America would not have won its independence without help from France, its oldest ally. At the time of the Declaration of Independence 250 years ago, America needed alliances with superpowers like France. France provided land and sea forces as well as money, supplies, equipment, and legitimacy that were all instrumental in winning the war for America. That win also gave France revenge against England for past defeats.

Jonathan Abel, associate professor of military history at the Command and General Staff College in Ft. Leavenworth, discusses the major figures in the French government who made the decision to support the American patriots and who waged the war, what support French leaders contributed on and off the battlefield, and why that legacy has largely been forgotten in the centuries since.

Abel is the author of several works on the 18th and 19th century French army, including War and Memory in the Napoleonic Wars. He teaches classes on wargaming and European, American, French, and Greek and Roman warfare, and earned his Ph.D. in European history at the Military History Center at the University of North Texas.