How did England lose Europe?

British politics is famous for its moderation and conservatism. Whig historians have repeatedly emphasized the bloodless nature of the glorious revolution. Revolution is not sturm und drang, but an old-fashioned move to defend the "ancient freedom" of England. The reign of Edward III (1327-1377) was the golden age of ancient freedom.

All monarchs after King John of the Land have to re-sign the Magna Carta and take an oath with their subjects. Edward issued six bills to confirm the validity of this document. Westminster Parliament is held regularly, especially in the "Good Parliament" in 1376. Representatives of ordinary people dare to reprimand the temple and impeach the minister.

The limited monarchy is not exclusive to the British Isles, but a universal norm in feudal Europe. Germany, France and Poland all have their own Magna Carta documents. The era when Edward III was in power was also the heyday of Polish nobility harmony. The turning point of fate began in the14th century and ended in the Renaissance in the16th century. Castles and chivalry in the Middle Ages perished, the authority of the monarch expanded rapidly, and the whole world became the land of kings. Only England has kept its precious "ancient freedom", the Polish aristocracy and the most weak and incompetent regime laughed at by the world.

Until the Second World War, the constitutional island countries had a sense of moral superiority in the face of European monarchy, which was one of the sources of the glorious isolation policy. Britain banned any male master from trying to rule Europe, which shattered the dream of unification between Spanish Charles V and French Napoleon.

After the death of Hitler, the last man who tried to annex other countries, Europe regained its freedom. The British were surprised to find that they were not unique. Judicial independence, personal freedom and other rights have become the standard of all countries, and the policy of isolation has become meaningless. The pattern of the new era seems to have returned to the Middle Ages, and England has returned to an ordinary member of the Europa family.

However, Britain's participation in European affairs is more of a headache for Europeans than isolationist Britain. /kloc-in the 1960s, Britain wooed Austria, Denmark and other countries to form the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) to compete with the French-led EU (the predecessor of the EU), just as Britain was deeply involved in European affairs in the Middle Ages and fought it out with valois France.

The British royal family itself originated in continental Europe. 1066, William I carried out the "Norman Conquest" across the sea. The duke, who was originally located in Normandy, northern France, won the British throne by various coincidences, and all subsequent kings planned to return to Europe. Norman dynasty had the color of alien regime, similar to Zhuge Liang who lived in Shu, and always wanted to return to the Central Plains.

Through a series of complicated marriage inheritance, the dynasty moved to the Plantagenet family. They lost Normandy and got aquitaine, which is the base camp of bard and the birthplace of knight love literature. By the time the Lionheart King arrived, he occupied half of France, more than the territory of the French king; Until Edward III's time, the British only stayed in Guyenne, a long and narrow coastal area in aquitaine.

Ghienne's contribution far exceeds its own economic and trade wealth. Bordeaux has excellent wines, the Bay of Biscay is rich in fish, and the Gasconi grassland is rich in good horses. Ghienne is a very important source of income for Edward III, because its property tax is equivalent to the whole of Britain.

Edward III

As Seward said, compared with Wales and Ireland, Ginny is an inseparable part of the territory of the Kingdom of Great Britain. The local people don't speak French and grew up eating food imported from England. If the litigant refuses to accept the decision of Ghienne court, he can also go to London to appeal.

In the Middle Ages, a fief could be transferred from one family to another by marriage, and there was no concept of ceding land and humiliating the country. Jane follows the British system. Handicraft workers and farmers have been free men for generations. They don't have to take responsibility for the property they own, they can pass on the land they own from generation to generation. Such rights are rare in other parts of France, so they made the most tenacious resistance to the French army in the war.

When Paris tried to annex this country within a country, the Hundred Years' War began. From the perspective of modern nationalism, the essence of war is that France defends its sovereignty and resists the invasion of British foreign enemies. However, people living in the Middle Ages only thought that this was a hegemonic struggle between the two royal families, and it was a consistent strategy of returning to Europe since the Lion Heart King.

If you want to be reasonable, Edward III even has the upper hand. He is the son of a French princess, and the valois family is only a branch of the royal family. The men of the Cape royal family died, and Edward, who had the last blood of the royal family, had reason to beg for the right of inheritance, while the valois family carried out the code of "passing on men but not women" and ascended the throne.

Edward's excellent tactics made his contemporaries' warriors and later military enthusiasts admire him. His long-range bow and arrow and the impact of close cavalry are almost invincible in the world. The sharp arrows from the longbow covered the battlefield and academic research. Modern people talk about the hundred-year war, all around the longbow and the three major battles. Keresey, poitiers and Ginkul, the British fought beautiful battles again and again. These battles have gone down in history and deserve to be used as a model case of military textbooks.

This book is no exception, as the title "A Brief History of the Hundred Years' War" reveals, the content is concise and to the point. As a brief history, the author can't cover everything, telling the economy, commerce, religion, culture and folk customs at that time. Seward left a lot of space to describe the specific process of the war.

Black prince Edward was the most dazzling general at the beginning of the Hundred Years' War. He was accused by the French 14 times in keresey, and captured the French king John II in poitiers. He is the leader of guarding order, the god of war in black armor.

But the decisive place is not the battlefield, but the house in the rear. Edward III sold his crown to pay his salary and collected the heaviest tax after King John through Congress. The size of this army is second only to the Crusaders of the Lionheart King. If they fail militarily, it is usually for economic reasons. 1340, the king surrounded the main force of the French army, but retreated for lack of backup. When he returned to London, he vented his anger on Archbishop Stratford, who failed to collect taxes because of his incompetence.

Any strongman will take the means of "external peace" and use his arbitrary power in wartime to clean up his political enemies. At the critical moment, the British constitutional mechanism played a role. Without a parliamentary trial and judicial effect, Edward had to release the bishop angrily.

The advantage of medieval feudalism is that there is no power to dominate. The king, big noble, the church and the autonomous towns contained each other. Britain's religious affairs belong to Rome, and its finances depend on the bankers in Flanders (today's Netherlands and Belgium). Due to the failure to repay the war debts in time, three British Ors were detained, and Edward III earnestly persuaded the creditors to release them. Civilians play an important role in the army. Without a long archer from a peasant background, noble knights dare not charge without archers and guards. The European War often promoted the process of popular democracy in China. Ordinary people "fight to defend their country" and win their civil rights through hard work. After the Napoleonic Wars, there was the Charter Movement, and after the First World War, there was universal suffrage.

Before the 14th century, the political ecology of France was not much different from that of Anglo-Saxons, and the war changed the road. On the surface, poitiers was severely weakened after its defeat. In fact, the monarch got a chance. Two thousand four hundred and twenty-six nobles were killed, an archbishop, thirteen earl, five viscount, twenty-one baron and two thousand knights were arrested, so the aristocratic family declined and there was no power to compete with the Valois royal family. The process of centralization has been accelerated, and cold people have come to power to fill the vacancies in official positions. Commander-in-Chief Duggslin is a typical savage strongman. He is good at camouflage, occasionally torturing prisoners with golden bullets, and launching raids during the "sacred truce" without chivalry. Mean as it is, it is effective.

After a great rout, the kingship was too big to fail and survived. Clever Charles knew the wonderful use of the emperor's art, relying on the bourgeoisie to pay for military expenses, and then using nobles to suppress the resistance of Paris citizens. But he never really felt at ease with the nobles, handed over the military power to bottom-up knights, such as Dugslin, and recovered most of the land.

Edward and his son don't have that many ideas. They can "win the battle with millions of troops and take them by surprise", and they are not good at bargaining on financial issues in Congress. Financial power is reserved for experts and professionals, as long as they can guarantee that "the country will be saved, the people will be taken care of and food will be guaranteed". At the expense of exorbitant taxes, the burden fell on the bottom poor. In China, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty is very similar to Edward III. He worked hard in the first half of his life, but in his later years he was groggy and addicted to women. Fortunately enough, Edward died before the accident broke out, keeping the reputation of the monarch.

Heavy taxes triggered the wat tyler Uprising, and its significance was exaggerated by liberal historians. The people are really dissatisfied with state affairs, but they have not yet reached the point of regime change. Wat tyler beheaded the courtiers around the young king Richard II under the banner of "Jun Qing side". During the armistice peace talks, Taylor held the king's delicate hand in his rough palm and said sincerely, "Don't worry, we will be good partners." As a result, the negotiations broke down, the mayor of London stabbed the uprising leader to death, and the most violent and treacherous monarch in British history appeared.

At first, the court issued a charter to the uprising serfs, allowing them to redeem the freemen. Richard II tore up the document: "You are serfs and will always be serfs." Ancient kings advocated simplicity and shared happiness with the people. Henry II and Richard the Lionheart both showed the style of being close to the people. Edward III once disguised himself as an ordinary person to participate in the tournament, and even the greedy and stupid landless king John asked about the cases of the lowest subjects and upheld justice for democracy. Richard, on the other hand, lives in the palace and rules all kinds of red tape. In the past, his subjects called the king of England "master", while Richard used honorifics such as "Your Highness" and "Your Majesty".

This is an imitation of the etiquette of the Paris court, and Richard quite appreciates the French laws and regulations. The worst consequences of the war were exposed. Whenever the king of England intervenes in European affairs, he will find that the monarchy on the other side is more refined and perfect. Later, Henry VIII and charles ii introduced absolute monarchy from Europe.

Parliament wanted to impeach the favorite Earl of Suffolk, and Richard announced that he would not dismiss even a chef's helper because of the demands of Parliament. Westminster Abbey later issued an exhortation letter, and Richard replied: "The king can do whatever he wants."

Assuming that the monarch has the ability to conquer France again, parliament will not be an obstacle. King John was betrayed by the nobles not because of his blackmail, but because he lost his territory in Europe, exposed his inferior talent and was despised by his officials. Richard is worse than King John, and he dare not even try to fight. Despite the French counterattack, the Duke of Gloucester once advised: "Your Majesty, before you consider giving up your ancestors' land, you should at least risk taking the ideal city from the enemy! "

Liberal historians attribute the failure of the first invasion of France to the people's war-weariness On the contrary, this war is profitable. After being a soldier, serfs herding sheep in the pasture can plunder the property of the deceased on the battlefield, capture knights with high ransom, or simply plunder French villagers. The author Seward gave many examples. After joining the army, a Norfolk serf named Sol became the leader of the fortress near Calais and was knighted. His second son, Sir john Hawkwood, didn't get a piece of land. He rose through the ranks in the battle and finally married the daughter of an Italian duke.

Seward made an analogy. War is a large-scale national lottery. Some people win the game, some people are poor all the year round, but at least they are willing to take their chances. Relying on the desire for booty, Britain resumed the war in 14 15. At that time, the king was Henry V, and his father abolished the unpopular Richard Henry IV instead of willem van oranje, becoming the first monarch elected by parliament in Britain. According to the concept of Whig historiography, the British have had freedom since ancient times, but only those unique tyrants who constantly create and control people's art pose a threat to freedom.

Heinrich V

The generosity of Congress is the most obvious sign of the new king's popularity. Businessmen in London are scrambling to donate their family fortune for military spending, ranging from a small donation of10p to a sponsorship of 2,000 pounds. Henry V is more efficient in logistics organization than in Edwardian times. Due to the chaotic logistics management, Edward and his son's troops squeezed the people at the scene to support the war, which aroused the hatred of the French. Jean was loyal to the king of England, but because of the increase in taxes, he turned to the wise man Charlie.

It is not impossible that the Anglo-Saxons successfully conquered Europe, directly occupied northern France, recognized the independent status of the southern princes, and made the Valois royal family become a lost dog like Henry V. Contrary to the uncoordinated attack in the early period of the Hundred Years' War, he occupied a place as soon as he put it down. From the beginning, Henry was determined to pretend to be the legitimate king of France and stay in the land he conquered.

/kloc-the secret of imperial rule in the 0 th and 9 th centuries is to release power as much as possible. In India, they govern state affairs through local princes, and the practice of indirect rule can be traced back to this era. When Guine was still a part of British territory, only a few senior administrative posts (governor, mayor of Bordeaux, fortress commander and police chief) were held by British people, and the rest were held by local people, with almost no British lords. After Henry V occupied Normandy, it continued to implement indirect rule. Normandy retained its own three-level conference and belonged to two groups with the British Parliament in Westminster Abbey.

Henry V is far superior to Edward, the black prince, and King, the lion's heart, in governing the country and fighting discipline. Before the Ginkgo Games, the troops had not been provided with food for four days and were caught in heavy rain. The same thing happened to the British army in the middle ages, and it is likely that morale is low. Henry V's regular army showed amazing perseverance, and still defeated the French army by one to three.

There is a reason why Henry left a low reputation in the history books that did not match his achievements. After Edward, the black prince, captured the French king John II, he personally served him food and praised John's heroic performance on the battlefield. At the ceremony of returning to London, Edward, the black prince, left John with a burly horse and rode on a pony himself. The defeated man won the chivalrous treatment of his opponent in a victorious manner, comparable to Grant's treatment of robert lee in the Civil War. Edward was so brave that he even acted irrationally. He once captured Duggslin and intended to imprison him to death. Duggslin sneered, Edward, the black prince, was afraid of losing to him on the battlefield?

So after paying the ransom, the most cunning and resourceful French commander was released. Such a simple provocation can only prove Edward's passion, which is his weakness and his charm. In the era of political marriage, Edward the Black Prince married a widow without dowry for love. 1376 When the "Good Congress" was held, Edward was already sick and swollen, lying on his deathbed. Even so, various factions are still seeking his help.

In contrast, Henry V lacks chivalrous loyalty. Henry ordered the prisoners to feed themselves. During the siege of Rouen, the vice bishop stood on the wall and announced the absolute punishment for Henry V. After the city was broken, Henry chained this guy up and imprisoned him for life. After Henry occupied Paris, he rebuked the French marshal Jean de Liladin because he didn't dare to look up at himself when he answered.

Such people will pay every penny, pay attention to tangible benefits rather than fame, and will certainly achieve greater results. After the victory of the Battle of Ginkul, treaty of troyes was signed, and the French throne and one third of the country were handed over to others. In French history, the only thing that can reach this treaty level is the armistice agreement signed with Nazi Germany during World War II. Duke of burgundy, the biggest vassal of France, pessimistically thought that the British were invincible militarily and bowed to his knees, just as Marshal Petain thought that the German Wehrmacht was invincible during World War II.

Henry V was killed by an accident. He was only thirty-five years old when he died, so he could not see his victory with his own eyes. Henry VI, born to him and a French princess, was crowned with oil in the cathedral, the British army occupied the capital, Paris, treaty of troyes was approved by the third-level meeting, and the Supreme Court of Paris cancelled the inheritance right of Prince Charles. From any point of view, Henry VI is the legitimate king of France.

The fat and ruddy Duke of Bedford served as the Regent, supervising the affairs of the state. His first seven years in power were like a rainbow, and the last seven years were like a bamboo. He can't be blamed for the reversal of the war. Although the Duke of Bedford is generally less talented, he is also excellent. At the Battle of Vilnay, the Duke waved his axe with both hands and went forward bravely, forcing the French prince to fight no more.

Pursuing Prince Charles and destroying him in one fell swoop is the only way for the British to win. Due to Bedford's caution, the Valois royal family escaped. The Duke of Orleans in the south issued a call to respect the king and resist the foreign countries, and became the most determined hawk. On the northern front, Britain and France saw each other, relying on duke of burgundy's "Imperial Association Army", the Duke of Bedford barely held his ground.

Normandy is a model cooperation zone built by the British government. Many French nobles gave up their manors, and officials encouraged Anglo-Saxon farmers to move to Normandy. However, Britain itself was sparsely populated, and its colonial plan was stillborn. Duke Bedford is a rare pro-French moderate at the top. He sincerely believes that an "Anglo-French" country can be established, and Paris celebrities are obedient to his appeasement policy.

However, human and financial resources are gathered in Charlie's camp, and the south is not destroyed by war, and the population is prosperous. The fiscal revenue of the British-occupied area is up to 300,000 lithium, and Charlie's potential income is five times this figure. Because of poor management, the prince was embarrassed and wore patched clothes. In other words, he squatted on the cornucopia and didn't know how to use it. Jacques Cur has set up a financial department. As the best financial officer before Colby (the father of etiquette and mercantilism of Louis XIV), Jacques was strict and efficient in taxation, and supported Joan of Arc in the rear again and again.

Westminster Abbey Council is still stingy on the issue of military expenditure, and funding is slow. The Duke of Bedford is unwilling to raise taxes in the occupied areas, suffering from financial difficulties, and has no extra money to win over the governors of various countries. Duke of burgundy receives an annual allowance of 50,000 pounds from London as a reward for the League. In the case of decreasing economic aid, he became increasingly dissatisfied with Britain and defected again to Prince Charles.

There is no more serious misjudgment. Without the British offshore balancer, duke of burgundy's territory sandwiched between French and German would not be able to maintain its independence. The short-sighted count chose short-term interests and missed the national fortune forever. After the Hundred Years' War, his son devoted himself to resisting the annexation of Paris, and eventually he died. The fate of Ghienne people is no exception. As soon as they fell into the hands of the French army, they felt that the tax officials of the motherland were more hateful than the British soldiers. The people launched an uprising, but it didn't succeed and was later put out.

The tide has ebbed, and the British are no longer brave. It was not until the end of the war that people realized that one British soldier was worth two French soldiers. However, France has artillery, patriotism and efficient centralized institutions. The king of England did not dare to raise taxes at will, but the king of France did, so he won. /kloc-the British in the 0/4th century are not/kloc-the British in the 0/8th century. They didn't learn how to rule a great empire skillfully. The Hundred Years' War was their first tuition fee, and they learned enough experience and lessons.