From A.D. 1337, King Philip VI of France announced the confiscation of Duke Gina of British King Edward III, which led the latter to declare the right to inherit the French throne. Until 1453, Britain lost Bordeaux, which was called the first hundred-year war between Britain and France.
The Hundred Years' War directly shaped the traumatic memory of the French, which was not only manifested in the destruction of the external British war, but also in the ineffective leadership of the French king.
Because the main battlefield is in the European continent, especially in the French territory, the slaughter and destruction of the French by Britain, which occupies most of the military superiority, is mainly reflected in their fighting, siege, "riding robbery", ransom extortion, robbery, "protection money", murder and arson and a series of other acts. In the decades after the outbreak of the war, France, once regarded as the strongest military power in Europe, was defeated by the brilliant tactics of British kings and generals, winning more with fewer.
1339, France, with twice the strength of the enemy, held its ground. After a month of stalemate, the two sides finally ended up with British withdrawal and looting and destroying French villages and towns along the way. At the Battle of Cresset, France, which was still in the cold weapon stage, was beaten out of the water by British gunpowder and lost its important port Calais. 14 15, due to lack of order and mobility, the French army lost the battle of Ginkul. As a direct result, during the period of 1420, Paris had to bow to Britain, and Normandy was occupied by the British.
At this point, France fell to the bottom in this century-long war composed of large and small battles. Since then, Joan of Arc, a girl from Orleans, led the French army to fight to the death and gradually turned the tide.
Not only is the external enemy too strong, but the reason why France has been passive for a long time after the start of the Hundred Years' War is more internal. On the one hand, France has a vast territory and a rich life, but its internal forces are seriously divided and it cannot be unified with the outside world.
Thanks to the new agricultural technology, France has vast arable land and a rapidly growing population. The French knight class is rich, maintaining the tradition of "chivalry", the largest standing army in Europe, and the most well-equipped.
Different from the British political system, although France does not have a single tax system and a consultative parliament, the French king has no financial troubles and can obtain sufficient funds through subsidies such as stove tax, export tax and salt tax.
Under this favorable condition, there were many vassals in France, and the dispute between Burgundy and Armagnac split France. Their mutual hatred even surpassed that of the British. What's more, Philip, the "good guy" in duke of burgundy, made an alliance with King Henry V to help him conquer France.
On the other hand, except for a wise monarch like Charles V, most French kings are embarrassed to lead French soldiers and civilians.
In the case that the number of people was dominant in many battles, French kings such as Philip VI chose to delay and avoid the war, and their villages and towns were looted by the British; Under the insane charles vi, France and Britain signed the Trouvat Agreement, which is a shameful treaty and can be compared with the armistice agreement signed by Pattin and the Germans in 1940; Inspired by Joan of Arc, when the French jointly dealt with the British army, the prince was indecisive and did not rescue the captured heroine.
If the above factors can be regarded as "man-made disasters" in France's repeated defeats in the Hundred Years' War, then the Black Death is undoubtedly a "natural disaster". 1348 The Black Death, which broke out in Marseilles, immediately swept across the country, causing a large number of French deaths. This disaster not only brought disaster to France, but also crossed the English Channel, taking away the population of Britain13, resulting in land waste and a sharp drop in tax revenue. Under the double blow of population and capital, France and even Britain dare not launch large-scale military operations easily.
In addition to the knight class, the war spread to all classes, because it constantly increased taxes for the war and squeezed the peasant class; With the progress of the war, the British army "plundered on horseback" many times, and the personal and property of farmers were repeatedly violated. So1May 358, the Zechariah uprising broke out. Warring knights, speculative businessmen and unarmed peasants all took part in the Hundred Years' War. Their painful personal experiences and memories of being slaughtered lasted for more than a century, which greatly shocked the hearts of the French.
For the British, the memories brought by the Hundred Years' War are sweet first and bitter later. Under the leadership of the warrior king, the British army dominated the war process, winning more with less and defeating the French army many times; Compared with France, where there are many princes and frequent internal disputes, most of the nobles in Britain are loyal to the king and wholeheartedly assist the young master. However, due to the long-distance attack of overseas operations, especially the lack of sufficient financial support and the struggling resistance of the French army, the British army finally lost to Europe, and later even the important port of Calais was recovered by France.
From the history books written by the British and Shakespeare's historical plays, many heroic and fearless king images were left, which created sweet memories for the British in the first half of the Hundred Years War. In order to regain the right to inherit the French throne, Edward III started a war, and won again and again with the command of genius and reasonable tactics, thus forcing France to sign a contract in favor of the latter.
Prince of Wales, named "Edward the Black Prince" because of the black armor, took over his father's banner and made great achievements in his short life, forcing France to sign the Bretigny Peace Treaty, ceding the complete sovereignty of many areas such as Guine to Britain, while the king gave up his claim to the French throne; When the powerful French king Charles V repeatedly recovered lost territory, Britain was on the defensive because of the early death of the black prince Edward and the old age of Edward III. With the sudden death of Charles V, all the monarchs in Britain and France named "Charlie" were minor children.
After charles ii, the pro-French king of England, was replaced by Henry of Bolingbrook, the first monarch of Lancaster dynasty, known as Henry IV in history, could have created a legend by taking advantage of the internal turmoil in France, but his death took away his chance. His successor, Henry V, is regarded as the legendary king of England. During his heroic conquest, he won the French throne for his son by winning the Battle of Yinkul.
Henry V died peacefully at the age of 35, and Henry VI (Henry II of France) took over Britain and France when he was still a baby. This could be a disaster. Fortunately, with the loyal help of Prince John, Duke of Bedford, and the Earl of Salisbury, Britain won the most brilliant seven years of the Hundred Years' War (65438).
Relying on a wise monarch, loyal ministers and militant nobles, Britain was on the strong side for most of the Hundred Years' War, which was in sharp contrast with France. Abandoned by Burgundy allied with Britain, and Henry VI is a weak boy with no talent, Britain's territory in Europe, except the port of Calais, was finally retaken by France, which shocked the whole Britain. 1June, 953, Bordeaux, the capital of gill net, surrendered 191October, and the Hundred Years' War ended quietly.
The rise and fall of Britain in the Hundred Years' War was caused by many factors, and this ending was a disaster for Britain.
Judging from the motive of the war, although Edward III's claim to the French throne was the direct cause of the war, the pursuit of material wealth by nobles and even soldiers who volunteered to join, and even the king himself, may occupy a more important position.
British scholars believe that looting in the old war is a very common thing, but as Seward said, it is actually as barbaric as the British, even looting the church, which has gone far beyond the looting in the Middle Ages. This fanaticism and out-of-control behavior spread throughout the British army, from ordinary soldiers to nobles and kings. The root cause of this phenomenon is that the king of England lacks funds from beginning to end. Natural and man-made disasters continue, resulting in repeated shrinkage of national tax revenue.
Different from France, the king of England was constrained by the Senate and Parliament and could not raise funds in time, so it was very difficult to advance the war, and the king owed a lot of foreign debts. In addition, there was a strong religious fanaticism in the war.
The British attributed the smooth progress in the early days of the war to God's blessing, and the church tried to end both sides of the war many times. However, in 1378, there was a great division in the western church that lasted for half a century, and the international mediation mechanism failed.
In the frenzied atmosphere of war, the British ignored their own financial constraints and launched wars again and again, which was unsustainable and eventually lost the war that lasted for more than a century.
The Hundred Years' War between Britain and France had a far-reaching impact on both countries. For the French, the war has caused great damage and direct trauma to their territory and residents. The memory of this massacre has been with the French people for a long time. Their hatred for the British people has a long history and played an important role in the upsurge of their nationalist sentiment.
For the British, the most important product of the war is the acquisition of huge wealth, and its side effect is the rise of parliamentary power. The king of England was obstructed by the command meeting and parliament everywhere, and constantly made compromises to get financial support to maintain the war.
In addition, the final failure of the Hundred Years' War and the bankruptcy of the government made the British people angry, pointing directly at Lancaster Palace where King Henry VI was located, which directly triggered the rise of the York family, and then led to the outbreak of wars of the roses, and the history of Britain entered a new chapter.
In a word, after this war, France and Britain have been reshaped and started to move towards a new era with the memories of the old times.