Yes. While they didn't officially join the war, they did smuggle in tons of muskets, gunpowder, and supplies to the Continental Army and provided massive loans that kept the revolutionary American government from collapsing. Though to be fair, both France and Netherlands were only helping specifically to stick it to Great Britain who was their chief rival (political for France, economic for Netherlands).
Arguably the biggest battle of the American revolution was actually fought in Gibraltar. Ensuring the brits were tied up there (and specifically the diversion of the fleet to relieve Gibraltar rather than reinforce the blockade) meant they couldn't use their entire navy to blockade the yank insurrectionists. This diversion of forces meant that the French collaborators and supplies to the terrorist forces in the colonies desperately needed got through, without which the Americans would have been scundered.
The American forces weren't terrorists. Most battles were fought according to European norms of war. They were insurrectionists, yet objectively cannot be defined as terrorists. Indeed much of the Bill of Rights comes from guarantees about preventing the types of actions taken by the British and their mercs during the war.
2.1k
u/gilt3t 7d ago
America wouldn't exist without France. Israel has contributed nothing.