<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling . You can assist by editing it . (October 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling . You can assist by editing it . (October 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> France allied with the United States during the American Revolutionary War (American War of Independence 1775--1783) in 1778, declared war on Great Britain, and sent its armies and navy to fight Britain while providing money and matériel to arm the new republic . French intervention made a decisive contribution to the U.S. victory in the war . Motivated by a long - term rivalry with Britain and by revenge for its territorial losses during the French and Indian War, France began secretly sending supplies in 1775 . Spain and the Netherlands joined France, making it a global war in which the British had no major allies . France incurred a debt of over 1 billion livres . </P> <P> After its defeat in the Seven Years' War in 1763, France lost its vast holdings in North America . Meanwhile, the American colonists and the British government began to fight over whether Parliament in London, or the colonial assemblies, had primary responsibility for taxation . The ideological conflict escalated into open warfare in 1775, at which point the American patriots took control of the colonies from the British, who refused to consider independence . France, who had been rebuilding her Navy and other forces, saw this as an opportunity to seriously weaken her perennial enemy . </P>

How did france contribute to the american victory in the revolutionary war
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