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116-976: Political objectives were heavily influenced by 19th century Anglo-French geo-strategic rivalries , namely the consolidation and expansion of French colonial possessions, the containment of Britain's colony of Upper Burma and the suppression of British economic interference on the Southeast Asian subcontinent. Over the course of two years the expedition, which came to be known as the Mekong Exploration Commission traversed almost 9,000 km (5,600 mi) from Saigon through 19th century Vietnam , Cambodia , Laos , Thailand , and Myanmar into China 's Yunnan Province, finally arriving in Shanghai and mapping over 5,800 km (3,600 mi) of previously unknown terrain. Despite its explicit political and economic connotations, long after

232-458: A "prouesse d'acrobatie nautique" ("a feat of nautical acrobatics"). Pierre-Paul Lagrandière's journey up the river in 1895 was ultimately terminated at the Tang-ho rapids (also called Kemarat Falls, 145 km (90 mi) of raging white water in the former Shan State , where modern day Myanmar borders Laos), and neither of the two vessels tried to ascend the river again. In 1897 a new railway

348-526: A battleground between the two powers. The Western Design of Oliver Cromwell intended to build up an increasing British presence in North America, beginning with the acquisition of Jamaica from the Spanish Empire in 1652. The first British settlement on continental North America was founded in 1607, and by the 1730s these had grown into thirteen separate colonies . The French had settled

464-549: A close relationship, especially on defence and foreign policy issues; however they disagreed on several other matters, most notably the direction of the European Union. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020, following the referendum held on 23 June 2016, on Brexit . Relations have since deteriorated, with disagreements surrounding Brexit and the English Channel migrant crisis . In

580-532: A consequence, Caesar felt compelled to invade, in an attempt to subdue Britain. Rome was reasonably successful at conquering Gaul, Britain and Belgica; and all three areas became provinces of the Roman Empire . For the next five hundred years, there was much interaction between the two regions, as both Britain and France were under Roman rule. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire , this

696-548: A critical moment in the history of Anglo-French relations, which laid the foundations for the dominance of the British Empire during the next two and a half centuries. Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat Justin Napoléon Samuel Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat , 4th Marquis of Chasseloup-Laubat (29 May 1805, Alessandria , Department of Marengo , French Empire – 29 March 1873, Paris , France )

812-541: A critical view, arguing regarding the alliance: The English and French were engaged in numerous wars in the following centuries. They took opposite sides in all of the Italian Wars between 1494 and 1559. An even deeper division set in during the English Reformation , when most of England converted to Protestantism and France remained Roman Catholic. This enabled each side to see the other as not only

928-424: A few words. It was desired, first, that the old maps should be rectified, and the navigability of the river tried, it being our hope that we might bind together French Cochin-China and the western provinces of China by means of it. Were the rapids, of whose existence we knew, an absolute barrier? Were the islands of Khon an impassable difficulty? Was there any truth in the opinion of geographers who, believed that there

1044-465: A foreign evil but also a heretical one. In both countries there was intense civil religious conflict. Because of the oppression by Roman Catholic King Louis XIII of France , many Protestant Huguenots fled to England. Similarly, many Catholics fled from England to France. Scotland had a very close relationship with France in the 16th century, with intermarriage at the highest level. Henry VIII of England had initially sought an alliance with France, and

1160-658: A minor role as rapporteur of the law on the organisation of the army in 1872, and died one year later in Paris. He is buried at the Père Lachaise Cemetery . On 18 August 1862 at Saint Augustin , he married Marie-Louise Pilié (5 December 1841, New Orleans – April 1921, Paris ), a distant relative of his, whose family was from Saintonge, but established in Louisiana . She was the daughter of Louis Armand Pilié and of Rose Elisabeth Eleonore Lapice de Bergondy, and

1276-655: A month after Rufus' death, by which time Henry was firmly in control of England, and his accession had been recognised by France's King Philip . Robert was, however, able to reassert his control over Normandy, though only after giving up the County of Maine. England and Normandy were now in the hands of the two brothers, Henry and Robert. In July 1101, Robert launched an attack on England from Normandy. He landed successfully at Portsmouth, and advanced inland to Alton in Hampshire. There he and Henry came to an agreement to accept

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1392-545: A niece of Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard . She fostered her husband's career by playing the role of a social hostess for the high society of the Second Empire. They had two sons, who both were notable in sport: The Marquis of Chasseloup-Laubat was President of the Société de géographie from 1864 to his death, and used also that honorary position to propagate his colonial agenda. A bronze statue in his honour

1508-621: A problem of more practical and immediate importance" and "At this moment, the commercial question won out as the impracticalities of continuing the scientific mapping of the Mekong became apparent." After several months strenuous march in torrential rains, through thick jungle, over rugged and mountainous terrain on 3,000 m (9,800 ft) high narrow rocky paths, the men arrived at the Jinsha River in January 1868. South of Dali-fu ,

1624-672: A promise he had made to return the territories captured by the French in exchange for a loose French protectorate over the whole of Vietnam. He threatened Napoleon III with his resignation and that of the whole cabinet, forcing him to order the cancellation of the agreement in June 1864. Chasseloup-laubat conceived the idea of conquest in the Far east, and asserted in February 1863, "it is a real empire that we need to create for ourselves". In 1864, all

1740-408: A route to China, the expedition continued to ascend upstream into Yunnan, China. The focus had shifted to scientific recordings, surveys and notes on topography, physical geography, demographics and social observations of the river valley. De Carné reflects on the shifting of motivations for the expedition: The principal results which were expected from the exploration of the Mekong may be summed up in

1856-561: A worsening financial situation as their vulnerable global trade was under increasing threat. The English pulled out of the alliance in 1674, ending their war with the Netherlands and actually joining them against the French in the final year of the Franco-Dutch War in 1678. During the course of the century a sharp diversion in political philosophies emerged in the two states. In England King Charles I had been executed during

1972-566: The Battle of Bremule he defeated the French. Louis was obliged to accept Henry's rule in Normandy, and accepted his son William Adelin 's homage for the fief in 1120. During the reign of the closely related Plantagenet dynasty, which was based in its Angevin Empire , and at the height of the empires size, 1/3 of France was under Angevin control as well as all of England. However, almost all of

2088-632: The Battle of the Dunes (1658), but after the monarchy was restored in England, Charles II sold it back to the French in 1662 for £320,000. Following the conclusion of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, and as France finally overcame its rebellious "princes of the blood" and Protestant Huguenots, the long fought wars of the Fronde (civil wars) finally came to an end. At

2204-722: The British Isles . At the conclusion of the English Civil War , the newly formed Republic under Oliver Cromwell , "the Commonwealth of England" joined sides with the French against Spain during the last decade of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659). The English were particularly interested in the troublesome city of Dunkirk and in accordance with the alliance the city was given to the English after

2320-490: The Dukes of Normandy , so relations were somewhat complicated between the countries. Though they were dukes ostensibly under the king of France, their higher level of organisation in Normandy gave them more de facto power. In addition, they were kings of England in their own right; England was not officially a province of France, nor a province of Normandy. This war was fought between the years 1076 to 1077. In 1087, following

2436-533: The Dutch Republic . Some observers saw the frequent conflicts between the two states during the 18th century as a battle for control of Europe, though most of these wars ended without a conclusive victory for either side. France largely had greater influence on the continent while Britain were dominant at sea and trade, threatening French colonies abroad. From the 1650s, the New World increasingly became

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2552-565: The Field of the Cloth of Gold saw a face to face meeting between him and King Francis I of France . Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587) was born to King James V and his French second wife, Mary of Guise and became Queen when her father was killed in the wars with England. Her mother became Regent, brought in French advisors, and ruled Scotland in the French style. David Ditchburn and Alastair MacDonald argue: Queen Elizabeth I, whose own legitimacy

2668-713: The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793–1815), in which coalitions of European powers, financed by London, fought a series of wars against the French First Republic , the First French Empire and its client states, culminating in the defeat of Napoleon in 1815. For several decades the peace was uneasy with fear of French invasion in 1859 and during the later rivalry for African colonies . Nevertheless, peace has generally prevailed since Napoleon I, and friendly ties between

2784-521: The Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of France . France and England were subject to repeated Viking invasions , and their foreign preoccupations were primarily directed toward Scandinavia. Such cross-Channel relations as England had were directed toward Normandy, a quasi-independent fief owing homage to the French king; Emma , daughter of Normandy's Duke Richard , became queen to two English kings in succession; two of her sons, Harthacnut and Edward

2900-754: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defence alliance and are permanent members of the UN Security Council . France has been a member of the European Union (EU), and its predecessors, since creation as the European Economic Community in 1957. In the 1960s, relations deteriorated due to French President Charles de Gaulle 's concerns over the special relationship between the UK and

3016-571: The Ohio Country and in 1753, a British expedition there led by George Washington clashed with a French force. Shortly afterwards the French and Indian War broke out, initially taking place only in North America but in 1756 becoming part of the wider Seven Years' War in which Britain and France were part of opposing coalitions. The war has been called the first " world war ", because fighting took place on several different continents. In 1759,

3132-574: The Salian Franks to create the Frankish kingdoms. Christianity as a religion spread through all areas involved during this period, replacing the Germanic, Celtic and pre-Celtic forms of worship. The deeds of chieftains in this period would produce the legendaria around King Arthur and Camelot – now believed to be a legend based on the deeds of many early medieval British chieftains – and

3248-750: The Union of the Crowns . The historical rivalry between the two nations was seeded in the Capetian-Plantagenet rivalry over the French holdings of the Plantagenets in France. After the French victory in the Hundred Years' War , England would never again establish a foothold in French territory. Rivalry continued with many Anglo-French wars . The last major conflict between the two was

3364-535: The status quo of the territorial division. Henry was freed from his homage to Robert, and agreed to pay the Duke an annual sum (which, however, he only paid until 1103). Following increasing tensions between the brothers, and evidence of the weakness of Robert's rule, Henry I invaded Normandy in the spring of 1105, landing at Barfleur. The ensuing Anglo-Norman war was longer and more destructive, involving sieges of Bayeux and Caen ; but Henry had to return to England in

3480-585: The 1869 Geographical Congress in Antwerp . In 1870 he received the prestigious Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in London, the highest award an explorer of any nation could possibly receive. The institution's President Sir Roderick Murchison stated, "...France has the fullest right to be proud of these doings of her gallant naval officers..." Garnier continued his travels in

3596-474: The 21st century, France and Britain, though they have chosen different paths and share many overlooked similarities (with roughly the same population, economic size, commitment to democracy, diplomatic clout, and as heads of former global empires. ), are often still referred to as "historic rivals", with a perceived ever-lasting competition. French author José-Alain Fralon characterised the relationship between

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3712-571: The Angevin empire was lost to Philip II of France under Richard the Lionheart , John and Henry III of England. The latter finally gave the English a clear identity as an Anglo-Saxon people under a firmly Anglicized (though Francophone, but not French), crown. Henry III was an admirer of Edward the Confessor, and is recorded to have made an effort to learn Old English, as would Edward I. While

3828-512: The British enjoyed victories over the French in Europe, Canada and India, severely weakening the French position around the world. In 1762, the British captured the cities of Manila and Havana from Spain, France's strongest ally, which led ultimately to a peace settlement the following year that saw a large number of territories come under British control. The Seven Years' War is regarded as

3944-584: The Cambodian court, that further upstream was another succession of rapids, between Pak Moun and Kemarat , around a hundred kilometers long, known as the Tang-Ho rapids or the Falls of Kemarat, where the river constitutes the border between modern day Ubon Ratchathani Province of Thailand and Savannakhet Province , Laos. In spite of the rapids, which for the moment ended any plans and efforts of establishing

4060-523: The Channel. The English, although already politically united, for the first time found pride in their language and identity, while the French united politically. Several of the most famous Anglo-French battles took place during the Hundred Years' War: Crécy , Poitiers , Agincourt , Orléans , Patay , Formigny and Castillon . Major sources of French pride stemmed from their leadership during

4176-584: The Colonies , in March 1859 he was himself put at the head of the Ministry in replacement of Prince Napoléon . Belonging to a generation of new politicians working to give a coherence to French colonial policy, he was one of the few ministers of Napoleon III who had not already held ministerial offices when the Second Empire was established. Just one month later, he personally visited Algeria, which he had known at

4292-519: The Confessor later became kings of England. Edward spent much of his early life (1013–1041) in Normandy and, as king, favoured certain Normans with high office, such as Robert of Jumièges , who became Archbishop of Canterbury . This gradual Normanization of the realm set the stage for the Norman Conquest, in which Emma's brother's grandson, William , Duke of Normandy, gained the kingdom in

4408-731: The Conservatives of the Party of Order and from 10 April to 26 October 1851 briefly served a first time as Minister of Marine under the Presidency of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte . After the coup d'état of December 1851, he was appointed a member of the consultative commission replacing the Chambre des Députés, and was one of the candidates of the government in Charente-Inférieure at the election of February 1852, where he

4524-738: The English Civil War for exceeding his powers, and later King James II had been overthrown in the Glorious Revolution . In France, the decades long Fronde (civil wars), had seen the French Monarchy triumphant and as a result the power of the monarchs and their advisors became almost absolute and went largely unchecked. England and France fought each other in the War of the League of Augsburg from 1688 to 1697 which set

4640-589: The English again formed an alliance with the French (in accordance with the Secret Treaty of Dover of 1670) against their common commercial rival, the rich Dutch Republic – the two nations fighting side by side during the Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678) and Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1674). This war was extremely unpopular in England. The English had been soundly beaten at sea by the Dutch and were in

4756-403: The English and French had been frequently acrimonious, they had always had a common culture and little fundamental difference in identity. Nationalism had been minimal in days when most wars took place between rival feudal lords on a sub-national scale. The last attempt to unite the two cultures under such lines was probably a failed French-supported rebellion to depose Edward II. It was also during

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4872-442: The English monarchs continued to style themselves as Kings of France until 1800. France and Scotland agreed to defend each other in the event of an attack on either from England in several treaties , the most notable of which were in 1327 and 1490. There had always been intermarriage between the Scottish and French royal households, but this solidified the bond between the royals even further. Scottish historian J. B. Black took

4988-476: The European state system, based on balance-of-power politics that no one country would become dominant. Robert Walpole , the key British policy maker, prioritised peace in Europe because it was good for his trading nation and its growing British Empire . British historian G. M. Trevelyan argues: But "balance" needed armed enforcement. Britain played a key military role as "balancer." The goals were to bolster Europe's balance of power system to maintain peace that

5104-404: The French army in November 1836, before turning back to France and reassuming his functions at the Conseil d'État. In 1838 he was appointed a councillor at the Conseiller d'État. At the same time, he was also beginning a political career. On 3 September 1837, he was elected deputy of Charente-Inférieure , the Department where was situated the family seat, the château of La Gataudière, and he

5220-421: The French territories in southern Vietnam were declared to be the new French colony of Cochinchina . During his tenure as Minister of the Marine and the Colonies, he also modernised the French navy and inspired the creation at Brest of an institution for the orphans of the navy, placing it under the special protection of the Emperor. With the help of his wife, he was also an actor of the elaborate social life of

5336-409: The Gauls and Belgae from southeastern Britain offering assistance, some of whom even acknowledged the king of the Belgae as their sovereign. Although all the peoples concerned were Celts (as the Germanic Angles and Franks had not yet invaded either country that would later bear their names), this could arguably be seen as the first major example of Anglo-French co-operation in recorded history. As

5452-477: The Jacobites failed to overthrow the Hanoverian monarchs. The quarter century after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 was peaceful, with no major wars, and only a few secondary military episodes of minor importance. The main powers had exhausted themselves in warfare, with many deaths, disabled veterans, ruined navies, high pension costs, heavy loans and high taxes. Utrecht strengthened the sense of useful international law and inaugurated an era of relative stability in

5568-415: The Khone Falls, the men realized that the river was not at all navigable for any merchandise transport vessel and the steamboats had to be left behind. Still, the mission spent a week studying the falls, hoping to find a point where an average-sized river boat might be able to pass the cataracts or otherwise, whether the establishment of a lateral channel would be feasible. In spite of the "determination to put

5684-588: The Mekong and at least six volumes of observations. The expedition members cautiously observed the Lao principalities on both sides of the river, recorded political affiliations and noted the strong Siamese influence. The fact, that on the Bolaven Plateau , east of the river a Siamese official collected taxes caused great concern. Jules Hermand was sent to Bangkok in 1881 as "consul et commissaire" to counter Siam's influence, suppress Siamese-British collaboration and extend French control. Further surveys, military missions and expeditions followed, which helped to create

5800-426: The Middle Ages that a Franco-Scottish alliance, known as the Auld Alliance was signed by King John of Scotland and Philip IV of France . The English monarchy increasingly integrated with its subjects and turned to the English language wholeheartedly during the Hundred Years' War between 1337 and 1453. Though the war was in principle a mere dispute over territory, it drastically changed societies on both sides of

5916-433: The Norman barons, faced with a double loyalty to William's two sons, created a brief civil war in which an attempt was made to force Rufus off the English throne. With the failure of the rebellion, England and Normandy were clearly divided for the first time since 1066. Robert Curthose left on crusade in 1096, and for the duration of his absence Rufus took over the administration of Normandy. Soon afterwards (1097) he attacked

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6032-435: The Second Empire, a period popularly referred to as the fête impériale ("the Imperial festival"). On 13 February 1866, he gathered one of the most flamboyant receptions of the time, a masquerade ball during which, dressed as a Venetian noble, he received his 3000 guests (between whom the Emperor and the Empress) in the restored salons of the ministry, Rue Royale . The climax of the reception, which lasted until half past six in

6148-417: The United States. He repeatedly vetoed British entry into the European Communities , the predecessor to the EU, and withdrew France from NATO integrated command , arguing the alliance was too heavily dominated by the United States. In 1973, following de Gaulle's death, the UK entered the European Communities and in 2009 France returned to an active role in NATO. Since then, the two countries have experienced

6264-399: The Upper Mekong sector under Burmese rule. Shortly after the expedition left the Mekong and proceeded - on a much slower pace - on foot and oxcarts, that had been hired from local merchants. Progress, though was dragged even more by uncooperative official agents and the unpredictable local lords, who sporadically denied or granted permission to set foot on their lands. In August de Lagrée left

6380-421: The Vexin and the next year the County of Maine . Rufus succeeded in defeating Maine, but the war in the Vexin ended inconclusively with a truce in 1098. In August 1100, William Rufus was killed by an arrow shot while hunting. His younger brother, Henry Beauclerc immediately took the throne. It had been expected to go to Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, but Robert was away on a crusade and did not return until

6496-415: The Yangtze motivated the French colonial community in Saigon to speed up surveying the Mekong. Since 1857 a number of colonial officers seriously voted for a mission "into the unknown lands north of the Mekong delta", arguing that their "government underestimated the importance of such an expedition for the continuance of French colonial power." The eventual conquest and colonisation of northern Vietnam and

6612-469: The border to Thailand was considered proof of British rivalry and ambition. Only the refusal of Chinese authorities to allow him passage through Chinese-controlled territories ended McLeod's mission. Although unsuccessful, the event spurred fears that the British were about to win the race and close off Chinese trade to the French. Some historians, such as the Dutch author H.Th. Bussemaker have argued that these French colonial undertakings and acquisitions in

6728-520: The by now seriously disease-ridden and feverish men behind at the village of Mong Yawng in order to seek diplomatic support from the influential Shan States who might help with the mission's progress. Reunited after three weeks the expedition progressed and reached the borderlands to China by the end of September. On 7 October 1867 they crossed the Mekong via ferry, seeing the river for the last time. Once in China desperately needed clothes, shoes and equipment could be acquired and herbal remedies improved

6844-451: The classic Age of Discovery and the disappointment over the river's unsuitability as a trade highway, the expedition gained highest acclaim among scholars, in particular the Royal Geographical Society in London and "holds a special place in the European annals of discovery" as the first to reveal the Mekong valley region, its people, and southern China to Europeans. Having relieved the Siege of Saigon , Admiral Léonard Charner proclaimed

6960-461: The collective resignation of the cabinet in December 1869, Émile Ollivier did not include Chasseloup-Laubat in the new cabinet he formed on 2 January 1870. He remained a senator until the end of the Second Empire. After the fall of Napoléon III, Chasseloup-Laubat was elected once again a Deputy of Charente-Inférieure to the new National Assembly on 8 February 1871 and took his seat with the Orléanist parliamentary group, Centre droit . He still played

7076-400: The commander of the National Guard , Marquis de La Fayette , and despite the change of regime he remained at the Conseil d'État and was promoted inside its inner hierarchy. In 1836, he was appointed as an assistant to Jean-Jacques Baude , Royal commissary in Algeria , and worked at Alger , and then at Tunis , Bône and Constantine . He was present at the failed siege of Constantine by

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7192-424: The confiscation of the properties of the House of Orléans . He stayed a deputy until 1859, when he became a minister. On 25 May 1862, he was appointed a Senator of the Empire , a position he retained until the fall of the Empire in 1870. Chasseloup-Laubat was an enthusiastic proponent of French colonial imperialism . Member of the "Council of colonisation" which assisted the newly created Ministry for Algeria and

7308-402: The continent in alliance with other states such as Prussia and Austria as they were unable to fight France alone. Equally France, lacking a superior navy, was unable to launch a successful invasion of Britain. France lent support to the Jacobite pretenders who claimed the British throne, hoping that a restored Jacobite monarchy would be inclined to be more pro-French. Despite this support

7424-418: The countries by describing the British as "our most dear enemies". It is estimated that about 350,000 French people live in the UK , with approximately 200,000 Britons living in France . Both countries are members of the Council of Europe and NATO . France is a European Union member and the United Kingdom is a former European Union member . When Julius Caesar invaded Gaul , he encountered allies of

7540-467: The course of almost 1,500 km (930 mi). Passage up the Mekong past the Khone Falls was made in the mid-1890s by specially designed French steamboats, the Massie and the Lagrandière (named after governor Pierre-Paul Grandière). There had been unsuccessful attempts by other steamboats in the early-1890s to go up the falls via the river, but these two new vessels were dismantled and both taken over temporary rails and carried across Khone Island in

7656-406: The course of two years were published in four large volumes. They "filled a thousand pages, and included surveys, observations, logs of food purchases, bottles of wine on board" and served as basis for subsequent travels. The Red River and its valley became the focus of renewed reconnaissance activities in order to find a commercial entrance into China for the French colonial empire. Just by accident

7772-405: The difficult territories ahead and the region's politically unstable principalities affected appropriate future travel plans and the men's confidence. After much debate over the further route, the expedition left on 25 May 1867. On 18 June 1867 the men, whose health and condition had begun to seriously deteriorate and among whom malaria was widespread, left Siamese controlled territory and entered

7888-419: The establishment of a solely French-controlled trade route to China were considered necessary objectives as the vast Chinese empire with its enormous market was to become a potential source of a great commercial opportunity. Francis Garnier , the most ardent supporter of the expedition wrote "For a long time the gaze of the colony had been cast with curiosity and impatience towards the interior of Indo-China which

8004-489: The expedition as the discovery had created a popular mania around the prospect of a newly-discovered ancient civilization in the Far East." Disappointment soon set in after the expedition left the temple ruins, as only a few days later the men reached the Sambor rapids upstream of Kratie , the Prépatang and the Khone Falls in southern Laos, where at the Si Phan Don Islands the river splits into numerous channels with formidable rapids, waterfalls, currents and cataracts. At

8120-464: The first successful cross-Channel invasion since Roman times. Together with its new ruler, England acquired the foreign policy of the Norman dukes, which was based on protecting and expanding Norman interests at the expense of the French kings. Although William's rule over Normandy had initially had the backing of King Henry I of France , William's success had soon created hostility, and in 1054 and 1057, King Henry had twice attacked Normandy. However, in

8236-423: The flashpoint for several future wars. In 1087, William responded to border raids conducted by Philip's soldiers by attacking the town of Mantes , during the sack of which he received an accidental injury that turned fatal. With William's death, his realms were parted between his two sons (England to William Rufus , Normandy to Robert Curthose ) and the Norman-French border war concluded. Factional strains between

8352-625: The formal annexation of three provinces of Cochinchina into the French Empire on 31 July 1861. The event marks the beginning of the colonial era of France in Southeast Asia, followed by the founding of French Cochinchina in 1862 and the French protectorate over Cambodia in 1863. The government in Paris maintained a more realistic idea on these acquisitions than most of its colonial entrepreneurs as it became clear that Cochinchina

8468-649: The governor appointed the members of the Mekong Exploration Commission (or The Exploration Commission, fr.: Commission d'exploration du Mékong ) on 1 June 1866. The staff of the expedition, around 20 people, consisted of: Author John Keay provides a vivid image of the departing party in "The Mekong Exploration Commission, 1866–68: Anglo-French rivalry in South East Asia": "In two minuscule steam-driven gunboats, with an inordinate quantity of liquor, flour, guns and trade goods, plus all

8584-453: The hands of Burgundians and Englishmen, Jean de Dunois eventually forced the English out of all of France except Calais , which was only lost in 1558. Apart from setting national identities, the Hundred Years' War was the root of the traditional rivalry and at times hatred between the two countries. During this era, the English lost their last territories in France, except Calais, which would remain in English hands for another 105 years, though

8700-480: The immense Chinese market for French industrial goods." In 1865, the colonial governor of Saigon, Admiral Pierre-Paul de la Grandiere, won approval for the expedition from a reluctant Ministry of the Navy and the Colonies in Paris. "Throughout 1864, the French government had vacillated over whether to sustain their colonial possession in southern Vietnam or to abandon" this so far costly venture. On his return to Saigon,

8816-511: The island of Martinique who was once settled by the French and African slaves which became a prosperous French colony until it was changed six times by the British from 1762 until the Treaty of Paris in 1814 when it was ceded back to the French once more, which led the abolition of slavery on 27 April 1848. The French and British fought each other and made treaties with Native American tribes to gain control of North America. Both nations coveted

8932-405: The late summer, and it was not until the following summer that he was able to resume the conquest of Normandy. In the interim, Duke Robert took the opportunity to appeal to his liege lord, King Philip, but could obtain no aid from him. The fate of Robert and the duchy was sealed at the Battle of Tinchebray on 28 or 29 September 1106: Robert was captured and imprisoned for the rest of his life. Henry

9048-606: The long domination of the Plantagenet dynasty of French origin, decisively shaped the English language and led to early conflict between the two nations. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the Early Modern Period , France and England were often bitter rivals, with both nations' monarchs claiming control over France and France routinely allying against England with their other rival Scotland until

9164-592: The men's health. At Ssu-Mao , Yunnan the travellers were yet again halted, this time by the Panthay Rebellion . They now pondered over the dilemma of whether to continue exploring the Mekong, or to conduct a commercial survey of southern China and abandon the river. Carné wrote: "We were compelled by the Mussulman revolt to leave the Mekong, in order to gain the Songkoi ; to abandon geography, and solve

9280-565: The mid-eleventh century, there was a dispute over the English throne, and the French-speaking Normans , who were of Viking , Frankish , and Gallo-Roman stock, invaded England under their duke William the Conqueror and took over following the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and crowned themselves Kings of England . The Normans took control of the land and the political system. Feudal culture took root in England, and for

9396-613: The mission had discovered the potential of the Red River (Chinese: Hồng Hà, Vietnamese: Songkoi or Sông Cái), which flows from Dali in Yunnan across south-western China and Tonkin and exits via Hanoi and Haiphong into the Gulf of Tonkin . In 1872 de Carné wrote, [The Red River] "...promises to realize all the hopes and expectations which the Mekong destroyed..." Francis Garnier received an award to be shared with David Livingstone at

9512-635: The mission reached a tragic climax having learnt of the death of the expedition's leader, de Lagrée, who succumbed to an abscess of the liver at Hui-tse on 12 March 1868. Francis Garnier took command of the mission after de Lagrée's death and safely led the expedition to Shanghai and the Chinese coast via the Yangtze River and finally set sail for the South China Sea towards Saigon, where they arrived on 29 June 1868. The records made over

9628-466: The monastic retirement of its last count, William and Philip partitioned between themselves the Vexin , a small but strategically important county on the middle Seine that controlled the traffic between Paris and Rouen , the French and Norman capitals. With this buffer state eliminated, Normandy and the king's royal demesne (the Île-de-France ) now directly bordered on each other, and the region would be

9744-718: The more historically verifiable Charlemagne , the Frankish king who founded the Holy Roman Empire throughout much of Western Europe. At the turn of the second millennium, the British Isles were primarily involved with the Scandinavian world, while France's main foreign relationship was with the Holy Roman Empire. Prior to the Norman Conquest of 1066, there were no armed conflicts between

9860-521: The morning, was a "Cortege of the Nations". It was also a symbolic expression of the minister's political stance and of France's imperialist aspirations. Chasseloup-Laubat was recalled to the government on 17 July 1869, as Minister-President of the Conseil d'État, and took part to the constitutional changes which were expected to transform the Second Empire into a parliamentary monarchy . However, after

9976-551: The new Britain grew increasingly parliamentarian , France continued its system of absolute monarchy . The newly united Britain fought France in the War of the Spanish Succession from 1702 to 1713, and the War of the Austrian Succession from 1740 to 1748, attempting to maintain the balance of power in Europe. The British had a massive navy but maintained a small land army, so Britain always acted on

10092-476: The next 150 years England was generally considered of secondary importance to the dynasty's Continental territories, notably in Normandy and other western French provinces. The official language of the aristocracy was French for nearly three hundred years after the Norman Conquest. Many French words were adopted into the English language as a result. About 30% of the English language is derived from or through various forms of French. The first Norman kings were also

10208-573: The old Norman-French rivalries re-emerged. From 1109 to 1113, clashes erupted in the Vexin; and in 1117 Louis made a pact with Baldwin VII of Flanders , Fulk V of Anjou , and various rebellious Norman barons to overthrow Henry's rule in Normandy and replace him with William Clito , Curthose's son. By luck and diplomacy, however, Henry eliminated the Flemings and Angevins from the war, and on 20 August 1119 at

10324-461: The pattern for relations between France and Great Britain during the eighteenth century. Wars were fought intermittently, with each nation part of a constantly shifting pattern of alliances known as the stately quadrille . Partly out of fear of a continental intervention, an Act of Union was passed in 1707 creating the Kingdom of Great Britain , and formally merging the kingdoms of Scotland and England (the latter kingdom included Wales ). While

10440-496: The properties of rubber . His godparents were Emperor Napoleon I and his first wife Empress Josephine . His brother, Justin (1800–1847), 2nd Marquis of Chasseloup-Laubat, was a military and politician and died as he was serving as French ambassador to the German Confederation . At his death, the title of Marquis passed to his brother Prudent (1802–1863), also a military and politician, who as well died childless and

10556-518: The province of Canada to the North, and controlled Saint-Domingue in the Caribbean, the wealthiest colony in the world. Both countries, recognising the potential of India, established trading posts there. Wars between the two states increasingly included combat in these other continents. Saint Lucia changed masters fourteen times in these disputes, mostly in the late 18th century. France claimed

10672-518: The region were mere reactions to or counter-measures against British geo-strategy and economic hegemony. "For the British, it was obvious that the French were trying to undercut British expansionism in India and China by interposing themselves in Indochina. The reason for this frantic expansionism was the hope that the Mekong river would prove to be navigable to the Chinese frontier, which then would open

10788-560: The same time Spain's power was severely weakened by decades of wars and rebellions – and France, began to take on a more assertive role under King Louis XIV of France with an expansionist policy both in Europe and across the globe. English foreign policy was now directed towards preventing France gaining supremacy on the continent and creating a universal monarchy. To the French, England was an isolated and piratical nation heavily reliant on naval power, and particularly privateers , which they referred to as Perfidious Albion . However, in 1672,

10904-399: The service of French Indochina, trying to discover whether the Red River might be the desired route for trade with China. Colonial civil servant, explorer, and diplomat Auguste Pavie led four missions between 1879 and 1895, covering 676,000 km (261,000 sq mi) on foot, by elephant, or down the river on rafts, producing more accurate scientific data, such as the first atlas of

11020-413: The sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the English had often sided with France as a counterweight against them. This design was intended to keep a European balance of power , and prevent one country gaining overwhelming supremacy. France replaced Spain as the dominant power after 1650 so the basis of English strategy was the fear that a French universal monarchy of Europe would be able to overwhelm

11136-478: The strategic and logistical framework for the successful French colonial acquisition of Tonkin and Annam in 1884, culminating in the establishment of the Indochinese Union in 1887, territorial losses for Siam, and the Treaty of Bangkok in 1893, which, among other things, resulted in the French protectorate over Laos and Cambodia as the Mekong constituted the border between France and Siam over

11252-480: The stream to work, the Mekong was not yet a river to be tamed". Garnier found himself on a river that "would simply not cooperate." He concluded that, "The future of rapid commercial relations on this vast river, the natural route from China to Saigon, of which I had happily dreamt the previous evening, appeared seriously compromised to me from this moment on." On top of that, Captain Doudart de Lagrée had learned at

11368-493: The time of its conquest. He lost direct control over Algeria with the reestablishment of the function of Governor General of Algeria , but immediately became Minister of Marine and the Colonies in November 1860 and held that position for an exceptionally long period (1860–1867), making him a key figure of French early colonial expansion. He worked in combination with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Édouard Drouyn de Lhuys . He

11484-597: The trappings of a major scientific expedition, the Commission cast off from the Saigon waterfront and headed upriver into the great green unknown on June 5, 1866." Detouring into the Tonle Sap , the first stop was to be the ancient ruins of Angkor , which Henri Mouhot first had described in his pamphlet in 1861. The temple ruins, "a highlight for the expedition's members, served as an important point of remembrance for

11600-534: The two were formally established with the 1904 Entente Cordiale , and the British and French were allied against Germany in both World War I and World War II ; in the latter conflict, British armies helped to liberate occupied France from Nazi Germany . France and the UK were key partners in the West during the Cold War , consistently supporting liberal democracy and capitalism . They were founding members of

11716-547: The walls of many of the better hotels in Southeast Asia. France%E2%80%93United Kingdom relations The historical ties between France and the United Kingdom , and the countries preceding them, are long and complex, including conquest, wars , and alliances at various points in history. The Roman era saw both areas largely conquered by Rome, whose fortifications largely remain in both countries to this day. The Norman conquest of England in 1066, followed by

11832-433: The war. Bertrand du Guesclin was a brilliant tactician who forced the English out of the lands they had procured at the Treaty of Brétigny , a compromising treaty that most Frenchmen saw as a humiliation. Joan of Arc was another unifying figure who to this day represents a combination of religious fervour and French patriotism to all France. After her inspirational victory at Orléans and what many saw as Joan's martyrdom at

11948-483: Was "...not to be a jewel in the French colonial empire ." It had rather become a liability and the Ministry of the Colonies pondered options of retreat, strictly based on scholars' reports in French Indochina who measured Saigon's commercial success against British Singapore and Shanghai. Contrary to these sober official conclusions, the lucrative trade of these two ports and the economic links to China via

12064-651: Was Minister at the time of the attacks on Danang and Saigon in Vietnam led by Charles Rigault de Genouilly and his successor Counter-Admiral Théogène François Page . On 18 February 1859, the French conquered Saigon and three southern Vietnamese provinces. The Vietnamese government was forced to cede temporary control of those territories to France in June 1862. When in 1863 the Vietnamese diplomat Phan Thanh Gian visited Napoleon III on an embassy in Paris, Chasseloup-Laubat pressured Napoleon III to have him give up

12180-616: Was a French aristocrat and politician who became Minister of the Navy under Napoleon III and was an early advocate of French colonialism . Chasseloup-Laubat was the descendant of a minor noble family from Saintonge whose members were Huguenot but converted to Catholicism in the 17th century. He was the youngest son of the General François de Chasseloup-Laubat, 1st Marquis of Chasseloup-Laubat (1754–1833), and of his wife Anne-Julie Fresneau de La Gataudière, granddaughter of François Fresneau de La Gataudière who had discovered

12296-563: Was a communication between the Meïnam and the Mekong? To gather information respecting the sources of the latter, if it proved impossible to reach them; to solve the different geographical problems which would naturally offer, was the first part of the programme the commission had to carry out.[sic] In April, the mission arrived in Luang Prabang , where the exhausted men rested for four weeks and obtained their passports for China. However,

12412-515: Was built on Khone Island, rendering passage past the Falls of Khone much easier until the line finally fell into disrepair in the 1940s. Plates from Delaporte's drawings, in which certain features—ruins, wild animals and enormous trees—are exaggerated in order to match and satisfy 19th century European tastes for the romantic helped to keep the commission in the public's mind. The drawings were widely reproduced, even to this day, on prints, postcards, calendars and tourist brochures, as well as gracing

12528-478: Was challenged by Mary Queen of Scots, worked with the Protestant Scottish Lords to expel the French from Scotland in 1560. The Treaty of Edinburgh in 1560 virtually ended the "auld alliance." Protestant Scotland tied its future to Protestant England, rejecting Catholic France. However, friendly relations at the business level did continue. While Spain had been the dominant world power in

12644-557: Was elected. As deputy to the Legislative Body (a new lower chamber replacing the Chambre des Députés), he worked for the restoration of the Empire , which was approved by referendum in November 1852. Nevertheless, in 1852 he was one of the members of the Legislative Body who took the liberty of criticizing the first budget of the new regime (they were called les budgétaires ), and the same year he publicly protested

12760-501: Was followed by another five hundred years with very little interaction between the two, as both were invaded by different Germanic tribes . Anglo-Saxons invaded southern Britain and established several kingdoms , intermixing and assimilating the local Brythonic population during the process, as well as the later Viking invasions of the British Isles . France saw intermixture with and partial conquest by Germanic tribes such as

12876-447: Was needed for British trade to flourish and its colonies to grow, and finally to strengthen its own central position in the balance of power system in which no one could dominate the rest. Other nations recognised Britain as the "balancer." Eventually the balancing act required Britain to contain French ambitions. Containment led to a series of increasingly large-scale wars between Britain and France, which ended with mixed results. Britain

12992-501: Was now, like his father, both King of England and Duke of Normandy, and the stage was set for a new round of conflict between England and France. In 1108, Philip I, who had been king of France since before the Norman Conquest, died and was succeeded by his son Louis VI , who had already been conducting the administration of the realm in his father's name for several years. Louis had initially been hostile to Robert Curthose, and friendly to Henry I; but with Henry's acquisition of Normandy,

13108-555: Was reelected in November 1837, March 1839, July 1842 and August 1846. He took his seat with the Left Center and approved the government policy. He was also a member and then president of the departmental council of the Charente-Inférieure. The Revolution of 1848 was a momentary set-back for his career, but on 13 May 1849 he was elected again as a deputy for Charente-Inférieure. During the Second Republic , he voted with

13224-572: Was shrouded in great mystery." Louis de Carné, the youngest expedition member also pointed to the unknowns: "Uncertainty begins within two degrees of Saigon, the very inexact charts of the great river; beyond that, only misleading geography instead of serving it." An earlier campaign, launched in Burma in 1837 by the British army officer Captain McLeod, who had travelled up the Salween River along

13340-548: Was succeeded by Prosper. They had also a sister, Anne-Clémence de Chasseloup-Laubat (1798–1871) who married in 1818 François-Scipion, 1st Baron de Bernon. Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat was educated at Lycée Louis-le-Grand then became a civil servant and from 1828 worked at the Conseil d'État , thanks to the good relations of his father. Immediately after the July Revolution, Chasseloup-Laubat became aide-de-camp of

13456-420: Was usually aligned with the Netherlands and Prussia, and subsidised their armies. These wars enveloped all of Europe and the overseas colonies. These wars took place in every decade starting in the 1740s and climaxed in the defeat of Napoleon's France in 1814. As the century wore on, there was a distinct passage of power to Britain and France, at the expense of traditional major powers such as Portugal, Spain and

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