One of the many sad features of war is that there is a strong tendency for victorious national Allies to become Enemies within a short time after defeating jointly a third nation which had been threatening them. Differences put aside for the duration of a war often surface again.
Some examples of this are given below (a maximum period of 25 years has been taken within which the foreign policy has been changed).
| Nations | Fighting as Allies Against | Fighting as Allies End | Gap Years | Fighting as Enemies Hostilities began | Reason for change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens and Sparta | Persia | 479BC | 19 | 460BC / Sparta won | To settle the leadership of the Hellenes |
| English Parliament & Scotland | King Charles 1 | 1645 | 3 | 1648 / Parliament won | Religious difference |
| American Colonies & Great Britain | French | 1763 | 12 | 1775 / Colonies won | Taxation without Representation |
| Greece + Serbia & Bulgaria | Turkey | 1912 | 1 | 1913 / With Bulgaria, which lost | Division of the spoils |
| Great Britain & Italy | Austro-Hungary & Germany | 1918 | 22 | 1940 / Italy lost | Fascist ambition |
| Great Britain & Japan | Germany | 1918 | 23 | 1941 / Japan lost | Japanese desire to dominate the Pacific |
| USA + Great Britain & Soviet Russia | Germany | 1945 | 3 | Against Soviet Russia * 1948 | Russian desire to expand its hegemony |
Sir Jacob Astley’s prediction about allies
Sir Jacob* was a wise old soldier who commanded King Charles’ infantry in the English Civil War. When finally forced to surrender in 1646 after the last battle, he said to his captors:-
“Well, boys, now you have won and you may sit upon the ground and play at pitch-and-toss – unless you fall out among yourselves!” They did, not only with those amongst them who thought all men should now be level but with their Scots allies, as tabled above.
*[Sir Jacob is also well known for the prayer he made while leading his men into the first battle of the Civil War at Edgehill:-
“Halt! Oh Lord, Thou knowest how busy I must be this day: if I forget Thee, do not Thou forget me! March on, boys!”. The Captain of the Prince of Wales asked his Chaplain to read this over the Tannoy as the ship went into battle with the Bismarck in 1941. They were not forgotten.]