A Nostalgic Look at French-American Relations

Although recent history suggests relations between the United States and France are somewhat chilly, this was not always the case. The love affair between America and France began hot and heavy.

The story of the relationship between these two nations is not unlike that of two lovers whose relationship began with a bang and fizzled.

Like the ending of any great love affair, a nostalgic look at the old photos and a trip down memory lane is in order.

Any relationship that begins while one of the parties is still trying to escape another long, stormy, even abusive relationship is destined to have problems, especially if the intervenor is a bitter enemy of the abuser. The relationship between the US and France is no exception.

On July 4, 1776, the American colonies declared their independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, thus ending the relationship with the abusive lover. France, still steaming from being forcefully evicted from most of North America by Great Britain in the Seven Years War, surreptitiously began supporting the colonists in their efforts against Great Britain.

In February of 1778, France and the young United States of America signed a Treaty of Alliance which bound France and the US in a common cause against Britain. It is no overstatement to say that the United States exists, in part, because of the intervention of France. We should not forget this fact. France has not.

The alliance was a success. Britain was defeated and the official separation papers were signed in Paris, where else?

Legendary Frenchman Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (thank goodness history has shortened this to General La Fayette) joined the war effort as a volunteer well before the signing of the Treaty of Alliance. The French military officer was made a General in the American forces and became a lifelong friend of George Washington. La Fayette and his descendants in perpetuity were given United States citizenship for his service, and a US flag was draped over his grave during World War II.

Although La Fayette was hardly the only Frenchman to serve with such distinction in the American Revolutionary War, he is the best remembered and most influential.

The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, officially ended the Revolutionary War. No less than Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and John Jay represented the United States at the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Among other things, the Treaty of Paris established the boundaries between the United States of America and British North America and Great Britain recognized the colonies as independent sovereign states,

When one lover goes behind the back of the other and starts courting someone else, it is hard to trust again. In 1800, Spain and France signed the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso. The secret treaty ceded the Louisiana territory back to France and Napoleon, which had been surrendered to Spain by France approximately 37 years earlier.

The prospect of an imperialistic Napoleonic presence was enough to make the fledgling nation jittery. Recognizing that a diplomatic solution would benefit both allies, France and the US negotiated the Louisiana Purchase for 80 million francs.

A belated birthday gift is always a gloomy foreshadowing of things to come. In 1886, France gave to the United States the largest birthday gift in history, notwithstanding that it was ten years late. The Statue of Liberty, originally contemplated as a gift to the United States for the centennial anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, arrived in New York harbor in June of 1885 in 350 individual pieces. The statue was reconstructed and unveiled to the public in October of 1886.

This grand gesture stands over 305 feet from the base of the pedestal to the top of the torch and weighs approximately 450,000 pounds. Lady Liberty expertly served her function as a lighthouse to the world from her construction until 1902.

The famous words inscribed on a plaque inside the Statue of Liberty, from the sonnet "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus were written in 1883, and were not original to the statue. The plaque containing the sonnet was not added until 1903. The third stanza is the most recognizable:

• "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

It's always bad for a relationship when one part wonders about the love, devotion, and faithfulness of the other. While Europe was knee deep in conflict, President Woodrow Wilson tried to act as counselor and mediator to the squabbling European family. The "peace without victory" strategy failed.

Finally, on April 6, 1917, the US Congress voted to enter the war. By this time, the French army was all but decimated. The entry of the US into the war was the turning point for the allies, and the armistice between the allies and Germany was signed on November 11, 1918. The Treaty of Versailles that officially ended World War I was signed a few months later on June 28, 1919.

Then, déjà vu all over again. In 1940, Italy and Germany declared war against and invaded France. By this time, Germany had overrun Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium. When Japan launched an attack against the United States by bombarding Pearl Harbor, the US was forced to enter the conflict.

In June of 1944, the Allies invaded western France, and on August 25 of the same year Paris was liberated. Germany unconditionally surrendered on May 8, 1945, a date celebrated as a national holiday in France, Victory Day (Fête de la Victorie). Japan surrendered on August 15 officially ending World War II.

It may come as a surprise to most, but the history of Vietnam and the Vietnam War might have turned out quite differently if the United States and France had been as committed in southeast Asia in the 1950s as they were against Great Britain during the Revolutionary War.

In 1950, China recognized the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (no pun intended, by the author or Vietnamese, I assure you). The Soviet Union recognized Vietnam immediately thereafter. The United States and President Truman, fearing communist expansion, countered and recognized a French puppet regime in Vietnam. The US continued to support French activity in Asia until the French military defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu effectively ended the First Indochina War. A ceasefire was negotiated at the Geneva Conference and Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam were given independence. The First Indochina War was the precursor to the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam War.

In March of 2003, the United States, supported by British forces and others, invaded Iraq. France, Germany, and others, opposed the invasion of Iraq. The largest anti-war protest in history was recorded in Rome on February 15, 2003 with some 3,000,000 participants.

One of the most vocal critics of President George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq was French President Jaques Chirac. American critics of France accused France of acting strictly out of financial interests as they related to Iraqi and Middle Eastern oil, an ironic criticism (though not unfair) given the criticism of the motivations for the invasion (also, not unfair).

The opposition to the war in Iraq by the French stirred anti-French sentiment in the US. Many Americans called for the boycott of all things French. The French backlash reached its frenzied peak on March 11, 2003 when members of the United States Congress ordered that all references to french fries and french toast in House cafeterias be removed and the American staples be renamed "freedom fries" and "freedom toast".

How often does it happen that when two lovers split, the one who was rescued from the stormy relationship returns to what was familiar? Old habits die hard.

The dirty love triangle has come full circle. The US and Great Britain are mates again, and France is once again on the outside looking in. Ah, international politics. They say "politics makes strange bedfellows." I agree. Let's review:

• Revolutionary War: US & France vs. Great Britain.
• Wold War I: US, Great Britain, France, Russia & Italy vs. Germany & Austria-Hungary.
• World War II: US, Great Britain, France, Russia, & China v. Germany, Italy & Japan.
• Asian Wars (Vietnam, Indochina, Korea, etc.): US & France vs. USSR, China, North Vietnam.
• Iraq War: US & Great Britain vs. Iraq (France, Germany & Russia opposed to US & Great Britain).

If art imitates life, so does international politics.

If there is one lesson to be learned from history, it is that history most definitively repeats itself.