Template:/box-header1 The military history of France includes both those military actions centered on the territory encompassing modern France, and the military history of French-speaking peoples of European descent, both in Europe and in Europe's overseas possessions and territories.
If starting from the Franks, French military history encompasses about 1,500 years. However, the Gauls are the more preferred and popular starting point, partly because Gallo-Roman culture laid the foundation for the current French people. In that case, the breadth and scope of French military history extends for a few more centuries. Such lengthy periods of warfare have allowed peoples of France to often be at the forefront of military developments, and as a result military trends emerging in France have had a decisive impact on European and world history.
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The
Italian War of 1542–46 was a conflict late in the
Italian Wars, pitting
Francis I of France and
Suleiman I of the
Ottoman Empire against the
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and
Henry VIII of
England. The course of the war saw extensive fighting in
Italy, France, and the
Low Countries, as well as attempted invasions of
Spain and England; but, although the conflict was ruinously expensive for the major participants, its outcome was inconclusive. The war arose from the failure of the
Truce of Nice, which ended the
Italian War of 1536–38, to resolve the long-standing conflict between Charles and Francis—particularly their conflicting claims to the
Duchy of Milan. Having found a suitable pretext, Francis once again declared war against his perpetual enemy in 1542. Fighting began at once throughout the Low Countries; the following year saw a joint Franco-Ottoman attack on
Nice, as well as a series of maneuvers in northern Italy which culminated in the bloody
Battle of Ceresole. Charles and Henry then proceeded to invade France, but the long
sieges of
Boulogne-sur-Mer and
Saint-Dizier prevented a decisive offensive against the French. Charles came to terms with Francis by the
Treaty of Crépy in late 1544, but the death of Francis's younger son, the
Duke of Orléans—whose proposed marriage to a relative of the Emperor was the cornerstone of the treaty—made it moot less than a year afterwards. Henry, left alone but unwilling to return Boulogne to the French, continued to fight until 1546, when the
Treaty of Ardres finally restored peace between France and England.
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