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4OO General History of Europe the colonies could long maintain their resistance against the over- whelming strength of the mother country. It was only after the Americans had defeated Burgoyne at Saratoga that France, in 1778, concluded a treaty with the United States in which the in- dependence of the new republic was recognized. This was equiva- lent to declaring war upon England. The French government then aided the colonies with loans, and enthusiasm for the Amer- icans became so great in France that a number of the younger nobles, the most conspicuous of whom was the Marquis of Lafa- yette, crossed the Atlantic to fight as volunteers in the American army. 689. Success of the Revolution, There was so much difference of opinion in England in regard to the expediency of the war, and so much sympathy in Parliament for the colonists, that the mili- tary operations were not carried on with much vigor. Neverthe- less, the Americans found it no easy task to win the war. In spite of the skill and heroic self-sacrifice of Washington, they lost more battles than they gained. It is extremely doubtful whether they would have succeeded in bringing the war to a favorable close, by forcing the English general Cornwallis to capitulate at Yorktown (1781), had it not been for the aid of the French fleet. The chief result of the war was the recognition by England of the independence of the United States, whose territory was to extend to the Mississippi River. To the west of the Mississippi the vast territory of Louisiana still remained in the hands of Spain, as well as Florida, which England had held since 1763 but now gave back. Spain and Portugal were able to hold their American pos- sessions a generation longer than the English, but in the end practically all the Western Hemisphere, with the exception of Canada, completely freed itself from the domination of the European powers. Cuba, one of the very last vestiges of Spanish rule in the West, gained its independence with the aid of the United States in 1898. 690. Great Extension of England's Colonial Possessions. England had lost her American colonies as a result of the only im- portant and successful revolt that has ever taken place in her