Nearly eighty years later, a French fleet beat the English off the Chesapeake Capes, sealing the fate of Cornwallis' army and paving the way for American independence. This success allowed privateer-turned-admiral Jean Bart to harry English and Dutch shipping, capturing enough supplies even to feed the citizens of Paris after a failed harvest. Louis XIV's financial wizard Jean-Baptiste Colbert's policies built the navy to a point where, in 1690, a French fleet beat the combined forces of the English and Dutch at the Battle of Beachy Head. Because France also borders large states by land on each side, however, the primary threat to the nation's life usually loomed across a land border, making the task of raising the money to support a navy a very secondary consideration.ĭespite these problems, French fleets still won many a victory. The cost of operating this way was inevitably high and required coordination between the two areas. ![]() These ships had to be supported on both coasts, requiring a duplication of infrastructure for supplying and maintaining the fleet. Any navy built to protect France from attack had to be large enough to counter an enemy in both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, requiring in effect two navies. The nation's two, separated coasts provide the first problem. France's geography is, perhaps, the foremost cause of this strife. ![]() ![]() The French navy enjoys a fine, long tradition of service on the sea, but one which is marred by a strained relationship with the nation that it served.
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