The newly-announced AUKUS pact, which will, for the first time, allow Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines using US technology, has also caused a rift with France, which has now lost a contract with Australia to build 12 submarines.
Because of their dissatisfaction with the new security collaboration between the English-speaking allies, French officials in Washington canceled a Friday evening banquet set to commemorate the 240th anniversary of the Battle of the Capes, part of the American Revolutionary War.
According to reports, however, the cancelation of the event that should have taken place at the embassy, a wreath-laying ceremony will be held in Annapolis, Maryland. Furthermore, a French warship in Baltimore and a French submarine in Norfolk's harbor events have not been canceled.
While US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin claimed this week that prior to the announcement of the new security accord, they had spoken with their French counterparts about it, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called the initiative a "stab in the back," particularly blaming Australia for "betraying" the trusting relationship between the nations.
French assistance to the beleaguered and inexperienced Continental Army in the War of Independence is considered key in the US victory for independence. Money, troops, equipment, military leadership, and naval support from France tilted the balance of power in favor of the US, leading to a victory sealed at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781.
The surrender of British troops, jointly accepted by the French and Americans, followed the decisive victory of the French fleet over the British navy, leading to the encirclement of the remaining British troops in Yorktown.