Nothing works between the United States and France.

The French Embassy in Washington has confirmed that the French authorities are canceling a gala scheduled for Friday evening in the American capital.

The reception, at the residence of the French Ambassador to Washington, was supposed to celebrate the anniversary of a decisive naval battle of the United States War of Independence, which concluded with a victory for the French fleet over the British fleet , September 5, 1781.

The French authorities' decision comes after US President Joe Biden's announcement on Wednesday evening of a strategic partnership with the UK and Australia, including the supply of US nuclear-powered submarines to Canberra. A partnership which breaks the "contract of the century" of France which was to sell submarines to Australia. This triggered the ire of Paris, the head of French diplomacy, Jean-Yves Le Drian, going so far as to denounce "a blow in the back".

Other events in the celebration of the 240th anniversary of the Battle of Chesapeake Bay, also known as the Battle of the Heads of Virginia, were however maintained.

Among them the stopover of a French frigate in Baltimore and that of a submarine in Norfolk, or the laying of a wreath on a monument in Annapolis.

This battle opposing the fleet of British Admiral Thomas Graves to that of Lieutenant-General of the Naval Armies François Joseph Paul de Grasse, was deemed crucial for the final victory of the coalition armies of George Washington, Rochambeau and La Fayette.

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