It is weird to think how crazily different other cultures are compared to our own. For example, music. Nearly every sect of every cultural group across the world has some sort of unique music associated with just them. The French are no exception. Almost every Frenchman (or even a lot of Americans) know of the famous artist Stromae. Stromae is a very famous Belgian pop singer who has become a global sensation. His domain of popularity is very concentrated in France. But France has always produced some of the greatest music on the planet.
For centuries upon centuries France was regarded as the cultural capital of the world. A lot of this was because of its vast swaths of lands across the globe. Yet, defacto influences of cultures also played a great role in the spread of Francophonic influences. For example, the Norman invasion of Anglo-Saxon England caused the French language to become that of England’s nobility and upper class. Despite France no longer having political control over the British Aisles, French culture permanently made its mark on our language.
The influence of the French language also was proliferated by diplomacy. For centuries it was commonplace in Western civilizations that diplomatic relations between any two parties would be conducted entirely in French. This may be, because all the upper classes who were the ones conducting diplomacy. This is seen today as French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Also, the official language of the Olympics is in fact French. Although you do not hear it conducted fully in such, it is still technically the official language.
Prepare yourself for a rant… One of the greatest feats of French influence is so often forgotten my millions of Americans. I am speaking of none other than our glorious revolution. Yes, the kingdom of France did in fact provide us with countless amounts of money, men, food, and other war supplies during our revolution. In fact, many would argue that without the support of the French, the patriot cause would have lacked both the funding and the legitimacy required to start such a large new nation. The British would have found no resistance in completely cutting of the thirteen colonies and scrapping them for parts. This is precisely why the United States and France have remained such close ideological allies. Even though shortly after the revolution France would have their own bloody revolution, we still remained pals. Hey, just look that the assistance we gave them in World War One and World War Two alone. But going into Europe and protecting them from Germany (twice) was the least we could do for helping us gain our independence. So I encourage you to look at the way France has shaped society differently. Perhaps next time you are hearing some dull history lesson on the American revolution, or saying the word ‘enamored’, or even hearing a foreign sounding song on the radio, you will remember that France has and always will have a profound influence on many such things.
This is a very informative post but I got kind of confused when I began to read about different cultures and music to all of sudden about how France had a hand in our revolution. They didn’t really blend together or relate that well so it was a bit confusing.