(My answer on Quora)
This is great question but to understand the reason we need to look at the historical manifestation of this rivalry.
During the Middle Ages France and England warred with one another on numerous occasions. In the 12th century alone they faced off four times (1109, 1116, 1123, 1159). The 13th, 14th and 15th centuries were hardly improvements on those early days with the two clashing in no less than nine wars of which the Hundred Years War (1337–1453) and Henry VII’s invasions of Brittany (1488–1492) being the most notorious. In spite of this (or maybe because of it) France did enjoy a strong working relationship with that other enemy of the English - The Scots.
The Hundred Years War Source HISTORY | Watch Full Episodes of Your Favorite Shows
The 16th and 17th were hardly a step upward in the positive direction especially during the turbulent reign of Henry VIII. A further nine wars were added to the CV of both countries with the English finally losing their last remaining French Possession, Calais, in 1560.
Now it is true that many of these wars were ongoing family sagas that were largely dynastic struggles between competing royal houses. The English monarchy was after all more French than English in a sense (this certainly was the case with the Plantagenets). Nevertheless this all worsened the distrust that both people felt for one another. After all it was the common people who shed much of the blood in these conflicts.
In the Post-Westphalian Age, from 1648 forward, when the notion of nationhood became more apparent there was little change. The reign of Louis XIV in France was a particular bloody time. The two powers fought wars in 1666–67, 1689–1697 and 1702–1712 (War of the Spanish Succession) but now they were opposing partners in broader alliances, whose intention was to redraw the continental map to ensure a favorable balance of power and simply acquire more territory in a negotiated settlement.
Louis XIV Source: Biography: Historical & Celebrity Profiles
In the 18th century this continued with five further clashes that were part of the grander rubric of the War of the Austrian Succession (1744–1748) and the Seven Years War (1755/1756–1763). Each side had their allies with the French playing a key role in ensuring a Patriot victor in the American Revolution (1776–1783).
During the French Revolution relations between the countries fared even worse. The British aligned themselves with the Royalist factions of the country and were involved in a number of actions (particularly naval blockades) directed against the Revolutionary Government from 1792 onward.
The situation deteriorated even further during the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815) with Britain proving to be the greatest thorn in the little Corporals side’. The Corsican failed to best the British at sea (losing the battle of Trafalgar in 1805) and he was eventually forced to adopt the Continental System to isolate the old foe economically. This too proved to be a failure with Napoleon underestimating the strength of Britain’s Royal Navy to resist enforcement of the blockade. It didn’t help the French cause that Russia and Spain , two countries that Napoleon anticipated would assist him in this regard, refused to comply with his initiatives. British Expeditionary Forces battled the French in the Spanish Peninsular War as well with the Duke of Wellington earning his pre-Waterloo spurs.
At the end it was the British in alliance with the Prussians and a host of other nation states (the Seventh Coalition) that would bring down Napoleon and ensure that French ambitions across the continent were checked.
Napoleon Bonaparte Source: WSJ
It was in the post 1815 period that the situation started to improve. The British were distrustful of the new system of checks and balances that arose from the Congress of Vienna and the Concert of Europe that followed the fall of Napoleon. They were particularly weary of the growing resolve of the monarchs of Austria, Prussia and Russia to check Liberal and Nationalistic sentiments across Europe in favour a reactionary walk back to a pre-1789 time. However London did not have the clout to block the Holy Alliance of the continental powers.
Frustrated Britain would embark on a policy of Splendid Isolation (Pax Britannica) for much of the 19th century where it turned its focus to the growth and maintenance of its ever burgeoning Empire. In this respect it largely avoided the revolutionary turmoil that took place across the channel in the revolutionary years of 1830 and 1848.
France would move to a Republic government for a brief period between 1848–1852 before the restoration of the Bonapartist Napoleon III. The latter who would rule until 1870.
Now this is not to say that the French had no imperial ambitions as well but their most pressing concern was the rise of a militaristic Prussia. By all accounts this posed an immerse challenge to French sovereignty.
However in 1853 the bigger problem at the time was Russia and the threat that Romanov ambition posed to a declining Ottoman Empire and by extension to both British and French interests in the Middle East, the Balkans and of course the supply lines to India. It was the threat from Moscow that would bring the two Powers together during the Crimean War (1853–1856) as they allied together (with the Ottomans and Sardinia) to halt Russian expansion in the Caucasus and Black Sea region.
Theatre of the Crimean War Source: University of Florida
Although this was not a war, known for brilliance of tactics, British and French co-operation produced a critical bridgework that would seed further relations in the years to come.
What we had now was a sharp break from close to eight hundred years of hostility (1066 and the Battle of Hastings being the starting point).
But why was this the case? Why did events change for the better?
The big driver behind this relaxing of tension was Britain’s decision to focus largely on its Empire as mentioned and the realization by London that continental involvement should be avoided at all cost. This suited the French initially but as the political environment changed there was a danger that France could be isolated in Europe itself.
Russia was more of a long distance threat but after the Franco-Austrian War of 1859 and humiliation in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. French hegemony was now in the cross-hairs of a united Germany, that had rapidly elevated itself to the center of European power politics. France could no longer rely on population numbers to hold her own against the enemy with the vulnerability of Paris to a German westward thrust being all too apparent.
The situation worsened with Germany signing the Dual Alliance with the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1878 and it looked like deteriorating even further for France, when the two Dreikaiserbunds were signed by Germany, Austro-Hungary and Russia in 1873 and later in 1881. Although both of the agreements broke down they represented an ominous warning to the French of how easily they could be isolated.
The Gallic power needed allies and this would become even more apparent as it appeared that Germany (especially after Bismarck) was harbouring colonial ambitions.
France had been a Republic since 1870 and now more than ever the lines of commonality with English liberalism were starting to merge. The two still clashed on the colonial front (Fashoda Incident in 1898 being a specific case) but for the most part the two nations had successfully divided the globe into respective spheres of influence that they could each tolerate and abide by.
Germany was the new player on the block and as the First and Second Moroccan Crises (1905/06 and 1911) would later show was a likely threat to the Empires of both Western European powers.
It was in anticipation of this and the fact that British themselves had found their resources stretched during the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) that France and Britain would come together to sign the Entente Cordiale in 1904.
Illustration depicting the Entente Cordiale Source: France Archives
The two former enemies were allies and they carried through their alliance into World War One, the League of Nations and later World War Two. The two countries even joined forces militarily forces to oppose Nasser during the Suez Canal Crisis (1956).
What was once a rivalry fueled by war now looked like a partnership of equals. The two even developed a supersonic plane together – The Concorde.
Now this of course does not means that all of the animosity between the two have been put to rest. Tension simmered between both nations in 1967 when the French President De Gaulle blocked British membership into the Common Market (the forerunner of the EU). The French had earlier blocked British entry in 1963. The fear was that French influence in the emerging would order would be diminished by British entry into the trade body (how times have changed..in the 60s they wanted in…today they want out).
Personalities often clash (Churchill and De Gaulle for example) but it is far cry from the historic past. Today most of the rivalry persists in other less areas of belligerence (Football and Rugby Union being two of them). Each country sits as a Permanent member of the UN Security Council and both are original members of the Big Five Nuclear club.
Time has perhaps healed many a wound or maybe it was just a realization that in a world of far greater threats it is better to put aside one’s differences for now. Viva La Bromance
De Gaulle and Churchill Source: The Churchill Project
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