A century after the Entente Cordiale ended centuries of war and enmity between France and Britain, and two hundred years after the coronation of Britains deadly enemy, Napoleon Bonaparte, as Emperor, Alistair Horne contemplates two thousand years of France. meant, quite simply, the certainty at last of an ally who would counter-balance the dread power of Kaiser Wilhelm II A century after the Entente Cordiale ended centuries of war and enmity between France and Britain, and two hundred years after the coronation of Britains deadly enemy, Napoleon Bonaparte, as Emperor, Alistair Horne contemplates two thousand years of France. meant, quite simply, the certainty at last of an ally who would counter-balance the dread power of Kaiser Wilhelm IIs vast and menacing Reich on her doorstep. For Britain the Entente signified an end to centuries of conflict with France, but it also meant inevitable involvement in a major European war. channel of water may be all that separates the countries physically, but in temperament, in attitudes, in life generally -- and, particularly, in history itself -- the differences remain fundamental, and intense.