Anglo-French Wars: 13 Conflicts Between France & England

The wars between England and France spanned more than seven centuries. The most famous of these conflicts were the Hundred Years’ War and the battles fought during the Napoleonic Era.

However, the military contests between these two countries went far beyond these wars.

From men in plate launching cavalry charges to the thunder of cannons and the clash of massed ranks of soldiers thrusting forward with bayonets fixed, England and France took a bloody toll on each other.

These are the wars that these deadly enemies fought during the modern era.

Before the end of the 15th century, England and France would go to war one last time. From 1496 to 1498, the two countries existed in a state of war on opposing sides during the Italian War of 1494 to 1498. The war ended with a victory for the League of Venice over the French who invaded Italy. England did not take part in any of the major fighting.

2. 1508-1516: War of the League of Cambrai

England entered the War of the League of Cambrai as part of the Holy League against France. England fought alongside many allies, including the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, and the Papal States.

Initially, the League of Cambrai was formed (without England) as an excuse to launch war on the Ottomans, but the real goal was the breakup of Venice, which was growing extremely powerful. Differences in war goals, however, caused tension among the allied states, and the league failed to operate in unison. The Holy Roman Empire and Spain switched sides in support of Venice, which was joined by England. This Holy League faced off against France and its alliance of minor states. Venice would later switch sides and end up fighting on the side of France.

Several significant battles in this war involved the English and the French as the major forces. The Battle of Saint-Mathieu was a naval engagement between England and France that ended in an English victory.

On land, the famous Battle of the Spurs on August 16, 1513, saw the routing of a French army at Guinegate in northern France. The following month, the Battle of Flodden would take place in northern England between the English and Scots, who were allied with France. The battle resulted in a decisive English victory.

Ultimately, however, the war ended with a Franco-Venetian victory.

The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts that pitted France and its allies against the Holy Roman Empire, the latter of which was allied to England. Though technically begun in 1494 and including the War of the League of Cambrai, other important eras involving Anglo-French conflict included the Italian War of 1521 to 1526, which ended with the capture of French King Francis I after the Battle of Pavia, and the Italian War of 1542 to 1546. Again, England joined the Holy Roman Empire in its alliance against France. This time, the French were supported by the Ottoman Empire.

In September 1544, the English captured the French town of Boulogne and, two years later, was able to hold on to it after a failed siege by the French prematurely turned to looting. In 1543, English and Spanish forces attempted to capture Landrecies but were beaten back by French defenders.

In 1545, the French attempted to invade England with a fleet of 175 ships and managed to land several hundred soldiers on the Isle of Wight. The English managed to repulse the French despite the French not losing any ships in the actual battle. The flagship of the English navy, the Mary Rose, however, was sunk, claiming the lives of 400 sailors. This part of the war ended in 1546, and war broke out again in 1551 when Henry II of France declared war on the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1557, a Spanish and English army defeated the French at Saint-Quentin in northern France. The following year, Anglo-Spanish forces defeated the French again at Gravelines.

The war ended with a French defeat, but the French were able to capture Calais from the English in 1558. The fall of the port and the surrounding area, the Pale of Calais, ended the last vestige of the Angevin Empire on the continent.

Despite this loss, the kings and queens of England continued to use “France” in their title until 1801, when the fleur-de-lys, the symbol of the French monarchy, was also removed from the Royal Coat of Arms.

During the latter half of the 16th century, France descended into civil war, and surrounding countries were drawn into the conflict. Old alliances were forgotten, and new ones were formed along religious lines.

At the beginning of these wars, the English sent an expeditionary force to help the Protestant factions from 1562 to 1563, with the ulterior motive of regaining the Pale of Calais. Queen Elizabeth I of England sent 3,000 troops to occupy the city of Le Havre. After the Protestant Huguenots made peace with the French, however, English troops refused to leave. In control of France, Catherine de Medici sent a force of Catholics and Huguenots to drive the English off. Disease had swept through the English garrison, and the French won a relatively easy victory.

The Treaty of Troyes that followed ensured peace, but both sides reserved their rights over Calais. The English, nevertheless, signed the treaty, knowing that this meant Calais was lost forever.

5. 1666-1667: Anglo-French War

English and French forces clashed once again as part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War between 1665 and 1667. The war was fought in three theaters: Europe, the Caribbean, and West Africa.

In the European theater, England defeated a small French fleet at the Battle of Dungeness in the English Channel. In the Caribbean, The English scored a major naval victory, destroying or capturing 23 of the 25 French ships off the coast of Martinique.

A minor clash near the end of the war saw the English capture the French settlement of Cayenne, occupy it for two weeks, loot it, and leave.

The Nine Years’ War was a massive conflict in which France under Louis XIV tried to extend its influence and borders. The French were opposed by the Grand Alliance, which was made up of England, Scotland, the Dutch Republic, the Holy Roman Empire, the Spanish Empire, and the Savoyards.

The war spread to many continents. In Europe, the battles went back and forth, with both France and the Grand Alliance winning and losing their fair share. In Ireland, the French supported the Jacobites and fought a bitter conflict with the Williamites, supported by England.

In England, the Glorious Revolution took place. James II of England (VII of Scotland) was Catholic, and fears mounted that he would switch sides and support France in the Nine Years’ War. This led to a Dutch invasion, supported by English rebels who had grown discontented with James’ rule. His daughter Mary II and her Dutch husband William III of Orange replaced James and ruled England jointly.

In North America, many small battles were fought between the colony of New England and French forces. These battles involved many alliances with Native Americans.

Ultimately, the Nine Years’ War ended with France unable to gain the expansion it wanted and the Grand Alliance being unable to beat the French into surrender. Both sides were exhausted, and France was facing famine.

The financial difficulties in funding such a huge war led to the establishment of the Bank of England in 1694 and the beginning of the National Debt in England.

The 18th century began with the War of the Spanish Succession, which was caused by the death of Charles II of Spain, who left no heirs. What followed was a continental war in which opposing major powers supported two different claimants. Yet again, the English and the French found themselves on opposing sides.

The English allied themselves with the Holy Roman Empire, Prussia, the Dutch Republic, Aragon, Scotland, Portugal, and Savoy against an alliance of France, the Kingdom of Castile, and many other minor kingdoms.

In Spain, the English captured Gibraltar, and an allied force captured Barcelona. These gains were offset by a massive victory for the Franco-Spanish forces over the English, Portuguese, Dutch, and Holy Roman Empire forces at the Battle of Almanza.

Meanwhile, to the north, the English Duke of Marlborough won a string of victories, forcing the French out of the Spanish Netherlands. More battles followed, and the English and allied forces finally captured the city of Mons. The victory, however, was pyrrhic. The English and allied forces had lost so many men that they could not march on Paris.

The war also spilled over into the American colonies, where England (and the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1707) fought against French and Spanish forces. This part of the war was known as Queen Anne’s War, resulting in significant territorial gains in North America ceded by France.

8. 1740-1748: War of the Austrian Succession

After Emperor Charles VI of the Austrian Habsburg Dynasty died in 1740, issues arose over his daughter, Maria Theresa, and her right to succeed him. Opposing this were the nations of France, Spain, Prussia, and Bavaria, who saw this as an opportunity to limit Habsburg power. Opposing them was the Pragmatic Alliance, consisting of the Habsburg monarchy supported by Great Britain, Hanover, the Dutch Republic, and Russia.

One of the major battles involving Britain and France on the continent was the Battle of Dettingham, in which an army of 50,000 British, Hanoverian, and Austrian troops defeated an army of 70,000 French soldiers.

Related wars within the War of the Austrian Succession included the First Carnatic War between Britain and France in Southern India and King George’s War in North America, which pitted Britain and the Iroquois Confederacy against France and their Wabanaki Confederacy allies. Both of these wars ended in a status quo ante bellum. The War of Jenkins’ Ear was also fought during this period between Britain and Spain in the Caribbean, and no positive outcome was seen for either side.

The War of the Austrian Succession saw the French and the Prussians achieve a series of significant military victories, but the war ended in a stalemate. Maria Theresa was confirmed as the rightful heir to Austria, but the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which ended the war, created animosity, especially from France, which gained little from the war.

The Carnatic Wars were a series of wars fought as proxies between France and Britain. Supporting different Indian rulers, the two powers faced off in India, trying to gain as much influence over the subcontinent as possible, focusing on the Carnatic region in Southeast India.

The First Carnatic War (1746–1748) ended without success for either Britain or France and was ended prematurely as part of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which ended the War of the Austrian Succession.

The Second Carnatic War (1749–1754) was a struggle between claimants for the local rulers of the Carnatic region. It ended with the Treaty of Pondicherry, which recognized the British claimant, Mohamed Ali Khan Walajan, as Nawab of the Carnatic.

10. 1756-1763: The Seven Years’ War and Related Conflicts

After the War of the Austrian Succession, alliances in Europe shifted. Britain allied itself with Prussia, mostly out of the need to protect Hanover, British King George II’s continental possession.

War broke out over the Austrian desire to regain Silesia after losing it to Prussia during the War of the Austrian Succession. The conflict was a massive war fought across continents and involved two huge alliances. On one side, the British were joined by Prussia, while on the other, the French were joined by Austria, Spain, Russia, and Sweden.

Vast amounts of resources were poured into fighting on the continent, and in the fighting between Britain and Britain’s territories against France, Hanover was a key point of interest. It was taken by the French in 1757, but the French were driven out the following year. One of the major battles was the Battle of Minden, where a force of Anglo-Germans, numbering around 37,000, defeated a French army of around 44,000 men.

In North America, the British and the French fought in what is called the French and Indian War. In Canada and Europe, this part of the conflict is seen as part of the Seven Years’ War, while in the United States, it is seen as a separate conflict. The British and French gathered alliances of Native American tribes and fought all over what is now the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada.

The French and Indian War was a disaster for the French. It resulted in the loss of all French territory east of the Mississippi to Britain, which also gained Florida from the Spanish.

On the other side of the world, the French fought the British in the Third Carnatic War (1757–1763). The Battle of Wandiwash put an end to the war, as well as French hopes of gaining control over the Indian subcontinent.

In the seas, the navies of both countries clashed numerous times, and the British succeeded in defeating an attempted French invasion of Great Britain.

While the American Revolutionary War was primarily a conflict between Britain and American separatists, France played a major role in supporting the rebels and fighting against the British. The French navy played a vital part in securing victory against the British and Loyalist forces.

There were numerous naval engagements in which the British and French squared off without the help of their allies. The Battle of Chesapeake in 1781 stands out as possibly the greatest of all these engagements. The French victory here prevented the British from supplying Cornwallis’ army. As a result, an entire British army was forced to surrender, putting an end to the American Revolutionary War and signaling victory for the rebels.

This achievement would not have been possible without the support of the French.

12. 1792-1802: The French Revolutionary Wars

Following the French Revolution and the destruction of the French monarchy, the other European powers eyed France with concern. They either wished to stop the revolutionary chaos or capitalize on France’s collapse.

The wars were split into two major parts. The War of the First Coalition took place from 1792 and 1797, and the War of the Second Coalition from 1798 to 1801. Both times, Britain and its allies fought against the newly created French Republic.

This period saw rapid expansion of the French Republic into an empire that Britain and its allies sought desperately to contain.

The battles raged worldwide, from Europe to North America and the Caribbean to Asia and Africa. As Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power, these wars merged into the Napoleonic Wars.

From 1803 to 1815, Europe was thrown into turmoil as the forces of France under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte humbled the military powers, conquering much of the continent.

Britain and France clashed innumerable times during this period, on both land and sea.

The action at the Battle of Trafalgar put a stop to Napoleon’s plans to invade Britain. The British fleet won a decisive battle against a Franco-Spanish fleet, stamping Britain’s supremacy at sea.

On land, the British were successful in their campaigns against the French in Iberia from 1808 to 1814 in what is known as the Peninsular War. British and Spanish resistance to French rule, along with the disaster of the French campaign in Russia, led to the collapse of Napoleon’s empire. He was exiled to Elba, a small island in the Mediterranean, in April 1814.

In March 1815, Napoleon escaped Elba and landed in France. French soldiers flocked to his cause and thus began the Hundred Days, during which Napoleon sought a decisive blow against the Prussians, as well as the British and Coalition forces under British command.

On June 16, the French defeated the Prussians at Ligny and fought the British, Dutch, and other members of the Seventh Coalition to a standstill at Quatre Bras. These battles, however, were far from the final word in the campaign. On June 18, the armies would clash at Waterloo, and the allied forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal Blücher would gain the final victory over Napoleon.

This drew to a close the era which historically encapsulates the Anglo-French Wars.

It is a common misconception that the last war between France and England ended in 1815 with the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. It is true that this event ushered in an era of peace between the two nations and signified an end to the Anglo-French Wars, but the two nations would take up arms against each other far more recently.

During the Second World War, France was completely defeated by Germany and split in two. German forces occupied the northern half and the western coast, while the south operated as an independent nation. Vichy France—for the seat of government was located in the town of Vichy—was an ally of the Axis forces and, thus, an enemy of the United Kingdom.

Current relations between Britain and France suggest the likelihood of a resumption of conflict between these two countries is highly unlikely. The rivalry that occurred on the battlefields is now played out in the stadiums and arenas as France and England attempt to get the better of each other in sports and other cultural enterprises.