<P> In all the French spent 1.3 billion livres to support the Americans directly, in addition to the money it spent fighting Britain on land and sea outside the U.S. </P> <P> France's status as a great modern power was re-affirmed by the war, but it was detrimental to the country's finances . Even though France's European territories were not affected, victory in a war against Great Britain with battles like the decisive siege of Yorktown in 1781 had a large financial cost which severely degraded fragile finances and increased the national debt . France gained little except that it weakened its main strategic enemy and gained a new, fast - growing ally that could become a welcome trading partner . However, the trade never materialized, and in 1793 the United States proclaimed its neutrality in the war between Great Britain and the French Republic . </P> <P> Some historians argue that France primarily sought revenge against Great Britain for the loss of territory in North America and India from the previous conflict . But Jonathan R. Dull states that France intervened because of dispassionate calculation, not because of Anglophobia or a desire to avenge the loss of Canada . </P>

Who were the french allies with and when did they decide to openly support the american revolution