History Guy Commentary and News

I wrote about Pakistan’s Waziristan War a few months ago on www.historyguy.com, and commented on how this conflict on Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier is an extension of the War on Terror and the War in Afghanistan.  To summarize, Pakistan is fighting the Taliban and al-Qaida in the border region near Afghanistan.  Late in 2006, President Musharraf signed a peace treaty with the local tribes, supposedly ending that conflict, much to the dismay of the Western allies, who saw this as a Taliban/al-Qaida victory. 

Now, a week or so after the Red Mosque battle, the militant Islamists are again beating the war drums along the frontier; killing dozens of Pakistani troops in recent days.  Musharraf made a big mistake in giving the enemy a breather from the cross-border pressure the Pakistan army and the Western Allies were giving them.  Let’s hope he responds vigorously and works with the U.S. and the other allies to hurt the Taliban and al-Qaida.

For more information, see:

www.historyguy.com/waziristan_war.html

And for background info on Britain’s problems in that region as a colonial ruler, see:

www.historyguy.com/waziristan_revolt_1919.html

Here is some  information on the wars and military conflicts of France from World War I in 1914  to the present. Since 1945, France has engaged in several large wars (Indochina, Korea, Algeria, Suez, the First Gulf War) and numerous small colonial conflicts and post-colonial interventions in African nations. To access specific wars or conflicts, click on the red/maroon colored links.

Despite recent jokes concerning French military defeats and victories in French military history, France has a fair share of victories in the Third World, and as a valuable member of NATO and the Western allies in the Cold War and beyond.

World War One (1914-1918)

Intervention in the Russian Civil War (1918-1921)

Rif War (aka-Abd el-Krim Revolt) (1919-1926)

French Conquest of Syria (1919-1920)

Memel Insurrection (1923)–Following World War I, the French military controlled and administered the city of Memel on behalf of the wartime Allies, in the Baltic Region. Lithuanian residents rebelled against the French army on January 11, 1923. Troops from Lithuania joined the rebels and seized control of the city. The Allies accepted this takeover, and Memel in effect became part of Lithuania.

The Ruhr Invasion (1923-1924)

Syrian Druze Revolt (1925-1927)

France/Syria/Lebanon Druze Revolt 1925-1927

The Nghe-Tinh Revolt (1930-1931) A Vietnamese peasant revolt with backing and support from the underground Vietnamese Communist Party. French forces suppressed the local soviets (A soviet is a council of peasants, workers or soldiers in a socialist or revolutionary form of government) which formed in local villages. Many of these revolutionaries were arrested and at least 80 were executed by the colonial government. . See also The Wars of Vietnam.

Yen Bai uprising (Feb. 9, 1930) A rebellion launched by the Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang, (VNQDD — Vietnamese Nationalist Party–See external link) began as a planned mutiny of native Vietnamese troops in the Yen and Bai garrisons. Other attacks on Son Tay and Lam Thu failed. The French suppressed the uprising, arresting executing many VNQDD leaders. Several villages were bombed and shelled by French forces. . See also The Wars of Vietnam.

Syrian Revolt (1936)

World War Two (1939-1945)–France was conquered by Germany in 1940, and liberated by the Allies in 1944.

Franco-Japanese Border War  (Sept. 22, 1940-Sept. 24, 1940)–Soon after France fell to Germany, Japan sought passage through French Indochina in order to attack Nationalist Chinese forces near the border. French authorities in Hanoi refused, prompting Japan to launch a ground attack on the French border forts at Long-Son and Dong-Dang. Two days later, Japanese aircraft bombed the port city of Haiphong and the Japanese navy landed troops at the port. During the two days of fighting, nearly 800 French troops were killed. (Part of World War Two for France)

Franco-Thai Border War (Jan. 9, 1941-Jan. 28, 1941)–Thailand, then an ally of Japan, initiated an invasion of French Indochina after early border skirmishes from November 1940. After early successes, the Thai forces were forced back by French reinforcements. At sea, the French navy, in the form of one cruiser, wiped out nearly one third of the Thai navy off the island of Kho Chang on Jan. 17. Japan arranged a cease-fire on Jan. 28. Per a written agreement signed on March 11, France gave portions of Laos and Cambodia to Thailand.
                         
Franco-Syrian War (May, 1945)–At the conclusion of the Second World War, French troops put down a rebellion in the French-controlled Arab nation of Syria.

The First Indochina War (1945-1954)–A French colony since the late 1880s, Indochina was made up of the countries of Vietnam, Cambodia,and Laos. Communist insurgents led by Ho Chi Minh defeated French forces, causing the independence of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. As a result of the peace agreement, Vietnam became divided into Communist North Vietnam and the pro-Western South Vietnam. This conflict was a precursor to the American-Vietnam War.

The Cold War (1945-1991)–France participated in the Cold War as a member of the Western alliance, NATO, and also through its own policies in Africa and elsewhere promoting  pro-French and pro-Western attitudes and alliances.

The Madagascar Revolt (1947-1948)–The French military put down a rebellion in the colony of Madagascar.
The Korean War (1950-1953)–France contributed military forces to the UN Army fighting the Communist North Koreans and Chinese.

Tunisian War of Independence (1952-1955)–Guerrilla war of independence against the French began in Tunisia, led by Habib Bourguiba.

Moroccan War of Independence (1953-1956)

Franco-Tunisian Border Conflict (1957)

The Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962)–A French colony since the 1830s, Algeria gained independence in 1962 after a long and violent war against France.

Suez War (1956)–France, Britain, and Israel invaded Egypt.

Basque Separatist Campaign (1958-Present)–The Basque region is divided between Spain and France. The Basque liberation front, ETA, has carried out a campaign of urban terrorism in an attempt to gain independence/autonomy. As most Basque territory is in Spain, the bulk of the campaign has been directed at the Spanish, though French targets have been hit. France and Spain largely cooperate in suppressing ETA.

Second Franco-Tunisian War [The Bizerte Incident] (1961)

Gabon Intervention (1964)

First Katangan War (1977)

Second Katangan War (1978)

Shaba II: The French and Belgian Intervention in Zaire in 1978

Central African Republic Intervention (September, 1979)–France organized and aided a coup to overthrow Emperor Jean-Bodel Bokassa. French troops were flown in from Europe and installed former President David Dacko.

Intervention in Lebanese Civil War (1982-1984)–France, along with the United States, United Kingdom, and Italy, sent troops to act as peacekeepers in the Lebanese Civil War and the Invasion of Lebanon by Israel.

New Caledonian Uprising (1984-1985)

Gabon Intervention (May, 1990)

Second Persian Gulf War (1991)–France contributed military forces to the UN force to liberate Kuwait from the invading Iraqi army of Saddam Hussein.

Intervention in Somalia (1991-1992)–France contributed military forces to the UN peacekeeping force in Somalia.

Central African Republic Intervention (April, 1996)–French troops put down a C.A.R. army mutiny.

Central African Republic Intervention (May, 1996)–French troops put down another C.A.R. army mutiny.

Central African Republic Intervention (Nov. 1996-Jan. 1997)–French troops put down yet another C.A.R. army mutiny.

Kosovo War (1999)-France contributed military forces to the NATO effort to protect the Kosovo Albanians from the persecution by the Serbian military and militias.

Afghanistan War (2001-Present)-France contributed military forces to the Allied/NATO effort to overthrow the Taliban following the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. France continues to supply troops and aircraft to operations supporting the new Afghan government against Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents.

Ivory Coast (Cote de Ivorie) Intervention (2003-Present)-France intervened to bring a halt to the civil war in its former colony. During one clash, the French military avenged the death of several troops by destroying the small Ivory Coast air force as it sat on the ground.

Central African Republic Intervention (2006)–French troops and aircraft aid the government against rebels.

The recent election of  Nicolas Sarkozy as the new President of France brings the issue of French-American relations to mind.  The U.S. and France have a long but strange relationship, often centered on the question of war and peace, that literally goes back to before the founding of the United States as a nation.

When the original Thirteen Colonies were indeed colonies of the British Empire and Canada belonged to France, nearly continual warfare blazed across the frontier between English and French America.  Eventually, the British won the wars and expelled the French Empire from Canada, but this conflict helped spark the idea of autonomy and outright independence in the minds of many influential American-English colonists.

As most school children in America know, France was America’s most important ally in the War of Independence.  French aid was critical to the British defeat, but the consequences of this military intervention for the French monarchy were eventually negative.  Part of the economic problems France experienced which led to the French Revolution (which broke out only 8 years after the Franco-American victory at Yorktown), were brought on by the financial burden of fighting the Revolutionary War in America, as well as the philosophical and political ideas that crossed the Atlantic from America. 

Ironically, many Americans were horrified by the violence of the French Revolution, and tensions built up that led to the so-called "Quasi-War" between the United States and Revolutionary France.  This naval war lasted from 1798 to 1800.  Two years later, the new French Emperor, Napoleon I, sold France’s Louisiana colony to the United States.  He needed the money to fight his wars against Britain.  The Louisiana Purchase, as it is known in the U.S., effectively doubled the size of the country.

Relations between the United States and France reached another low point during the American Civil War, which coincided with a French invasion of Mexico, which is America’s southern neighbor.  France (and Britain), considered intervening in the Civil War on behalf of the breakaway Confederate States of America (the South).  President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which freed a majority of American slaves, along with U.S. victories in the war, convinced France and Britain to remain neutral.  Following the fall of the South in 1865, the U.S. supported the Mexican government both diplomatically and militarily (there was a very real threat by the U.S. to send in troops).  This support helped the current French Emperor, Napoleon III, to end his ill-conceived war in Mexico.

For the remainder of the 1800s, the U.S. pretty much ignored European issues.  The outbreak of war in Europe in 1914, in what would eventually become known as World War One, set the scene for America’s first military intervention in Europe.

America declared war on Germany and her allies in 1917, and millions of U.S. troops entered France to help her fight the invading Germans.  Many Americans saw this aid to France as payback for French help against the British in the American Revolution.  The U.S. later saved France again when we again sent millions of troops to liberate her from the Germans in World War Two.  (See the Invasion of Normandy).

After World War Two, America and France both joined (as founders) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, (NATO), which was created in order to stop the spread of Communism in Europe. Since the end of World War Two, the U.S. and France have been allies in the Korean War, the First Gulf War, and in the current War in Afghanistan.  We have also supported each other in other ways as well.  For example, when France fought in Vietnam in the 1940s and 1950s, the U.S. supplied a great deal of military material and money to help the French fight against the Vietnamese Communists. 

The two old allies have disagreed sharply on several issues, such as the Anglo-French Invasion of Egypt in 1956 and the current War in Iraq, but overall, history shows that France and the United States are old, old, friends.  Friends who occasionally squabble and argue, but when it comes down to it, they do support each other.  The election of Sarkozy, who readily admires America and American culture, should help ease recent tensions between the two allies.