The Anglo-French Hundred Years' War, the longest war in history

What happened to the Hundred Years' War between England and France, in fact, refers to England and France, and later joined Burgundy, the war between 1337 and 1453, the longest war in the world, intermittent for 116 years. During the Hundred Years' War, many new tactics and weapons were developed.

The victory in the war enabled France to complete its national unity and lay the foundation for future expansion on the European continent; England lost almost all of its French possessions, but it also gave rise to Nationalism in England. The question of what really happened in the Hundred Years' War between England and France still bothers many people, and it turns out that the Norse Vikings harassed and invaded the French coast for a long time. During the Carolingian dynasty, the Frankish ruler Charles III agreed to the settlement of these Norsemens on the French coast, and they later established the Duchy of Normandy.

In 1066 the Normandy successfully invaded England under the command of William the Conqueror, and they ruled both England and Normandy. In 1216 the Anglo-Norman rulers lost control of Normandy, and in the middle of the 12th century, the English Plantagenet dynasty occupied a vast territory in France, and in the 12th and 13th centuries, the French kings gradually regained some of the land occupied by the English king.

At the beginning of the 14th century, the British still occupied the Aquitaine region in southern France, which became the biggest obstacle to the political unification of France, and the French tried to drive the British out of southwestern France and thus unify France. Of course, the British were reluctant to withdraw and wanted to retake their ancestral lands such as Normandy, Mann, anjou, etc. At that time, Britain and France competed for Flanders because of their trade interests, deepening the conflict between them. In 1328, when France occupied Flanders, King Edward III of England ordered a ban on the export of wool. Flanders lost the source of raw materials and turned to support Britain's anti-French policy on the battlefield in the Hundred Years' War, and France was also bent on regaining its territory, which is what happened in the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France.

The effects of the Hundred Years' War between England and France on Britain

In 1337, King Edward III led an army to attack France, and the Hundred Years' War between England and France broke out. The war was fought intermittently from 1337 to 1453, and the final stage of the awakening of the French national consciousness reversed the unfavorable situation, won a difficult victory, and completed the great cause of national unification.

The battlefield was mainly concentrated on French land, so France's military and economic damage was the most serious, and its people in the British occupation areas were particularly exploited, and many people were even homeless and trapped in the waters. But the Hundred Years' War between England and France did not have much better effect on Britain than on France. Although there was a gap, the long duration of the war, coupled with the epidemic of the Black Death at that time, the British lost a lot of manpower and material resources, coupled with the loss of French territory, it can be said that the loss of the lady and the army. The impact of the Hundred Years' War between England and France on Britain also spread to its ruling class, because the British feudal interior began to kill each other because of their own interests, and the Red and White Rose War triggered by the War of Red and White Roses eliminated a large number of old feudal nobles, so that the new nobles and bourgeois forces could be strengthened.

Therefore, with regard to the effects of the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France on Britain, there are disadvantages and benefits. The war was brutal, but perhaps the social contradictions were vented, stimulating the budding of the capitalist market, and the two countries that parted ways after the war ushered in their own spring. The war contributed to the formation of the British nation-state, and the monarchy was further strengthened as a result. After being forced to give up the hegemony of the mainland, Britain issued a series of mercantilist policies to develop the capitalist market and actively expand overseas markets, which not only greatly promoted the development of society, but also successfully established maritime hegemony and ushered in the peak period of maritime empire.

Effects of the Hundred Years' War between England and France

The Hundred Years' War between England and France lasted for 116 years, and ended with the victory of France when the British king coveted the French throne, and France succeeded in expelling England from its territory and completing national unity. So what was the impact of the Hundred Years' War between England and France? Is britain in a slump?

First of all, the impact of the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France was reflected in the war systems of the two sides. Initially, the soldiers of both countries were mainly from the nobility, and there was a limit on the length of service, which was very unfavorable to the British who were fighting across the sea at that time, so they began to recruit lower-class people to serve as soldiers. France, on the other hand, lost repeatedly in the early stages of the war and expanded the power of the French royal family in order to resist the British.

Eventually, both countries embarked on the path of centralization. Second, it is embodied in tactical thinking. At first, in every major engagement, France used cavalry to engage the enemy frontally, but often failed, so in the later period, it also began to use infantry, and gradually won victories in subsequent wars, and the cavalry gradually declined.

Finally, it is reflected in weapons and equipment. Workers must first use their weapons in order to do good, and in this Hundred Years' War, both sides have improved their weapons. In the later period, new weapons such as gunpowder were used, resulting in new ways of fighting.

The impact of the Hundred Years' War between England and France was reflected not only in all aspects of the above-mentioned military forces, but also in the future development of the two countries. France, which drove Britain out of its own country, thus completing the unification of the nation and laying the foundation for a war of expansion that followed. The British, which were hit by this, also began to expand overseas, and later became the largest empire.

Evaluation of the Hundred Years' War between England and France

The Hundred Years' War between England and France had an important impact on the history of both countries. Victorious France then expanded the European continent, and the defeated England did not collapse but later became an empire that never set. So what is history's assessment of the protracted Hundred Years' War between England and France?

Just as every coin has both positive and negative sides, there are both good and bad evaluations of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. The first is the negative evaluation: the outbreak of the Hundred Years' War between the two sides was the reason why the royal family and the nobility gained benefits, but for the innocent people at that time, this was undoubtedly a massacre that lasted for more than a hundred years, and it was a catastrophe. At that time, in addition to the endless war, the Black Death was also very popular in that era, and under the blow of both, the economies of both sides were hit hard, and the people were not happy. Some Western scholars have written in their evaluation of this war: How long this war lasts, the people will cry for as long as possible. What began as a struggle for the throne turned into a War of Aggression by Britain against France, which led to a war that completely exceeded the expectations of the rulers of the two countries.

The better evaluation of the Hundred Years' War between England and France is that it stimulated the national consciousness of the French people. They began to realize that marriage between kings did not make the country stable for a long time, but would bring about problems such as the struggle for the throne. The national hero Joan of Arc, who emerged in this war, gave her life to defend the interests of the nation and promote the liberation of the nation, so that the French people united and got rid of British rule. Both France and England have since become absolute monarchies.

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