Throughout the posts discussed in this website, I was very surprised to find that the French nation and French country played a very significant role in the guiding hand of providence. This includes: 1) The Napoleonic wars which were fought by the French and which impacted on the course of history despite the loss of the territorial gains during the peak of the French empire. 2) The amazing success of the American Revolution which was crucially aided by the French (- the connection of the two nations can be seen by the common colors of flags – red, white, blue and white). 3) The miraculous retreat of the German army during World War I at the Battle of the Marne, when deep in France, and poised to conquer them. 4) The French role in publicizing the success of the Wright brothers invention of the airplane 5) The successful D-Day invasion landing during World War II at Normandy, France.
Here are excerpts from various posts showing the crucial role played by the French in many world-changing events:
from The Wright Brothers and the Beginning of the Age of Flight
In 1878 when the family lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, their father brought home a toy helicopter for his two younger sons. The device was based on an invention of French aeronautical pioneer Alphonse Pénaud. Made of paper, bamboo and cork with a rubber band to twirl its rotor, it was about a foot long. Wilbur and Orville played with it until it broke, and then built their own.[21] In later years, they pointed to their experience with the toy as the spark of their interest in flying.[22]
from The Wright Brothers and the Beginning of the Age of Flight
The French public was thrilled by Wilbur’s feats and flocked to the field by the thousands, and the Wright brothers instantly became world-famous. Former doubters issued apologies and effusive praise. L’Aérophile editor Georges Besançon wrote that the flights “have completely dissipated all doubts. Not one of the former detractors of the Wrights dare question, today, the previous experiments of the men who were truly the first to fly …”[104] Leading French aviation promoter Ernest Archdeacon wrote, “For a long time, the Wright brothers have been accused in Europe of bluff … They are today hallowed in France, and I feel an intense pleasure … to make amends.”[105] Thus, it was because of the French that Wilbur’s invention became known to the public.
from Acts of Providence in the American Revolution
The French made an alliance with the colonists which almost bankrupted their country and from which they gained very little – United States declared neutrality in their disputes with the British in 1793, and in fact, the strong trade that France was hoping would materialize with the colonists never did materialize and went to the British instead! – was a crucial factor in the success of the revolution. If not for the French, the Americans could not have won.
from The Battle of Waterloo
Waterloo proved a decisive battle in more than one sense. Every generation in Europe up to the outbreak of the First World War looked back at Waterloo as the turning point that dictated the course of subsequent world history, seeing it in retrospect as the event that ushered in the Concert of Europe, an era characterized by relative peace, material prosperity and technological progress.[187][188] The battle definitively ended the series of wars that had convulsed Europe, and involved many other regions of the world, since the French Revolution of the early 1790s.
Since this battle was initiated by the French Empire, it was the French who were the pivotal cause of the subsequent world history – notwithstanding the fact that the French were on the losing side due to stunning acts of providence that are described in The Battle of Waterloo.
from The Battle of Austerlitz
In what is widely regarded as the greatest victory achieved by Napoleon, the Grande Armée of France defeated a larger Russian and Austrian army led by Emperor Alexander I and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. At this battle, providence was in his favor as we shall see in this post. Had he been satisfied with this victory and his additional continued victories throughout 1809, there would have finally have been peace, leaving him the master of most of Europe for many years.
As it was, though, this victory, and subsequent ones, allowed the French Empire to rule over continental Europe for over a decade, and it affected history in a number of important ways. One was the institution of the Napoleonic Code. Another was the metric system, developed for the most part by French scientists, and adopted by the French. Because the French Empire ruled most of Europe in the first decade of the 19th century, that meant the metric system would be used as well by most of Europe. Although Napoleon actually revoked the metric system law (which most of the populace hadn’t implemented anyway) in favor of a sort of a hybrid with the earlier system; it is still likely that the consolidation of the French empire contributed to the widespread use of the metric system. The French went back to the full metric system in 1840.
But the most crucial impetus for the metric system was caused by the French Revolution – which further supports the theme in this article that the French contributed to a disproportionate number of major, historical significance. See History of the Metric System.
Touching on the topic of the French Revolution, we should point out that it was of major importance for far more reason than the implementation of the metric system. In fact, Wikipedia states: “Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history!“[2][3][4]
from The Battle of the Marne
(This excerpt is taken from Wikipedia)
The Battle of the Marne (French: Première bataille de la Marne, also known as the Miracle of the Marne, Le Miracle de la Marne) was a World War I battle fought from 6–12 September 1914.[1] It resulted in an Allied victory against the German armies in the west. The battle was the culmination of the German advance into France and pursuit of the Allied armies which followed the Battle of the Frontiers in August and had reached the eastern outskirts of Paris. A counter-attack by six French armies and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) along the Marne River forced the Imperial German Army to retreat northwest, leading to the First Battle of the Aisne and the Race to the Sea. The battle was a victory for the Allied Powers but led to four years of trench warfare stalemate on the Western Front. The battle of the Marne was a major turning point of World War I.
