It is accurate to say that one of the reasons that Henry V invaded France in 1415 was to strengthen his position as King of England, but it is not the only reason nor is it necessarily the main reason; France’s domestic situation, and Scotland’s lack of threats were also reasons why England invaded France at that time.
One of the main reasons why Henry V invaded France was indeed that he wanted to strengthen his position as the King of England; Henry had inherited the throne from his father, Henry IV, who had had many troubles during his reign regarding his line to the throne: many thought that Henry IV had a weak claim to the Crown, and the line to the throne was weakened by the fact that he had usurped the role from Richard II and had not been Richard’s heir. Henry V wanted to strengthen his claim to the throne and secure his position as King of England by invading France in 1415; invading France would have shown that Henry was a traditional King and intended to win his support and honour on the battle field like many of the Medieval Kings before him, showing that he could be a strong and worthy King, which also counteracted his father’s abilities in later life: Henry IV had become ill during the later years of his life and could not campaign to places like Wales and Scotland in person, meaning that he had lost some support over the years, though his son, the future Henry V, had taken over the roles of business and government. Henry would have also invaded France in 1415 to establish the legitimacy of the Lancastrian dynasty: he wanted the respect of his subjects, and to he felt he needed to assert this legitimacy by invading and if he succeeded in invading, it would have shown that he had divine favour for his reign. Having divine favour would have made his subjects respect him, and would have shown that God supported his rule, asserting his role as King and his Lancastrian roots. Dynastic security was very important to the new King, thus it is accurate to say that strengthening his position as King of England was a main reason for invading France in 1415, though it is not necessarily the main reason.
Dynastic claim of France would also have been another reason why Henry V invaded France. Though his claim to the French throne was weak (descended from the King of France’s daughter, and the French descendants could not claim the crown if they were through a female line) Henry V had noticed that the monarch- domestic situation in France was troublesome, and there would be an opening to invade France easily because of this: having troubles would have meant that they country would not have been as forceful as it would have been if the monarchy was stronger, resulting in Henry seeing this weakness and using it to his advantage. France was also struggling with a Civil War between the Armagnacs and Burgundians; the country was weak and divided, making the country easier to invade. Henry had also tried negotiating with the two factions over a year previously, and both of the attempts of negotiation and teamwork had turned sour: John the Fearless of the Burgundians had sought Henry’s help when the Armagnacs attacked, but the negotiations in 1414 failed due to Henry’s territorial ambitions. His talk with the Armagnacs was equally fruitless due to his demands of sovereignty. Working (or attempting) with both factions meant that Henry could have driven the two sides further apart from each other and could have aggravated them, causing the divide between France to be even deeper than before, making it easier for England to invade and conquer due to the weakness of its unity. Thus, the tension between the Burgundians and the Armagnacs was a reason why Henry V decided to invade. Charles IV, the current King of France, was also having difficulties of his own: he would not rule efficiently due to bouts of mental illness, which would have meant that France was without a reliable monarchy to protect them or fight for them in battle- which would have been seen as a King’s duty- causing unrest in France. The unrest, along with the divide between the noblemen, would have made France easy to invade since it would not be able to efficiently defend itself against England’s attacks, especially since England had developed the weapon called the ‘English Long Bow’ several years earlier which could have devastating effects on an army. Therefore it is accurate to say that a claim to the French throne and France’s weakness was a reason why Henry V invaded France in 1415, though it is not necessarily the main reason.
France was close to England, making it reasonably easy to invade like the other countries which surrounded England. Lack of threat from surrounding countries would have been a major reason why Henry V invaded France at that time. The threats from Scotland and Wales had been occurring for a while, since Henry V’s father had lost much of the support from the nobles in Wales due to his declining health in the later years of his life. However, the Welsh Revolt had been crushed in his father’s reign, and Wales was slowly becoming accustomed to Lancastrian rule, which meant that there would be no rebellions from the Welsh. Scotland also no longer posted a thread to England because its King, James I, was being held in the Tower of London, leaving Scotland without a strong leader, which they would need if they were to attack England. Also, the French and the Scottish had an alliance called the Auld Alliance, which meant that they would unite together against England and help each other invade if necessary- France was having domestic issues during this time which coincided with James I’s imprisonment, meaning that they alliance would have been weak and would have not posed as a thread to England’s safety. Thus, the lack of threat from surrounding countries would be a main reason for Henry to invade France in 1415.
To conclude, it is accurate to suggest that the main reason why Henry V invaded France in 1415 was to strengthen his position as King of England, because strengthening his position would have meant glory, power and wealth, all of which the young King wanted. Lack of threats from surrounding countries such as Scotland also contributed to Henry V invading, as did his claim to the French throne (however weak), though Henry’s desire to strengthen his position is the main reason why he attacked France in 1415.