How Did Britain Win a Decisive Victory in War?

The Hundred Years’ War was a long conflict between England and France, fought over an extended period (1337–1453), mainly over control of southwestern France. In the course of this war, the young girl Joan of Arc emerged, and stories of Edward the Black Prince were also passed down.

Among its many episodes, the Battle of Crécy (1346) is also indispensable to any account of the Hundred Years’ War. At Crécy, the French army collapsed futilely before the English forces: while thousands of French knights were killed, only three English soldiers died. How could such a result have occurred?

Fundamentally, the two countries differed in how they organized their military forces. France, first of all, sent heavily armored knights drawn from the nobility, men who pledged loyalty to the king. The problem was that their armor was too heavy. At the time, armor weighed roughly more than 60 kg. Yet from their perspective, they had no choice but to make it thick in order to withstand enemy attacks.

England, by contrast, relied mainly on troops composed of yeomen. Moreover, England offered participating yeomen incentives such as generous pay, tax exemptions, and small plots of land. In response, they developed the “longbow” in order to defeat France. This longbow was more powerful than the existing crossbow while also saving time in rapid fire.

Wearing massive suits of armor, the French knights who entered the battlefield could barely even walk, and they reached the point where it was difficult even to draw and wield their swords. English archers, using the longbow, easily overwhelmed those French knights.

In short, the self-interest of English yeomen defeated the French knighthood, which was fixated on defense. When people become aware of ownership in this way, they develop the will to protect their property by whatever means they can. That, in other words, is the essence of the market economy.

Another English example that dramatically illustrates this came during the reign of Elizabeth I. Queen Elizabeth I collected taxes exactly as they were paid by the people. As a result, government finances naturally became insufficient, but from the people’s standpoint, they were able to accumulate wealth. So when Spain attacked England with the Armada, the queen appealed for active support, saying, “There is no money to build warships.”

The people responded to Queen Elizabeth I’s request, saying, “Let us help the queen and save the nation.” They understood full well that if England surrendered to Spain, they would inevitably lose the wealth and assets they had accumulated. Based on voluntary fundraising by the people, the queen made a kind of “deal” with the pirate Francis Drake. Under this “deal,” Drake and the pirates would be able to secure England’s maritime trading rights if they defeated Spain. And in the end, England won a great victory over Spain. This was the Battle of Calais (1588).

Thus, by making use of the incentive of ownership, England was able to defeat the great power Spain. At the time, the English people, as well as pirates including Drake, clearly had a reason to fight and win—namely, the goal of protecting their self-interest. With this victory in war as the turning point, England later became “the empire on which the sun never sets.”

The historic events in England mentioned above can be seen as representative examples showing how a relationship is formed between an efficient government and citizens who possess freedom and property, and how that relationship brings about victory and prosperity. Through such examples, we should deeply explore the path ahead of us and also reflect on democracy grounded in individual freedom and property.

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Original title: 영국은 전쟁에서 어떻게 대승을 거뒀나

Author: Seong-u Jeong

Date: 2020-12-10

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=free_opinion&pn=12&idx=23349