Besides, in the nineteenth century she won a great
empire in northern Africa, where her Mediterranean sea-power keeps it
safe. The British Empire, on the other hand, being based on world-wide
sea-power, is rightly placed as it is. So neither French nor British
are tempted to envy each other now; while their Hundred Years Peace,
followed by their glorious Alliance in the Great War, should make them
friends for ever.
The Franco-British wars which began in 1689 and ended on the field of
Waterloo in 1815 are not called the Second Hundred Years War in books.
But that is what they were in fact. The British Navy was the chief
cause of British victory all through, and, as French and British always
took opposite sides, we may also call the whole of these seven wars by
the one name of "The French War," just as we have called the other wars
against our chief opponents "The Spanish War" and "Dutch War"; and just
as we might call "The Great War" by the name of "The German War."
Two more points must be well understood, or else we shall miss the real
meaning of our imperial history and the supreme importance of the Royal
Navy.
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