00:00Ah, England and France, history's greatest frenemies, as it were.
00:06Few countries on earth can contend to have a relationship as intense as that between
00:11our dear England and France.
00:13Indeed, before we English decided to make peace with the frog lovers and became the
00:18staunchest of allies, we spent the better part of the past millennium at each other's
00:23throats.
00:24Going all the way back to Roman times, the Celtic inhabitants of what would eventually
00:28become England and France did not shy away from raiding and pillaging each other.
00:34Even as renowned side-quest enjoyer Julius Caesar was on their doorstep.
00:40Now, in the aftermath of Caesar's conquests, the lands of future England and France became
00:45parts of the Roman Empire.
00:47Until our Chad Germanic ancestors, the Angles and Franks, decided to move in permanently.
00:54But they, and their coalescing medieval kingdoms, would have little chance to fight against
00:59each other.
01:00For they'd soon have to defend themselves against the even greater Germanic chads, the Vikings.
01:07Their raids kept early England and France busy up until the 11th century.
01:12Yet, when the Vikings were finally vanquished, their legacies stirred the first conflict between
01:17England and France.
01:19The Dukes of Normandy, who were descendants of Vikings that had sworn fealty to the Kings
01:24of France, had also intermarried with the Kings of England, and thus had a claim to the
01:31English throne.
01:31When the childless Edward the Confessor died, Duke William of Normandy seized the opportunity
01:38to invade England and claim it for his own.
01:42Spoiler alert, he won, and became known as William the Conqueror, but as both King of England
01:49and Duke of Normandy, he was in direct conflict with his supposed liege, the King of France.
01:55The Norman Kings of England and their inheritors, the Plantagenets, would fight the Kings of
02:02France over their crown for nearly four centuries, culminating in the infamous Hundred Years' War.
02:09Alas, France ultimately pushed England out of mainland Europe, honorable mentions at this
02:15point to Calais.
02:16But even after the English kings gave up their continental ambitions, we continued to try to
02:22keep a lid on the French.
02:24We took the opposite sides in all of the Italian wars during the 16th century, in the theological
02:30war of the Reformation, and whenever a nearby country had troubles with its succession.
02:35The French did pay us back in kind by helping those Americans in their rebellion, but it was
02:42ultimately us, now united as a single kingdom, that had the last laugh by defeating the final
02:48boss of France.
02:50Oh, pan down a little bit.
02:52There he is, Napoleon Bonaparte.
02:54But then, as with all great love stories, something miraculous happened.
03:00Since 1815, Britain and France never went to war again.
03:06That's unbelievable.
03:07Sacre bleu.
03:08It cannot be.
03:09That's what I said.
03:09In fact, in the aftermath of Napoleon's defeat, the victorious Duke of Wellington, who would later
03:16become Prime Minister, made sure to prevent the other European powers from dismantling France
03:22in the ensuing peace deal.
03:25I led Wellington into the heart of Mount Doom, where France was made, the one place it could
03:31be destroyed.
03:33Cast it into the fire!
03:40Destroy it!
03:42No!
03:45Wellington!
03:48It should have ended that day, but France was allowed to endure.
03:53But really, why did Britain abandon centuries of tried and true French animosity right when
04:00we had them on the ropes?
04:02Well, the truth that Wellington so presciently realized is that there were other powers in
04:07the world beyond France that Britain had to contend with.
04:10Britain's former Napoleonic allies, Russia and Prussia, both gained vast territory.
04:17If Prussia unified all of Germany, it could potentially overpower the rest of Europe combined,
04:23a theory that would be put to the test repeatedly over the twentieth century.
04:28And with regards to the Russians, their empire was already so vast that it stretched across
04:34Eurasia and, crucially, was way too close to precious India for comfort.
04:39Russia did indeed continue trying to expand in the coming decades, so much so that Britain
04:45had to side with France to stop the Russians from swallowing up the Ottoman Empire.
04:50So Wellington's instinct was correct.
04:53I mean, Wellington in general was a pretty smart chap.
04:56And I'm sure if he had the opportunity, he would have definitely utilized the wonderful
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06:36But anyway, back to England.
06:38Ah, beautiful England.
06:40Now, while we did keep the Russians in check, I'll admit we dropped the ball on Prussia.
06:46When a resurgently imperialistic France, led by Napoleon's nephew, no less, attacked Prussia
06:54to prevent its unification, no one dared to intervene out of what I like to call Napoleonic PTSD.
07:01And in a short few months, after a swift Prussian victory over the French Army,
07:06Wilhelm I was crowned German Emperor in occupied Versailles, and a new great power had emerged
07:14in the heart of Europe.
07:17Initially, old Willy, as I like to call him, tried to play nice with Britain and France to
07:22prevent a reproachment, and that strategy did work.
07:26Napoleonic PTSD and mutual paranoia kept relations curled into the early 20th century.
07:32But his grandson and inheritor, Willy II, aka the bootleg Wilhelm, decided to aggravate Britain
07:42and France by threatening their colonies and building up a massive navy.
07:47And so, thanks to his ineptitude, on the 8th of April 1904, Britain and France unofficially
07:54became allies.
07:56Sticking through thick and thin ever since.
07:59And the rest, as they say, is history, which we will, of course, cover here sometime in
08:06the indeterminate future.
08:07In the meantime, my dear, dear friends, please leave a comment down below on which historical
08:13topics you'd like to see next.
08:15And as always, huge thanks to our gracious patrons for their selfless support, and make
08:21sure to stay tuned for the next enthusiastically rivalrous episode of SideQuest.
08:28SideQuest closed.
