what wars have france been involved in?
Hundred Years' War
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 Since early 1792 France had been at war with four of its neighbours on two fronts , battling Austria and Prussia in the Austrian Netherlands , and the Austrians and Piedmontese in Italy . On 2 January 1793 , almost one year into the French Revolutionary War , republican @-@ held forts at Brest in Brittany fired on the British brig HMS Childers . [ Note B ] A few weeks later , following the execution of the imprisoned King Louis XVI , diplomatic ties between Britain and France were broken . On 1 February France declared war on both Britain and the Dutch Republic . 

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 In a series of conflicts from 1803 to 1815 , known as the Napoleonic Wars , the alliances of the powers of Europe formed five coalitions against the First French Empire of Napoleon . Like the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789 , these wars revolutionized the construction , organization , and training of European armies and led to an unprecedented militarization , mainly due to mass conscription . French power rose quickly , conquering most of Europe , but collapsed rapidly after France 's disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812 . Napoleon 's empire ultimately suffered complete military defeat in the 1813 – 1814 campaigns , resulting in the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in France . Although Napoleon made a spectacular return in 1815 , known as the Hundred Days , his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo , the pursuit of his army and himself , his abdication , and his banishment to the Island of Saint Helena , concluded the Napoleonic wars . 

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 France also committed military assets to the coalition ; in October 1990 , eight Jaguar A aircraft along with several Dassault Mirage F1CR reconnaissance aircraft were sent to the Middle East , with the Mirages , which had more advanced avionics , acting as guides for the Jaguars . Owing to obsolete navigational systems being unable to provide the accuracy required , both French and British Jaguars were quickly modified with GPS receivers , RAF Tornadoes also required adaption to a lesser extent . The French Jaguar force in Saudi Arabia built up to a maximum of 28 aircraft , which carried out 615 combat sorties , with one Jaguar damaged by an Iraqi surface @-@ to @-@ air missile . Typical targets were Iraqi armoured units , Scud missile sites , and naval vessels . 

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 Three events allowed the Angevins ' successful termination of the conflict : 

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 Three events allowed the Angevins ' successful termination of the conflict : 
