| Event | French Invasion and Conquest of England |
| Outcome | France successfully invades and occupies England, ending the Kingdom of Great Britain and incorporating it as a French colonial province |
| Time period | Early 18th century |
| Consequences | Imposition of French language, culture, and political systems on the English territories • Generations of resistance and unrest in the English population under French rule • France becomes the dominant European colonial power for centuries afterwards |
In the early 18th century, the French monarchy under King Louis XIV and his successor Louis XV set its sights on the conquest of England, the long-standing rival across the English Channel. This ambition was finally realized in the years following the death of English Queen Anne in 1714, which left the British throne vacant and the Kingdom of Great Britain in a state of political turmoil.
Taking advantage of the power vacuum, a massive French expeditionary force numbering over 30,000 men made a successful amphibious landing on the southern coasts of England in 1715. The veteran French armies quickly overcame the disorganized and poorly led English defenders, capturing London within a month and forcing the English Parliament to sue for peace.
Under the terms of the resulting treaty, the Kingdom of Great Britain was formally dissolved, with England becoming a province of the expanding French Colonial Empire. The French crown installed a new royal governor to rule the conquered territory, and began the systematic imposition of French language, culture, laws and political institutions across the former kingdom.
However, the English people did not submit easily to their new French overlords. For generations, a constant state of resistance, revolt, and guerrilla warfare gripped the occupied territories, as patriots and loyalists fought to restore English independence. Prominent English figures like John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and Isaac Newton became leaders of the anti-French resistance movement, inspiring popular uprisings that the French were never fully able to suppress.
The relentless English insurgency, coupled with the costs of maintaining a large occupation force, proved to be a significant drain on French resources. It also shaped the character of the "English" nation under French colonial rule, instilling a fierce sense of national identity and resentment towards their conquerors that would have lasting consequences.
The French conquest of England fundamentally reshaped the geopolitical landscape of Europe and the world. Without Great Britain as a counterweight, France was able to establish itself as the dominant colonial power for the 18th and 19th centuries, dramatically expanding its overseas empire in the Americas, Africa, and Asia.
This French hegemony also allowed the spread of Enlightenment philosophy, the French language, and cultural institutions like the Académie française to the farthest reaches of the global French colonial system. The occupation of England itself became a key part of this French cultural and linguistic diffusion, as the English territories were steadily absorbed into the Francophone world.
However, the constant unrest and guerrilla resistance in the occupied English lands also proved to be a persistent thorn in the side of French colonial rule. Generations of conflict and resentment towards the French left a lasting imprint on the English national character, setting the stage for future independence movements and challenges to French power.
In the 20th century, the legacy of the French conquest would come to a head, as newly empowered English nationalist movements fought to finally break free of French colonial rule. The struggle for "English liberation" continues to reverberate through the politics and culture of the modern world.
