[OT] Re: Are the FSE and NSL natural enemies?

John Leary wrote:
 
> Chad,
>      A certain degree of anamosity was generated between 1790 and
> 1815.   The French were very hard on the Austrian Empire and not
> much better on thier German allies.	The Germans seemed to be
> good cannon fodder for the French or by the French, take your
> pick.   

A certain animosity existed long before that, with French and Germans
skirmishing from the Mediterranean to the North Sea during the entire
Medieval period - except when the Duchy of Burgundy controlled the
borderlands <g>
 
> France as a state has existed far longer than Germany.

Hm? Both are successor states to Charlemagne's empire that split up into
a western  and an eastern half in 888 AD; the eastern half kept the
Imperial title (and thus became the Holy Roman Empire of German nation
<g>) whereas the western princes called themselves "kings" instead. Both
suffered a lot from very independent feudal lords, though the situation
was generally worse in the Empire than in France. OK, Germany has
functioned as a single state for fewer of the past 1100 years than
France, but they are just as old.

Later,

Oerjan Ohlson
oerjan.ohlson@nacka.mail.telia.com

"Life is like a sewer.
  What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
- Hen3ry