By celebrating its four centuries of existence this year, the French Navy bears the mark of a great country of the sea… where the sun never sets. Vice-president of the Sea Foundation, marine writer, Vice-Amiral Loïc Finaz recalls this truth since Cardinal de Richelieu: it is always at sea that the fate of the world and our destiny are plotted.
The National Navy celebrates this year, for the first time in its history, its anniversary. By retaining the Edict of Saint-Germain of October 1626 as the founding act, it celebrates its four centuries of existence in 2026. It is indeed a choice. Contestable therefore. But decided and not suffered. And relevant! Of course, it could have been different. One could have chosen, for example, 1269, when Louis IX named the first admiral of France (Florent de Varennes); or 1292, with the creation of the Clos des galées in Rouen by Philippe le Bel. Or the glorious beginning of the 16th century with the victories, explorations and discoveries of Jehan Ango and his pilots… But if François 1st said to Ango « Messire Jehan, you are master in your ships as I am master in my Kingdom », Richelieu will say to Louis XIII: « Sire, you will only be king of France when you have a Navy, until then you are only half king. » Everything is said! The 1626 edict created a State Navy, permanent, organized, under a unified command and supported by a global maritime vision.
The world’s first maritime domain
« The tears of our sovereigns often have the salty taste of the sea that they have ignored. » Whether he pronounced it or not, this famous phrase, Richelieu had understood everything. There is no power that is not maritime. France is a country of mountains and valleys, plateaus and plains; forests, groves and vineyards, wheat fields and lavender valleys; villages perched on our ridges or crouched in the meanders of our rivers; old cities far from the sea and fortresses with foothills of the Alps… A country of irreducible Gauls, plowmen and winemakers… Yes, indeed, and our history bears the mark.
In the 19th century, the French fleet will constantly adapt, invent the first battleship, experiment with the first mechanically propelled submarine, adopt steam to become a navy capable of protecting the interests of France on all oceans.
But France is also a great sea country. Much more open to the world than it admits, its popular common sense lured by its sweetness of life, and its thinkers more polluted by the gravity of clay than enlivened by foam and westerly winds. Gift of nature or territorial conquests that have shaped the French territory, our country has an incredible coastline, and above all the first maritime domain in the world. This territory, on all the oceans, which makes France the only country in the world on which the sun never sets… Beyond our History and its adventures, that of our civilization or those of our nation, there is our future. This future that our maritime roots, our wealth and our oceanic requirements bequeath us.
A true state navy
1626: by creating this position of grand master of navigation and trade, the Edict of Saint-Germain brings together the entire maritime policy of the kingdom under a single responsibility. Richelieu becomes the one who directs the entire maritime strategy: navy, trade, fishing, fishing on foot and customs as well… Prefiguration of today’s Navy, and not only the army of the sea, but a true state navy. For from his birth, first successes in the Mediterranean and in the Atlantic during the Thirty-Years’ War (Maillé-Brézé), against the Barbarians (knight Paul), during the War of Holland (Duquesne) and those of the League of Augsburg (Tourville) then succession of Spain (Duguay-Trouin).
But since Richelieu, in a more or less conscious France (deper to his mood and the variable clairvoyance of his leaders), some have never forgotten that our tears will always have this salty taste of the sea if we ignore it.
Before becoming, in the 18th century, a combat navy on a global scale. With Dupleix and Suffren in the Indian Ocean, Bougainville and his world tour, and of course all the glorious names of the American War of Independence that changed the face of the world (from Grasse, La Motte-Picquet, Latouche-Tréville…). In the 19th century, the French fleet will constantly adapt, invent the first battleship, experiment with the first mechanically powered submarine, adopt steam to become a navy capable of protecting the interests of France on all oceans, already an expert in the projection of joint and inter-allied forces.
A legacy to assume
Before approaching the 20th century, its dramas and madness, to respond to them sometimes, not always, but nevertheless constantly adapting to the new situations, especially nuclear and space. Today, the French navy holds a special place in the world. It is not the largest but remains the only one (with that of the United States) to still exist on the entire spectrum of the naval war. Its ability to navigate and conduct operations, its availability rate, its organization, its control of new programs… are unmatched. Legacy that our new century must assume. At sea, nothing new, it is always there that the fate of the world and our destiny are plotted. For millennia. Homo Sapiens did not conquer the planet only by walking…
But since Richelieu, in a more or less conscious France (deper to his mood and the variable clairvoyance of his leaders), some have never forgotten that our tears will always have this salty taste of the sea if we ignore it. That these anniversaries that took 400 years to start celebrating remind us constantly.
source : aleteia
