Editing American Revolution (section)

====Germans====
{{main|Germans in the American Revolution|Hessian (soldier)}}
[[File:Major General Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus Baron von Steuben by Ralph Earl.jpeg|right|thumb|[[Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben]] was a former [[Prussian Army]] officer who served as [[Office of the Inspector General of the United States Army|inspector general]] of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He is credited with teaching the Continental Army [[Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States|the essentials of military drill and discipline]] beginning at [[Valley Forge]] in 1778, considered a turning point for the Americans.]]

Ethnic Germans served on both sides of the American Revolutionary War. As George III was also the [[Prince-elector|Elector]] of [[Electorate of Hanover|Hanover]], many supported the Loyalist cause and served as allies of the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]]; most notably rented [[auxiliaries|auxiliary troops]]<ref name="atwood">{{cite book|last1=Atwood|first1=Rodney|title=The Hessians: Mercenaries from Hessen-Kassel in the American Revolution|date=1980|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, England}}</ref> from German states such as the [[Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel]].

American [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriots]] tended to represent such troops as [[Mercenary|mercenaries]] in propaganda against the British Crown. Even American historians followed suit, in spite of Colonial-era jurists drawing a distinction between auxiliaries and mercenaries, with auxiliaries serving their prince when sent to the aid of another prince, and mercenaries serving a foreign prince as individuals.<ref name="atwood" /> By this distinction the troops which served in the American Revolution were auxiliaries.

Other German individuals came to assist the American revolutionaries, most notably [[Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben]], who served as a general in the Continental Army and is credited with professionalizing that force, but most Germans who served were already colonists. Von Steuben's native Prussia joined the [[First League of Armed Neutrality|League of Armed Neutrality]],{{sfnp|Commager|1958|p=994}} and King [[Frederick the Great|Frederick II of Prussia]] was well appreciated in the United States for his support early in the war. He expressed interest in opening trade with the United States and bypassing English ports, and allowed an American agent to buy arms in Prussia.{{sfnp|Rosengarten|1906|p=5}} Frederick predicted American success,{{sfnp|Rosengarten|1906|p=13}} and promised to recognize the United States and American diplomats once France did the same.{{sfnp|Rosengarten|1906|p=14}} Prussia also interfered in the recruiting efforts of Russia and neighboring German states when they raised armies to send to the Americas, and Frederick II forbade enlistment for the American war within Prussia.{{sfnp|Rosengarten|1886|p=22}} All Prussian roads were denied to troops from Anhalt-Zerbst,{{sfnp|Lowell|1884|p=50}} which delayed reinforcements that Howe had hoped to receive during the winter of 1777–1778.{{sfnp|Rosengarten|1906|p=17}}

However, when the [[War of the Bavarian Succession]] (1778–1779) erupted, Frederick II became much more cautious with Prussian/British relations. U.S. ships were denied access to Prussian ports, and Frederick refused to officially recognize the United States until they had signed the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]]. Even after the war, Frederick II predicted that the United States was too large to operate as a [[republic]], and that it would soon rejoin the British Empire with representatives in Parliament.{{sfnp|Rosengarten|1906|p=19}}