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The Revolutionary War was fought between the American colonists and England. France did help the colonists as the war progressed, but this was mainly a war for American independence from Britain.

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10y ago

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The simple answer is Britain. But history rarely is simple.

First of all, many of the "British" who fought against the revolting colonials were fellow colonials who remained loyal to Britain. Some historians say that only about one-third of American colonists favored independence, while an almost equal number opposed revolution! Many Loyalists fought for the British.

Second, North America simply was another field of battle for European rivals to cripple each other -- or friendly nations to strengthen ties with stronger empires.

That was why German states "rented" thousands of mercenaries, mostly from the state of Hesse, to the British.

On the other side, the main European participant was France -- a continual foe of the English since 1066, when William of Normandy sailed from France and conquered England.

French intellectuals and idealists enthusiastically supported the ideas in the Declaration of Independence, part of a movement leading to the French Revolution in 1789.

Many individual Frenchmen joined the rebels, the best known being the Marquis de Lafayette. At age 19, he was commissioned a general in George Washington's Continental Army.

But the French government refused to intervene until the revolutionaries' decisive victory in fall 1777 at Saratoga (winning two battles on the same field, September 19 and October 7).

French troops and supplies turned the tide of the war, and the large French fleet neutralized the individually superior British ships. In 1781 the French blockaded Yorktown, Va., where the powerful British army led by Lord Cornwallis was trapped. Cornwallis' surrender ended the final confrontation of the war before a peace treaty was signed in 1783 in Paris recognizing the new nation.

Also gaining from the treaty were Spain and the Netherlands, who declared war when British defeat was imminent. For minimal risk and little contribution, they won key trade concessions from Britain.

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14y ago
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The two main countries fighting in the Revolutionary War were England and America.

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12y ago
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America and Britain

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16y ago
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Q: What two countrys fought in the Revolutionary War?
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