The war lasted 116 years, during which both sides experienced five emperors, during which time there were major internal chaos and political and military changes on both sides.
What is even more incredible is that in the end of the war, both sides are winners and losers. Before that, the whole world had no concept of a state or a nation. After this war, the world slowly gained the consciousness of a modern state and a nation.
As for why there was a war, it is also very common to say, originally born from the same root, and it was too anxious to fry each other. But in the face of interests, all family affection seems so insignificant.
After this war, the whole world changed dramatically. This is not only military, but also political, linguistic, international.
What is a modern nation-state?
In ancient China, we paid attention to reading tens of thousands of books in the emperor's family, and the purpose of reading was to serve the emperor and sell itself at a good price.
Whether they were military generals or civilian officials, their common wish was to seal their wives and sons and serve the imperial court. See clearly, this is talking about the imperial court, not the people.
This concept is not only common in China, but also in the world. Under this concept, the upper nobility would not really consider the interests of the peasants at the bottom, but would serve the emperor wholeheartedly.
Therefore, in the eyes of ordinary people in ancient times, the change of dynasties is the transformation of the king flag at the head of the city, and whoever comes is the same as prostrating themselves to pay taxes as slaves, is there any essential difference?
But when a country has a permanent population, territorial definition, government institutions, and national consciousness, it can only be considered a country. And this all stems from the Hundred Years' War between England and France.
The Hundred Years' War between England and France was fought from 1337 to 1453. What does it mean from cold weapons to artillery, from wars between nobles to participation of the whole people?
In fact, many people do not know that in history, Britain and France are not separated.
Don't talk about Britain and France, look at Game of Thrones, the whole of Europe is a family. They were inbreeding and intermarried to the point of incest.
Even later Britain developed gradually after the French conquest. Before 1337, the English king owned more land in France than in England. The newly enthroned King of France abruptly declared British land in France illegal and demanded that the British withdraw from France.
At this time, King Edward III of England believed that he was the legitimate heir of France, and it was the current king of France who should be out of the egg. Isn't this a bit messy?
disorderly
That's right.
War forced military reform
From the standpoint of modern man, England was originally a vassal state of France.
Not only were the British royals and aristocrats all french in blood, but they also believed that French was the language of the nobility and that England was the humble language of the lower classes.
After the outbreak of the Anglo-French War, the British army was not more than half that of France. Moreover, at this time, France had heavy cavalry that threatened the West. What is a heavy cavalry? It was definitely a tank army at that time, and only the nobles could play.
The so-called heavy cavalry must not only have a well-trained giant war horse, but also a heavy armor worth millions of pounds and a sword that is exaggerated.
Therefore, at this time, only the nobles in the War of the West were eligible to participate. The British took the lead in breaking this rule, not only using civilians, but also taking the dismounting operation to the extreme. In the Battle of Cressy in England and France in 1346, the English army was only 11,000 men, of which less than 2,000 were heavily armed cavalry. The total number of French troops in the war was more than 30,000, and the number of heavy cavalry was 20,000, ten times that of Britain. France, which had absolute military superiority, thought it could crush the British army in an instant, but edward III invented the longbow army.
When the French heavy cavalry launched a collective charge against the British army, they saw the British soldiers dismounted in a line, drawing their bows and arrows, and caught the oncoming French army by surprise.
But the French, who were not convinced of defeat, attacked 15 times in a row from morning to night, and had to withdraw after more than 10,000 dead. At this time, the British only damaged less than 100 people, which was like Qi Jiguang's Mandarin Duck Array.
And the archers who took advantage of this war were not nobles, but British free peasants. For the first time in Western history, the bottom participated in the war and won a complete victory.
Moreover, for the first time, the European heavy cavalry, which had spanned a hundred years, was defeated by infantry. Britain maintained this superiority for nearly 80 years, until the French were also forced to reform militarily.
· The first standing army in western history
The first standing army in China's history was begun because of the continuous expansion of the Tang Dynasty, and the transformation of the prefectural military system into a conscription system began.
The first time the Western countries implemented the standing army system was in 1445, when Britain formed a "Hundred Spear Army".
Prior to this, every war in the West was like the feudal system of the Western Zhou Dynasty in China, a temporary organization called by the king and joined by various princes and nobles.
But by this time the French also had such a standing army, and it was twice as large as the British army.
Not only that, but the King of France hired foreign experts at high salaries and forged powerful artillery for them. Since then, French artillery has been leading the world.
Even to this day, some people still laugh at Napoleon, saying that this dwarf did not know how to fight without the artillery. After more than 70 years, the advantages of their longbow army slowly disappeared, but they did not want to forge ahead, so they were slowly surpassed by France militarily. Moreover, the peasant revolts in Britain and France almost ruined the country.
Why no dynasty in the West was overthrown by a peasant uprising
Almost all of China's dynastic changes were led and overthrown by peasant uprisings. Although many times the peasants were merely instruments of power and profit between the nobles, the peasants played a crucial role.
But if you look at Europe, no dynasty was overthrown by a peasant uprising. But during the Hundred Years' War, Britain and France suffered a peasant uprising that was nearly devastated.
These uprisings forced Western countries to consider the needs of the underclass and thus carry out political reforms in the modern sense of the state.
Perennial wars must have led to financial hardship, but for the nobility, taxation was the first priority. Devastated by years of war, the Zacre Peasant Revolt broke out in France in 1358. Although the uprising was suppressed, many nobles saw the squeezed peasants rushing into the castle, insulting their wives and daughters to death in front of the nobles, and letting their sons watch their fathers burn alive. This pain and humiliation was unacceptable to the nobles. But did they consider the feelings of others when enslaving the bottom?
At this time, the slogan shouted by the peasant uprising was actually: "When Adam ploughed the fields and Eve weaved cloth, who was the nobleman?" "Isn't it very similar to the prince of our country who will have a kind of Xiangning?"
Similarly, Britain had to abolish the poll tax after a massive peasant uprising, thoroughly considering the demands of the people at the bottom
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This laid the foundation for the later move of Western countries towards constitutional monarchy and the French Revolution.
A woman changed the world
If Westerners didn't know Joan of Arc as a person, he would surely be laughed out of his teeth. It is this 17-year-old girl who has made the world a national consciousness ever since.
When the British army was pressing forward, even Paris was occupied. A shepherd girl claimed to have god's guidance to drive out the bandit British army on behalf of the French people. The french prince, who was forced to be helpless, gave this girl who seemed a little nervous today four thousand soldiers and horses under the last resort.
But a miracle happened, and with only the four thousand remnants of soldiers in her hand, Joan of Arc sang all the way and beat the British army into a desert and fled.
Although Joan of Arc was captured two years later, this gave the whole of France a sense of God. This initial superstition eventually evolved into a national spirit, and by the time of Napoleon Joan of Arc was officially regarded as a symbol of nationalism in France and throughout the West. In order to destroy the idol in the hearts of the French, the British not only let the soldiers insult the 19-year-old Joan of Arc, but also burned her alive.
But Joan of Arc, the leader of the female peasant revolt in China, and Chen Shuozhen, who was eventually subjected to "naked torture", died without bowing to the enemy.
Although Britain was later driven out of France, the war, which lasted for 116 years, completely changed the pattern and direction of the world.
The Western world has had to scrap a series of previously tough policies toward the underclass and instead cooperate or pander. After all, as wars unfolded, the people who really fought the wars were the masses at the bottom, not the nobility.
It was precisely because of the Hundred Years' War that the British returned to their homeland and had the opportunity to develop their own country, laying the foundation for their next step to dominate the world.
The French side, on the other hand, greatly enhanced its national strength by relying on national consciousness, and prepared for the later Napoleonic sweep through Europe and the French Revolution. So war is the fastest thing to promote social development, what do you think, reader?