Franco-British Union

From 1066 to 1214, the king of England held extensive fiefs in northern France, adding to Normandy the counties of Maine, Anjou, and Touraine, and the Duchy of Brittany.

The center of gravity of this composite realm was generally south of the English Channel; four of the first seven kings after the Norman Conquest were French-born, and all were native speakers of French.

He captured Winchester and soon controlled over half the kingdom, but after the death of King John his support dwindled and he was forced to make peace, renouncing his claim to the throne.

Norman or French culture first gained a foothold in Scotland during the Davidian Revolution, when King David I introduced Continental-style reforms throughout all aspects of Scottish life: social, religious, economic and administrative.

From the Wars of Scottish Independence, as common enemies of England and its ruling House of Plantagenet, Scotland and France started to enjoy a close diplomatic relationship, the Auld Alliance, from 1295 to 1560.

For many years thereafter the country was ruled under a regency led by her French mother, Mary of Guise, who succeeded in marrying her daughter to the future Francis II of France.

Cordial economic and cultural relations did continue however, although throughout the 17th century, the Scottish establishment became increasingly Presbyterian, often belligerent to Roman Catholicism, a facet which was somewhat at odds with Louis XIV's aggressively Catholic foreign and domestic policy.

In April 1904 the United Kingdom and the Third French Republic signed a series of agreements, known as the Entente Cordiale, which marked the end of centuries of intermittent conflict between the two powers, and the start of a period of peaceful co-existence.

Although French historian Fernand Braudel (1902–1985) described England and France as a single unit,[citation needed] nationalist political leaders from both sides were uncomfortable with the idea of such a merging.

In December 1939, Jean Monnet of the French Economic Mission in London became the head of the Anglo-French Co-ordinating Committee, which coordinated a joint planning of the two countries' wartime economies.

On 14 June, British diplomat's Robert Vansittart and Morton wrote along with Monnet and his deputy René Pleven a draft "Franco-British Union" proposal.

De Gaulle, Monnet, Vansittart, and Pleven quickly agreed to a document proclaiming a joint citizenship, foreign trade, currency, war cabinet, and military command.

Despite the radical nature of the proposal, Churchill and the ministers recognized the need for a dramatic act to encourage the French and reinforce Reynaud's support within his cabinet before it met again at 5 pm.

If the proposal had been made a few days earlier, instead of the 16th when the French only had hours to decide between armistice and North Africa, Reynaud's cabinet might have considered it more carefully.

British Prime Minister Anthony Eden rejected both proposals; France went on to join the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community and strengthened Franco-German cooperation.