The outbreak of the French revolution coincided with the beginning of George Washington 's first administration, but by 1793, warfare had engulfed Europe, pitting England, Prussia, Austria, and Spain against the new French Republic.
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is coterminous with the U.S. Census Bureau-census-designated place of Arlington, which is the second-largest principal city of the Washington metropolitan area. As a result, the county is often referred to in the region simply as  Arlington  or  Arlington, Virginia . In 2014, the county's population was estimated to be 229,302, which would make it the fourth-largest city in the Commonwealth if it were incorporated as such.
In 1789, part of Fairfax County was ceded to the federal government to form Alexandria County of the District of Columbia. Alexandria County wasreturned to Virginia in 1846, reduced in size by the secession of the independent city of Alexandria in 1870, and renamed Arlington County in 1920. The Fairfax County town of Falls Church became an independent city in 1948. The Fairfax County town of Fairfax became an independent city in 1961. Located near Washington, D.C., Fairfax County was an important region in the Civil War.