Reply #14: As stated in previous posts... [View All]

[rasputin1952]

the French were our allies, basically from the beginning.
But...you have to understand, King Louis was not all that fond of Independence...after all, this could spread.

The French Treasury was bannkrupted, in part because they aided us, and indeed, thoughts of Independence and the overthrow of monarchies DID catch on.

The victory at Yorktown was based on timing, and it worked to our benefit.

The French fought with us at New Orleans, in 1814; and we were against French incursion in Mexico when Napolean appointed one of his more simple relatives as Emperor of Mexico.

The French lost millions in teh Great War, as did the British and the Germans. We came to the aid of France and England, in that war, because we closer to their regimes than Germany's. Add to that the sinking of the Lusitania, and away went the Doughboys.

In WWII, the French were overun in a remakably short time. Better weapons, tactics and a severe lack of training on the part of the French Army led to this debacle. The Brits held out as long as they could, and we aided them both overtly and covertly, until 8 Dec 41, and we actually went to war. The French, after being subjugated by the Germans, were ecstatic that they were once again 'free'. During WWII over a million French soldiers lost their lives. Untold millions of civilians were crushed under Hitlers boots.

We have always been close to Europe, especially the British and French....but you can add others to the list as well; Poland Germany, Italy, Greece, etc.

BTW: we didn't learn much from them in SE Asia...it was the French that said we should not go in, the carnage would be horrendous and it would pull the country apart. They tried to help there too, but we know that sad tale.