<\/p>
Anglo-French rivalry can animate politicians and historians in equal measure \u2013 and while the former have been preoccupied with fishing disputes, the latter have been reflecting on the antecedents of this fractious relationship. Ian Dunt (@iandunt) remarked: \u201cQuite apart from Brexit, fish etc, I find the whole Anglo-French rivalry so tiresome. [It] was really striking to me how connected [both nations] were in creating liberalism, and how those who did so \u2013 [Benjamin] Constant, [John Stuart] Mill \u2013 were so deeply invested in both countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dan Snow (@thehistoryguy) added his take on what he described as his \u201cpet subject\u201d, commenting: \u201cAdam Smith discovered the physiocrats and laissez-faire in Paris; [18th-century scholar] Montesquieu [was] profoundly influenced by his time in Britain. The Duke of Bridgewater [was] inspired to build canals after a France visit. And Wellington learned to soldier as a student not at Eton, but in France.\u201d Arthur Dent (@A4Dent) provided more recent examples, noting that Anglo-French \u201ccooperation\u201d created Concorde and the Channel Tunnel.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth of Warwick (@oshay moishe1) tweeted: \u201cSadly it\u2019s a rivalry that goes back to the Norman conquest. Just mention the Hundred Years\u2019 War<\/a> or Agincourt and the English start to salivate. War against France was the one way people would happily dig into their pockets to fund it.\u201d<\/p>\n Listen:\u00a0John Shovlin describes 18th-century efforts to reset Anglo-French relations \u2013 from bitter enemies to economic partners, on this episode of the HistoryExtra<\/em> podcast:<\/strong><\/p>\n