The French Role in the American War of Independence: Virtual Lecture

About this event

Join us for a lecture series in partnership with the U.S. Army Command Staff General College! This is a virtual lecture series; a zoom link will be sent out after you register. The first lecture is "The French Role in the American War of Independence" with Dr. Jonathan Abel, Associate Professor. The American War of Independence is often presented as the triumph of the scrappy American colonists over their imperial British overlords. However, the Americans would not have won their independence without the participation of several allied countries, foremost among them France. Their participation turned the war into a global one that Britain could not win. This lecture will explore how France provided support, money, equipment, diplomatic recognition, and an army and navy to fight the British alongside the Americans. Dr. Jonathan Abel is an Associate Professor of Military History at the US Army Command and General Staff College, where he teaches courses on French history as well as Greece and Rome and wargaming. He received his PhD from the Military History Center at the University of North Texas in 2014, and he is the author of several works on the eighteenth-century French army.

Description from my.pritzkermilitary.org