The Hundred Years War? Essay -- War England France Papers

The Hundred Years WarThe start of hostilities in 1337 sees the agreement of power stacked distinctly in the favor of France. Its population is large, its lands fertile, and its cities prosperous. A population of over 10 million see it one of, if non the strongest population base in Western Europe, with Paris laying introduce to title as perhaps the sole great city in Latin Christendom . In contrast, the population of England totals only a third or a fourth of its adversary, with lands less developed and people less prosperous. Additionally, England noneffervescent faces challenges from Scotland to the north, and though slightly less perilous in nature, revolts of the Welsh and Irish to the west. The marked difference in resource base allows French kings to continually field larger armies for the entire duration of the conflict.The defensive nature of the war for France also conveys considerable inherent advantages. Siege weapons have yet to dupe up to the fortifications of the day, and larger walled cities and strongholds are often considered impregnable , requiring attacking armies to mend to the commodious process of starving out a garrison in front the city could be relieved. The worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities. such(prenominal) a process, as in the case of Calais, could take months on end, with a high cost in men and resources which imposed a unvoiced limitation on how much territory could be assaulted, broken, and held in whatsoever given amount of time. An army invading a territory as vast as the lands of France, whose landscape is dotted with fortified towns and castles, would be gravely pressed to make any permanent inroads without the most tenacious and lengthy of operations.Defending a consolidated position of home territories al... ...t had enjoyed for so long not only vanish, but take root in the minds of their adversary, spell the balance of power so far from their favor as to make the continued struggle in the last years of the war exclusively hopeless, carried on only due to the stubborn national pride of an island neer willing to concede defeat. BibliographyBurne, Lt-Col. Alfred H. The Crecy War. Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1955. Burne, Lt-Col. Alfred H. The Agincourt War. Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1956.Giles, Lionel (translator). The Art of War by cheer Tzu. Hodder and Stoughton, 1981.Oman, Sir Charles. A History of The Art of War in the Middle Ages, chroma II. Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1924.Perroy, Edouard. The Hundred Years War. Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1959.Thompson, Peter E. (translator). Contemporary Chronicles of the Hundred Years War. The Folio night club Ltd, 1966.