France and the United States in the Revolutionary War, Essay Example

What if France had not supported the United States in the Revolutionary War?

Arguably one of the key contributing factors to the United States’ victory against Great Britain in the Revolutionary War was the U.S.’s allegiance with France. This military alliance gave the United States the support of a world geopolitical power, while also providing the U.S. with much needed logistical and military support, in the form of capital, arms, and military forces. From the standpoint of France, this alliance was a natural outgrowth of a realist political position: by supporting the United States they would be weakening their political rival of Great Britain. However, how would the United States have fared in the counterfactual situation in which a military alliance with France was non-existent? Arguably, a great deal of political legitimacy of American independence would be lost, with the absence of a great power supporting the revolutionary cause. Furthermore, the military expertise and logistics which France gave to America would have made the military aspect of the struggle much more arduous.

In terms of politics, the presence of France gave the Americans a critical ally in the realm of ideological warfare. By supporting American independence, the U.S. could feel emotionally bolstered in their cause, knowing that one of the world’s superpowers clearly supported them. Furthermore, France’s political support of America created a certain political bloc which also supported the American cause. Insofar as France established treaties with Spain and the Netherlands, for example, this meant that Great Britain was isolated in terms of support for its counterinsurgency in the America. The pact with the French therefore gave the United States a crucial advantage in terms of political relations. Without this support, it is therefore conceivable that Great Britain could have worked out some type of political deals with countries such as Spain and the Netherlands in order to gain their support for crushing the independence movement, for example, in the form of increasing British treasure to wage the war, and perhaps, under certain conditions aiding in the supplying of troops. Without France, therefore, it would be the United States that would be isolated as opposed to Great Britain in the Revolutionary War.

However, not only would the U.S.’s political efforts have been disadvantaged without France. With the absence of French allegiance, the United States would experience great military disadvantages against Great Britain. For example, the contributions of the French navy were critical to the Battle of the Chesapeake, and was composed of entirely French and British forces. Without the French victory at this battle, the Royal Navy would have been allowed to both re-supply and aid Britiish forces in Yorktown, Virginia. Furthermore, it completely disrupted British supply lines in the area. With the surrender of the forces at Yorktown, negotiations between the British and the Americans finally began.

The alliance with France also was not only advantageous in terms of French military personnel. Key military minds aided the Americans in the strategic and tactical operation planning in the war. For example, the distinguished French Major general, The Marquis de la Fayette served as George Washington’s aide-de-camp at the recommendation of Benjamin Franklin, providing invaluable experience and insight to Washington. LeFayette’s contributions were key at crucial points in the war, such as in the Battle of Rhode Island and his blockade of British troops at the aforementioned Yorktown. Without France’s support for the United States, Lafayette’s crucial contributions both in terms of strategy and actual performance of tactical operations would have been lost.

It is, of course, historical speculation to suggest that without the support of France, the United States would have failed to achieve their aims in the Revolutionary War. However, it is also clear that France provided decisive contributions to the United States both on the political and military levels. Without these diverse forms of support, the United States’ road to independence would clearly have been more difficult.