Franco-American relations refers to interstate relations between the French Republic and the United States of America. Its groundwork was laid by the colonization of parts of the Americas by the European powers France and Great Britain.Lafayette takes leave of George Washington after the American Revolutionary War.Lafayette takes leave of George Washington after the American Revolutionary War.After Congress declared independence in July 1776 its agents in Paris recruited officers for the Continental Army, notably the Marquis de Lafayette, who served with distinction as a major general. Despite a lingering distrust of France, the agents also requested an alliance. After readying their fleet and being impressed by the U.S. victory at the Battle of Saratoga in October 1777, the French in the following February concluded treaties of commerce and alliance that bound them to fight Britain until independence of the United States was assured.Both countries opposed the Soviet Union in Cold...