Perfidious Albion is a pejorative phrase used within the context of international relations and diplomacy to refer to acts of duplicity, treachery and hence infidelity (with respect to promises made to or alliances formed with other nation states) by monarchs or governments of Britain (or England) in their pursuit of self-interest and the requirements of realpolitik.
Perfidious signifies one who does not keep his faith or word (from the Latin word "perfidia"), while Albion is the ancient Greek name for Great Britain.
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The use of the adjective "perfidious" to describe Britain has a long history; instances have been found as far back as the 13th century.[1] A very similar phrase was used in a sermon by the eminent seventeenth-century French bishop and theologian Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet:
L'Angleterre, ah, la perfide Angleterre, que le rempart de ses mers rendait inaccessible aux Romains, la foi du Sauveur y est abordée.
England, oh, treacherous England, as the bulwark of its seas rendered inaccessible to the Romans, the faith of Christ is addressed.
The bishop's reference is to England's lack of loyalty to the Roman Catholic faith: although England received the faith from Rome in the time of Pope Gregory the Great despite its isolation, since the Reformation it had become a Protestant country.
The coinage of the phrase in its current form, however, is conventionally attributed to Augustin, Marquis of Ximenez a Frenchman who wrote in a 1793 poem:
Attaquons dans ses eaux la perfide Albion.
which means "Let us attack perfidious Albion in her waters." In this context, Britain's perfidy was political: in the early days of the French Revolution many in Britain, the most liberal European state, had looked upon the Revolution with mild favour, but following the overthrow and execution of Louis XVI, Britain had allied herself with the other monarchies of Europe against the Revolution in France. This was seen by the revolutionaries in France as a "perfidious" betrayal.
"La perfide Albion" became a stock expression in France in the 19th century, to the extent that the Goncourt brothers could refer to it as "a well-known old saying". It was utilised by French journalists whenever there were tensions between France and Britain, for example during the competition for colonies in Africa culminating in the Fashoda incident. The catchphrase was further popularised by its use in La Famille Fenouillard, the first French comic strip, in which one of the characters fulminates against "Perfidious Albion, which burnt Joan of Arc on the rock of Saint Helena" (This is, of course, a joke – carried away by his anti-English fury the character mixes up Joan of Arc with Napoleon, who fell victim to the British).
Examples include acts of war or acts perceived as not respecting the customs of the time.
After the 19th century, relationships between France and Britain improved, since the growing power of Germany was a threat for both the countries. During World War I the two countries were allies in the struggle against German forces, leaving their historical rivalry behind.
However, the term "perfidious Albion" would have been soon used again by fascist powers in order to criticise the global dominion of the British empire, that drains resources and occupies territories while leaving nothing to emerging powers such as Italy or Germany which had limited colonial empires. Fascist propaganda depicted the British as ruthless colonialists who exploited foreign lands and peoples to feed extravagant lifestyle habits like eating "five meals a day". This detail struck a chord with the Italians, very few of whom at the time could afford to eat more than twice a day.
Benito Mussolini called the British Empire "Perfida Albione" after the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, because despite having carved out large colonial territories for herself, Britain approved of trade sanctions in the wake of Italian aggression against Ethiopia. In fascist propaganda, the sanctions were depicted as an attempt to deny Italy its "rightful" colonial dominions, whilst at the same time Britain was trying to extend its own influence and authority. Mussolini called "un posto al Sole" (a place in the Sun) the goal of the fascist expansionism, that is, an extended colonial and politic power in order to bring back the glory of the Roman empire in the Mediterranean sea and the influence of Italy in the world.
During World War II the term Perfida Albione was again used many times by the Italian fascist regime for propaganda purposes, but when the war in Africa was lost and the Allies were going to land in Italy herself Mussolini switched to a general invective against Western powers, especially the United States. In Mussolini's propaganda, Western nations were winning only because they had superior industrial and economic resources, and the superior skills and valour of Italo-German soldiers were defeated only by overwhelming numbers of men, weapons and machinery brought by "vile", "untruthful" and "wretched" plutocratic powers – with the aid of a claimed "Zionist conspiracy" against fascist powers.
After the end of the Second World War, the term survived in little neo-fascist groups, and its usage in war came again only in the Falklands War between Argentina and Britain.
Today the term is used in many contexts, and largely divorced from its historic origins.