ABSTRACT
The period from 1688 to 1815 was one of intense rivalry between Britain and France, sometimes described as the 'second hundred years war'. The two states clashed in the four corners of the world over markets and imperial possessions. The British were fiercely Protestant and proud of the liberties and the balanced constitution which they considered they had won by the Glorious Revolution of 1688-1689. They believed that these liberties and their constitution were examples for their less fortunate continental neighbours. Changing political, economic and social contexts foster changes in historical perceptions and interpretations. During the nineteenth century the Anglo-French conflict of 1793-1815 was described as 'the Great War'; and then a catastrophic conflict in Europe, meant that the term was no longer applicable.
