France

Beaumarchais and the American Revolution

Arnold Whitridge introduces a musician, a financier, and a playwright who was also a secret agent; Beaumarchais believed in the success of American arms, and organized a flow of supplies and munitions from France to the hard-pressed colonists.

The Vendôme Column, 1871

Roger Hudson describes the destruction during the Paris Commune of the memorial to Napoleon’s victory at Austerlitz in 1805.

The French in Acadia

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, writes Patricia McCollom, the French made a resolute attempt to seize the rich Canadian fur-lands.

LaFayette Goes to America

In the spring of 1777, writes Arnold Whitridge, an ardent young French nobleman set sail from Bordeaux to avenge himself against Britain.

The Siege of Toulon, 1793

At Toulon, writes Stephen Usherwood, the Royal Navy first became deeply involved in the affairs of the French Revolution.