern France.
Although the revolt was eventually suppressed, the blow to the French aristocracy was enormous, shaking the whole of Western European society, and after that, these nobles had to seriously consider the demands of these people. The peasants demanded the abolition of the shackles of serfdom, the end of the cruel exploitation of the system of servitude, and the attainment of personal freedom and emancipation of the serfs.
Such uprisings also took place in England, where Edward III and his son the Black Prince won numerous military victories in France, but when Edward died, the British did not maintain good luck. The Black Death spread from the European continent to the other side of the English Channel and swept across Britain, killing large numbers of people in England. Domestic labour costs in the UK have risen, and those who survive are demanding higher pay.
Moreover, for the needs of the war, the British government raised taxes by a large amount, and the poll tax increased by the state by 3 times, unlike the French uprising, the slogan put forward by the rebel army this time was: to eliminate all unequal privileges, to achieve equality for all, to restore a just kingdom. The rebel army was divided into two factions, one was Father John Ball and the other was led by Watt Taylor, so the uprising was also called the "Watt Taylor Uprising".
The rebel army consisted of three groups of people, one was a religious scholar, the other was a local knight and a squire, and the third was a priest and some believers. Soon the religious scholars were divided and co-opted, and the gentry and some priests gradually disintegrated. But the rapid development of the gentry class and the free peasants in this uprising, and their purpose in participating in the uprising was to covet the wealth and large estates amassed by the Catholic Church, which inadvertently prompted the English Reformation. The poll tax was never levied again, and the uprising was seen as a sign of the end of British serfdom.
Since then, the war between Britain and France has to take into account the feelings of the people, and after the abolition of the poll tax in Britain, it also had a huge impact on the national finances, laying the groundwork for the later Reformation of Henry VIII.
Joan of Arc, the awakening of the nation
The Hundred Years' War between England and France entered the 15th century, and at a time of internal turmoil, social order, and displacement of the people, the British occupied most of northern France, and even Occupied Paris, France. In 1428, Prince Charles of France was surrounded by English troops during a battle, and as he was losing hope, a 17-year-old shepherd, Joan of Arc, came to him and claimed to have heard the call of the saint to drive the English out.
At this time, the British felt that they were righteous, because they had a purer bloodline, and the victory at this time also showed that they had god's help. However, at this time, the French army had Joan of Arc, and the situation was reversed, they believed that Joan of Arc was sent by God to save them, and the prince proved joan of Arc's legitimacy.
Unfortunately, Joan of Arc was captured by the British, who used the inquisition to declare Joan of Arc a witch and burn her at the stake. Although Joan of Arc did not complete her mission and drove the British away, the french aristocratic forces gradually united and finally defeated the British, and Joan of Arc was rehabilitated, becoming a national hero and, in the Napoleonic era, becoming a symbol of the entire French nation.
Through the Hundred Years' War between England and France, the national consciousness of Britain was also constantly awakening, and for a long time the British aristocracy only spoke French, and they considered English to be an inferior language. When the British continued to win in France, the self-confidence of the British gradually grew, and English became more and more fashionable, and English gradually moved from the lower people to the upper nobility, and eventually became the common language of a nation.
This war, which took more than 100 years, is not just a war, it has led to the transformation and rebirth of two countries. Although Britain retreated to the French mainland, it had a future strategy of maritime hegemony: instead of taking the territory it occupied as its main goal, it concentrated its main energy on the sea, destroying the enemy's navy, destroying the enemy's trade, and robbing the enemy's colonies.
Britain no longer blindly occupied the colonies as in the Anglo-French War, but occupied as little as possible, and occupied key locations if it wanted to. This idea of not seeking everything, but seeking what to use, in the case that you have strong strength as a support, can just reduce your costs, while concentrating your power on the places that can really bring benefits, so that the input-output ratio is maximized.
For France, the price paid for victory was also enormous, with the mass death of the aristocratic community. France was also divided by the Capetian dynasty, the feudal aristocracy took over the mountain, and fought with each other, and after the end of the Anglo-French War, a unified royal power was formed, and the royal power was gradually strengthened, thus forming the French nation-state in the 16th century. I may not know you in this land, but we have suffered british aggression together, we have shared the story of Joan of Arc, and the consciousness of the French community has spread in the hearts of the people. After the Hundred Years' War, France evolved rapidly from a feudal monarchy to a modern monarchical centralized regime.
It is on the basis of this identity that the modern nation-state developed, and the concepts of the So-called French and English have become clearer and clearer, and it is precisely because of this that the wars of Europe in modern times have changed from the "war between kings and kings" in the Middle Ages to "wars between people and peoples". It is precisely because of the concept of "others" that you realize the concept of "yourself". The sense of identity with the country is also established in this way, when you feel that there is a "nother country", you will have the desire to find a "home country" to which you belong.