French President Emmanuel Macron was in the United Kingdom for a state visit from July 8-10. On the agenda was a speech to the U.K. Parliament and a state dinner with King Charles and other members of the British royal family. While it will be a while before the U.K. can truly be autonomous in its foreign policy from the United States, Macron’s visit has reflected how the U.K.’s image has become somewhat “rehabilitated” in France, post-Brexit.
History of U.K.-France relations
In 1066, the Normans invaded England, which led to the introduction of French words in the English language. Today, about 30% of words in English are derived from French, such as “regime,” “attaché” and “rapprochement.”
Since this invasion, the U.K. and France have engaged in numerous wars against each other, such as the Hundred Years War, War of Spanish Succession and the Seven Years War, not to mention the French involvement in the American Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. The two countries also competed for colonial influence, such as the Carnatic Wars that occurred in India during the 18th century. In Saint Lucia alone, an island-nation located in the Caribbean Sea, the French and British have fought 14 times.
Relations between Paris and London were only stabilized after the 1904 Entente Cordiale, which specified the spheres of influence between the two countries’ colonies in North Africa. This treaty eventually led to a rapprochement between the two countries and an alliance during World War I and World War II.
Gaullist France vs. Atlanticist U.K.
During the Cold War however, tensions between the countries were not absent, primarily over the role the U.S. should play in European security.
After the 1956 Suez Canal Crisis, when the Americans and Soviets sided with the Egyptians against the British, French and Israelis, the British reacted by becoming closer to America, which formed their “Special Relationship.” By contrast, under Charles de Gaulle, the French were of the view the U.S. was unreliable, and France and Europe needed to be independent.
With this difference of opinion, in 1963, the French vetoed the U.K.’s application to join the European Community, a precursor to the European Union, as Charles de Gaulle saw British membership would give the U.S. more influence over Europe. Aside from France’s Gaullism, the British were undecided at the time if they were a “European” country, but eventually joined the EC on Jan. 1 1973.
Even after the Cold War ended, these differing worldviews between London and Paris persisted, such as over the 2003 Iraq War when the British joined America’s “Coalition of the Willing,” while the French sat out.
The Brexit mess and failed “Global Britain”
On Jan. 1, 2020, Britain’s exit from the European Union, or “Brexit,” heightened these Franco-British differences. With Brexit, their foreign policy vision was the idea of “Global Britain,” which was, in essence, turning to the Americans. Britain’s approach greatly differed from France’s efforts of pushing for greater European autonomy. Likewise, Donald Trump’s first term capitalized on the Brexit chaos to divide London from Europe. One way this played out was in 2019, when the British joined the U.S.-led task force to protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz, during the height of U.S.-Iran tensions. By contrast, the French participated in a separate European mission to protect ships in the same area.
In 2021, the British joined Australia and the U.S. to create the AUKUS security pact, which Paris saw as the U.K. essentially becoming American vassals. Tensions between the two were so high that even a small fishing dispute between the U.K. and France was partly due to Brexit. At the time, relations between Paris and London were so strained former British Prime Minister Lis Truss refused to explicitly say if Macron was a “friend or foe” during a campaign event in 2022.
However, aside from Donald Trump’s second presidential term, the other key event that facilitated Franco-British cooperation today is France’s own shift regarding Russia.
France’s hawkishness toward Russia
Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Macron attempted to balance relations with the Russians in a very Gaullist fashion. In 2017, Macron hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Château de Versailles (Versailles Palace). In 2019, Macron argued pushing Russia away from Europe is a “strategic error” as it would align Russia closer with China. In fact, even as late as June 2022, Macron argued the West should not “humiliate” Russia, diverging from the U.K. and U.S.
Fast forward to today, Paris’ view on Moscow is considerably more hawkish. Macron, who once said NATO was “brain dead” in 2019, refused to rule out the idea of sending NATO troops to fight in Ukraine in February 2024. During a speech in Prague, Macron said the Europeans should not be “cowards” when confronting Moscow. More recently, in April, the French government accused Russia of launching a cyberattack in its financial, media and defense sectors. In July, Thierry Burkhard, a French general, explained Moscow considers Paris to be its primary security threat.
The policy shift in Paris has elevated the need for the French to seek alternative partners. Since the United States isn’t seen as reliable, France has looked to the United Kingdom. Like France, the U.K. is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and a nuclear armed power.
London’s rehabilitation in Paris
After the Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which sent a message to many European capitals the U.S. was unreliable, the Europeans and British have sought to mend post-Brexit tensions.
One way this played out was in March, during a summit hosted in London by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to showcase European solidarity with Ukraine. While this meeting didn’t produce much, it was symbolically important as it sent the message both the U.K. and Europe at-large have moved on from the Brexit fallout.
The symbolism of Macron’s visit in July was reflected when King Charles emphasized the “shared history” between the French and British people and gave a toast in French and English. Likewise, during Macron’s speech to the British parliament, he stressed France and the U.K. have a “special responsibility” to protect European security.
Perhaps most importantly, Paris and London signed a joint nuclear weapon statement after more than a decade, in which they agreed to coordinate a nuclear posture. This statement comes at a time when the most pro-American European countries, like Poland, are becoming more receptive to Macron’s proposal of using French nuclear weapons as a European nuclear umbrella, due to U.S. uncertainty. As Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said, “We have all turned into Gaullists,” in reference to how France’s six decade push for autonomy has been largely vindicated.
However, one of the main challenges for London is that its nuclear arsenal is not as fully independent from the U.S. as France’s. Ever since the 1958 Anglo-American mutual defense treaty, the U.S. has transferred critical nuclear technology to the U.K. Importantly, the United Kingdom is also linked to the U.S. due to their shared bases in Diego Garcia, AUKUS, and the Five Eyes counterintelligence alliance.
While the British have their limits on how independent they can be from the United States, Macron’s visit illustrates that for the time being, London has been rehabilitated in Paris for now, as the geopolitical reality has required it. However, as history shows, when the geopolitical context shifts again, London and Paris are likely to be back at each other’s throats.
Photo by Aleks Marinkovic from Pexels
Edited by Abbigail Earl & James Sutton
