rofl ! You was prpbably reading some australian history book that I assume to be of an equal qualitiy than those of americans - I mean shitty.
I won't take time teaching you all french history, you come from a country with less than 100 years history and probably don't have enough place in your memory to learn and understand history of a country that has more than thousands of years.
But I'll gladly explain you one :
Hundred Years War: Mostly lost, saved at last by a female schizophrenic who inadvertently creates The First Rule of French Warfare - "France's armies are victorious only when not led by a Frenchmen."
Do you even know why this war happened ? It is because England was ruled by french Lords. Indeed, England has been conquered by a French, and he replaced most of english Lord, by French one. Ever hear of William the Conquerer ? He is the one that conquered England. He was french and Duke of Normandy.
So that 100 years war, you may say it was England against France, but it was actually a war between two french Kings, because England was ruled by French.
There you learn why so many words are similar between french and english. Mainly because british had french lords and they had to learn some french. If you read some books, you'll know that french was known in england as the language of the lord, while english was those of peasants/servants.
And so you, as australian, colonized by british = either descendant from english servants or french lord. As you want
I hope after our war, you'll remembered that we, French, were your lord. And we'll prove we could still be.
