See? It all comes back to the French.
However, I fail to see how the Fench involvement in the Revolutionary war compares to this- quite a stretch there, guys. The government of France during the Revolutionary war was still an absolute monarchy, and they were using us every bit as much as we were using them. No ideology at play here at all, gentlemen- just good old fashioned mercenaries. Ironically, their involvement contributed to the downfall of the monarchy and helped to pave the way for their own revolution.
From Wikipedia:
"
France, the
Netherlands and
Spain entered the war against Great Britain in an attempt to dilute Britain's
superpower status. France officially entered the war in 1778 and soon sent troops, ships and military equipment to fight alongside the American Patriot army against the British for the remainder of the war. French military involvement in the war proved decisive, though disastrous for the French economy. France's standing army at the time is estimated to have been some 100,000. Spain entered the war in 1779, but did not recognize the new American nation and sent no troops to fight alongside the United States. The Netherlands entered the war late in 1780, but its navy and army was soon overwhelmed by the superior British Royal navy and army."
According to the same submission, the number of Patriots was between 40-50%, while the number of Loyalists was around 15-20%.