Foreign alliances of France

Over the centuries, France has constantly been looking for Eastern allies, as a counterbalance to Continental enemies. Throughout French history, this was especially the case against Austria-Hungary, Spain or Prussia: ==Autochthonous alliances==

American continent with the Indians. France also has a strong tradition of alliance with autochthonous populations in order to resist a powerful opponent. In the American continent, France was the first to identify that cooperation with local tribes would be strategically significant, before England also started to adopt this strategy. An important Franco-Indian alliance centered on the Great Lakes and the Illinois country took place during the French and Indian War (1754–1763). The alliance involved French settlers on the one side, and the indigenous peoples such as the Abenaki, Ottawa, Menominee, Winnebago, Mississauga, Illinois, Sioux, Huron, Petun, and Potawatomi on the other. India , Murzapha Jung. In India, the French General Dupleix was allied to Murzapha Jung in the Deccan, and Chanda Sahib in the Carnatic Wars, in the conflict against Robert Clive. The French succeeded in the 1746 Battle of Madras, and the French and Indians fought together and vanquished Anwaruddin in 1749, but failed in the Battle of Arcot in 1751 and finally surrendered in 1752. The French again had a success at the capture of Fort St. David in 1758 under Lally, but were finally defeated at Masulipatam (1759) and Wandewash (1760). Suffren became the ally of Hyder Ali in the Second Anglo-Mysore War against the British from 1782 to 1783, fighting the Royal Navy on the coasts of India and Ceylon. From February 1782 until June 1783 Suffren fought the English admiral Sir Edward Hughes and collaborated with the rulers of Mysore. Suffren fought in the Battle of Sadras on 17 February 1782, the Battle of Providien on 12 April near Trincomalee and the Battle of Negapatam (1782) on 6 July off Cuddalore, after which he seized upon the anchorage of Trincomalee, compelling its small British garrison to surrender. An army of 3,000 French soldiers collaborated with Hyder Ali to capture Cuddalore. Finally the Battle of Trincomalee took place near that port on 3 September. These battles can be seen as the last battles of the Franco-British conflict that encompassed the American War of Independence, and would cease with the signature of the Treaty of Versailles (1783) establishing peace and recognizing America independence. ==Tactical alliances==

at the Finkenstein castle, 27 Avril 1807, to sign the Treaty of Finkenstein. François Mulard. Some French alliances were purely tactical and short term, especially during the period of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon Bonaparte had launched the French invasion of Egypt in 1798 and fought against the Ottomans to establish a French presence in the Middle East, with the ultimate dream of linking up with the ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, in order to attack British possessions in India. After having failed a first time, Napoleon entered into a Franco-Ottoman alliance and a Franco-Persian alliance in order to create an overland access for his troops to India. Following the visit of the Persian Envoy Mirza Mohammad-Reza Qazvini to Napoleon, the Treaty of Finkenstein formalized the alliance on 4 May 1807, in which France supported Persia's claim to Georgia, promising to act so that Russia would surrender the territory. In exchange, Persia was to declare war on Britain, and to allow France to cross the Persian territory to reach India. ==References==