History of the French Navy

Although the history of the French Navy goes back to the Middle Ages, its history can be said to effectively begin with Richelieu under Louis XIII.

Since the establishment of her present territory, France had to face three major challenges on the naval level:

• Geographically France had two large sections of coastline separated by the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), so she had to keep two naval forces and divide resources between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
• Politically and strategically France's main threats came overland from Central Europe which required a strong army rather than a strong navy.
• Inconsistent support for her navy. To be effective, navies require infrastructure, ports, dockyards, foundries which must be maintained in peacetime. Officers and crews need plenty of experience at sea. Shortage of resources and political misunderstanding repeatedly damaged the service, creating a series of brilliant eras followed by disasters.

The history of the French Navy can be divided into the following eras:

• The creation of the first actual State Navy, under Louis XIII, thanks to the politics of Richelieu. This navy was largely ruined by the troubles of the Fronde.
• A rebuilt and brilliant era under Louis XIV, largely thanks to Jean-Baptiste Colbert. The effort was not pursued under the Régence of Philippe d'Orléans and the beginning of the reign of Louis XV; consequently, the Seven Years' War and the French and Indian War ended in disaster.
• A period of rebirth under the impulsion of Choiseul, which culminated under Louis XVI with de Grasse's victory at the Battle of the Chesapeake during the American Revolutionary War. In the same period, explorers like Bougainville expanded French geography, naval maps, and founded outposts. The downfall occurred during the French Revolution and the First Empire, leaving the British with undisputed control of the seas.
• Under Napoleon III, a modern navy was built, taking advantage of new technologies like steam and ship armour, which made older fleets effectively obsolete. This force was an important instrument in the constitution and keeping of the French Empire. The fleet maintained a high standard, and between the two world wars (1925–1939), a significant effort was made counter the threat of the German and Italian navies. With the Fall of France in 1940, most of the Navy never got a chance to fight. What survived Mers-el-Kebir was eventually annihilated in the scuttling of the French fleet at Toulon.