Introduction: The French involvement in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) is not only significant for the progress of the war itself but also a pivotal moment for France. Although French intervention in the war helped turn the tide in favor of the Americans, the debt it incurred would lead to what would become the French Revolution (1789-1799).

Tensions between France and Britain have existed for centuries and have recently been exacerbated by France's crushing defeat in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). Rising pro-American sentiment combined with nostalgia for the great heroes of French history fueled the French public's desire for war, which the government of King Louis XVI (reigned 1774-1792) saw as an ideal way to regain power in France Lost some prestige and power after defeat.

The victory of France and its American allies, cemented by the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, reaffirmed France's status as a military power and saw the independence of the United States. However, French intervention severely damaged its finances, and its government proved incapable of solving the problem. Problems caused by debt and continued state spending were one of the most immediate causes of the French Revolution and the collapse of the French Ancien Regime.

1. Patriots and Politics

The end of the Seven Years' War in 1763 would have far-reaching consequences, with ripples that would affect the rest of the 18th century and even the course of world history. One of these effects can be seen in the culmination of the debts the British government incurred in winning the war. To service this debt, the British Parliament imposed various taxes on its thirteen American colonies throughout the remainder of the 1760s and early 1770s. Part of Parliament's rationale for these taxes was that wars had been started in defense of these colonies and they should be made to help pay for their consequences. Resistance to these taxes by the American public, especially the landlord class, was a major factor in the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775.

A second effect of the end of the Seven Years' War can be seen in defeating France. The Peace of 1763 deprived France of most of its North American colonies, most importantly of Canada. Ceding Canada to Britain was not much of a loss, as the colony had become something of a financial burden in recent years, but damage to France's status and prestige as a great power was a concern. The Seven Years' War is just the latest in a series of conflicts between France and Great Britain stretching back all the way to 1689, which some modern historians have dubbed the Second Hundred Years' War (1689-1815). As a result, France's defeat by Britain was particularly embarrassing, and many French officials soon began to find excuses to retaliate against Britain.

With Louis XVI (1754-1793) ascending the French throne in 1774, the excuse seemed to be on the horizon. Tensions between Britain and its thirteen colonies were almost at a boiling point, and many of Lewis's ministers wanted to be involved in the upcoming operation. In 1776, as the outbreak of hostilities led to the declaration of independence for the colonies, the French foreign minister, the Comte de Vergennes (1719-1787), declared that "providence had appointed this moment for England's humiliation" and worked to persuade the new king.

Hawkish leanings like Comte de Vilgen's came from a calm, calculated bid for power, but that wasn't the case for the French populace, many of whom genuinely supported the American Revolution and wanted revenge on their opponents. Many in Anglo-French aristocratic circles had come to view America through a romanticized lens, seeing it as a renewed society detached from the cynical and fragile of the old world, whose settlers possessed the admirable qualities of innocence and liberty. Thomas Jefferson's (1743-1826) Declaration of Independence's commitment to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness echoed similar Enlightenment ideals popular in France.

American leaders such as George Washington (1732-1799) were highly regarded among the French, but perhaps no American was as famous as the American ambassador to France, Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). Playing to the French stereotype that the New World was a place of freedom and innocence, Franklin entertained audiences in an unassuming brown coat and began wearing a beaver hat. Aware of the thirst for scientific study among the French elite, Franklin built on his reputation as a scientific mind and soon published his journal, Poor Richard's Almanac. Franklin's image as an enlightened, educated, and unpretentious American gave the French public what they wanted. At the height of his fame, Franklin left his home in Paris flocked by adoring fans, and his likeness, which appeared on dolls, snuff bottles, and inkwells, was once more recognizable than that of kings.

As the Revolutionary War began, the French began showing their support with prints commemorating America's victory over Britain, and French socialites soon became obsessed with the number 13 in solidarity with the 13 colonies; they would meet in groups of 13, each wearing the insignia of one of the 13 colonies and then toasting America's victory 13 times.

French popular support for the war came from a revival of its own patriotism. Many French responded to the defeat of 1763 by looking nostalgically to historical French heroes. Figures such as Henry IV of France (reigned 1589-1610) and Joan of Arc (reigned 1412-1431) were the most popular figures, along with more recent heroes such as the Marquis of Montcalm (reigned 1712-1759 ). In the words of the scholar Simon Schama, the publication of a historical anthology celebrating the portraits of these French greats created "a new, dedicated hero of the French pantheon" (Schama, 32). High levels of patriotism and anti-British sentiment can also be seen on stage, with playwright Pierre de Belloy's 1765 play The Siege of Calais depicting French martyrs fighting in an invading Britain. Sacrifice his life in human wrath. The play, which casts Brits as villains, was hugely popular, drawing 19,000 viewers during its premiere.

While French ministers such as Comte de Virgen and the public were keen to take action, there were still those who thought intervention was a bad idea. French Auditor General Anne-Robert Jacques Turgot was aware of France's debt burden from previous wars and predicted that France would not be able to cope financially with another war. In 1776, Turgot denounced Count Wilgen's plans to intervene in America, warning that such a war would permanently destroy any hope of financial reform, and predicting that "the first shot will bankrupt the country" (Doyle, 66). Turgot's prescient warnings fell on deaf ears, and he was dismissed in May 1776.

2. Help Americans

In 1776, the Continental Congress, the governing body of the 13 colonies, sent Connecticut lawyer Silas Deane to Paris, entrusting him with negotiating French support. Silas Dean meets Earl Wilgen and tells him that the Americans theoretically have enough men to defeat the British, but they need ammunition, arms, and money. Seeing this as a relatively low-cost way to fight the British, the Count of Wilgen set up a private trading company to secretly funnel uniforms, ammunition, and surplus French weapons left over from the Seven Years' War to the Americans in exchange for American products, such as tobacco, cotton, and whale oil.

When the Americans under George Washington suffered setbacks at the Battle of Long Island, Congress realized that this aid was not enough and sent Dean back to Fergenes to negotiate a stronger French alliance. Unable to commit to direct war with Britain, Vergennes agreed to send French officers to train American troops in exchange for these officers taking senior positions in the Continental Army and replacing Washington as commander of the Continental Army by the French generalissimo. It was Victor-François, 2nd Duke de Broglie, who had this order in mind for the Count of Virgen, who was ordered to propose a list of officers to present to the Dean for consideration by the Continental Army. One of the officers de Brogue intended to recommend to Dean was a young and ambitious nobleman, Gilbert du Mortier, Marquis of Lafayette (1757-1834).

Fergena's secret plan to aid the Americans was initially opposed by Louis XVI. Remembering Turgot's warning, Louis XVI was still reluctant to provoke war against Britain. The Count of Virgen felt it was France's duty to defeat England at all costs, and reminded the king that England was France's natural enemy and that his politically constant and most cherished purpose was: if not to destroy France, at least to overthrow, humiliate, and destroy All his means of undermining British power and greatness were just, legal, even necessary (Unger, 19).

Persuaded by his minister's words, the king changed course and approved the plan, but British agents discovered Earl Wilgen's plan. When French officers were threatened with being allowed to go to America, Louis XVI backed down. Despite the king's subsequent order prohibiting and imprisoning any French officer from venturing in America, Lafayette smuggled out of France aboard the Victoire. After arriving in the colonies, Lafayette was awarded the rank of Major General of the Continental Army. He made great military exploits and became one of Washington's right-hand men. Other French officers would follow suit, though Vergennes' plot to replace Washington with de Broglie ultimately fell through, as Washington soon regained his popularity.

Lafayette's heroism, the public's desire for war, and the persuasion of the likes of Franklin and Vergenes soon made Louis XVI more inclined to war. When news of the Americans' stunning victory at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777 rekindled enthusiasm for the American Revolution in France, Louis finally allowed Fergena to negotiate a military alliance with the Americans.

3. The Bourbon War

Having finally achieved his goal of drawing France into the American war, Vergenes sprang into action. On February 6, 1778, France recognized the independence of the United States and signed a treaty of alliance with it. Allied with the Spanish Bourbons and the Dutch Republic, Felgennes painted Britain as the aggressor, declaring that this new alliance was only intervening to preserve American independence. By March, France and Great Britain were officially at war. Although part of the American Revolutionary War, the specific conflict between Britain and France during this period is also known as: the Anglo-French War of 1778 or the Bourbon War.

Early French involvement in the war proved unsuccessful. In the summer of 1778, a fleet commanded by the Earl of Destin arrived in British-controlled waters off New York but was unable to enter the port and attack the city. Durstein then sailed to Newport, Rhode Island, hoping to unite with the Americans and capture the city. But the attack failed due to bad weather and a lack of cooperation between French and American soldiers. Durstein returned the following year, this time against British-controlled Savannah, Georgia. After a failed naval bombardment, Destin launched a ground attack but was also repulsed. That same year plans to invade mainland Britain involving an army of 30,000 men under Lafayette's command, which was to be crossed by a Spanish fleet across the English Channel, were thwarted by an outbreak of smallpox among the Spanish crew and by stormy weather.

In 1780, Count Rochambeau led 6,000 French soldiers to land in Rhode Island, and the situation improved significantly. Unlike Destin, who refused to take orders from the Americans as an aristocrat, Rochambeau put his aristocratic feelings aside and followed the command of General Washington. After an American force commanded by Lafayette trapped a larger British force in the port village of Yorktown, Washington and Rochambeau joined forces to their advantage; while Washington moved in by land to reinforce Lafayette, the French navy Cut off the British from the sea. The surrender of this British force in October 1781 was a decisive moment that effectively ended the American War.

However, with the addition of France, Spain, and the Netherlands, the North American theater proved to be one of many, extending the war to a global scale. On June 24, 1779, a combined French and Spanish Bourbon army laid siege to the British at Gibraltar. The siege would continue long after Yorktown had decided on the North American theater of operations, and the last major attack on Gibraltar would not come until September 1782. The siege was not lifted until February 1783. The war also spread to the Caribbean and India, where the two great powers still have colonies. After the victory at Yorktown, the French navy occupied Dominica, Grenada, and Saint Vincent and Tobago in the West Indies, before being intercepted by the British fleet at the Battle of Saintes in April 1782. French during the war. In India, the conflict between Britain and France led the British to pursue the French ally, the Kingdom of Mysore, sparking the Second Anglo-Mysore War in 1778. The Siege of Goodlore, which began in July 1783, was one of the last British actions and the war did not end until preliminary peace talks were announced.

As conflicts rage on in many different parts of the world, the need for more funding becomes increasingly important. The Geneva banker Jacques Necker (1732-1804), appointed Louis XVI's finance minister in 1776, was responsible for raising these funds. Determined not to raise taxes, Necker financed French intervention in the war through loans. From 1777 until his resignation in 1781, Necker raised loans of 520 million lives, saddling an already heavily indebted country with even more debt. After resigning, his successor, Joly de Fleury, felt the need to raise taxes and raised another 232 million lives. By the end of the war in September 1783, France had spent more than 1.6 billion lives fighting Britain.

4. Consequences

The 1783 Treaty of Paris did not return to France. All territories captured in the Revolutionary War were returned to their original owners, but France retained Tobago and part of the Senegal River region. Spain regained Florida and Menorca, but Gibraltar remained under British control. Of course, the independence of the United States was recognized, and officially became a country.

For all intents and purposes, France appears to have achieved everything it set out to do. It both embarrassed Britain and stripped it of its 13 colonies, all while restoring its status as a great power. King Louis XVI, impressed by the performance of the French navy during the war, continued to fund the military port of Cherbourg, which could theoretically provide a base for future invasions of Britain. This will prove to be a costly endeavor with little success.

For their part, France owed huge debts for their intervention in the American Revolutionary War. Necker's policy of no tax hikes may have endeared him to the public, but it did nothing to ease the state's financial burden. In fact, Necker even published a French financial report in February 1781, called Compte rendu au roi (Report to the King), in which he reported that ordinary revenue exceeded expenditure by more than 10 million lives. However, Necker's report did not include special accounts, which contained the true cost of the war. Had this figure been released, it would have indicated that France was running a serious deficit.

The American Revolution also continued to be beloved by the French public. Many French still see the Revolution as the embodiment of Enlightenment ideals. Patriotism in France predated the American Revolution, but the success of this cause proved that change was indeed possible.

It is doubtful that the Americans would have been able to defeat the British without the support of France. However, the effects of the war on France were almost entirely negative. Despite regaining some prestige and glory, France did not weaken Britain as much as it had hoped and saddled itself with debts of more than a billion lives. The war and its attendant expenses were fatal to the French monarchy. Less than six years after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, the continued decline of French finances led to the start of the French Revolution.