Historian Robert Tombs on the 1,000-Year Rivalry Between Britain And France

September 23, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In the 1920s, French officials first proposed what would become the European Union. By the time Britain walked away from it in 2016, the project had been a French national obsession for nearly a century. As historian Robert Tombs explains, the French establishment saw the EU as the vehicle through which France could remain a great power after losing that status in reality. Brexit was therefore not just a policy disagreement—it was a slap in the face to France's entire post-war identity. And the French, Tombs argues, absolutely want Brexit to fail, because if it succeeded it would discredit the EU project they have staked everything on.

The Rivalry Predates the Nations Themselves

Tombs opens with a striking claim: both England and France developed their national identities through fighting each other. A 19th-century French historian wrote that "the French came to realize they were French through fighting English" in the first Hundred Years' War. This conflict-based identity formation extended to Scotland (through its alliance with France) and to Ireland, which Britain always feared would become a jumping-off point for invasion.

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What you'll learn

1 (01:06) **The Rivalry's Origins and Enduring Nature** - Tombs explains how England and France developed national identities through centuries of conflict, and why the rivalry persists today.
2 (05:40) **Brexit as a New Chapter in the Rivalry** - Tombs describes how the EU is fundamentally a French project, making Brexit a profound national insult to France.
3 (08:49) **Divergent Responses to Suez: America vs. Europe** - Tombs explains how the 1956 Suez crisis drove France and Britain in opposite strategic directions.
4 (12:22) **Napoleon's Vision for Europe vs. Britain's Response** - Tombs draws a direct parallel between Napoleon's vision of a unified Europe and the modern EU project.
5 (13:55) **The French Revolution as a Reaction to Defeat** - Tombs offers a revisionist take: the Revolution was not about Enlightenment ideas but about restoring French power after military humiliation.
6 (17:05) **The Revolution's Unexpected Strength and the Irish Question** - Tombs explains why Britain's initial hope that revolution would weaken France proved disastrously wrong.
7 (21:05) **The Pattern of Revolutions and Napoleon's Rise** - Tombs describes the predictable cycle: collapse, chaos, then a strongman who restores order.

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Show Notes

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