population of Huguenot descent lived in the British colonies, and many participated in the British defeat of New France in 1759–1760. Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, invited Huguenots to settle in his realms, and a number of their descendants rose to positions of prominence in Prussia. Several prominent German military, cultural and political figures were ethnic Huguenot, including the poet Theodor Fontane, General Hermann von François, the hero of the First World War's Battle of Tannenberg, Luftwaffe general and fighter ace Adolf Galland, the Luftwaffe flying ace Hans-Joachim Marseille and the famed U-boat Captains Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière and Wilhelm Souchon. The last prime minister of East Germany, Lothar de Maizière, is also a descendant of a Huguenot family, as is the former German Federal Minister of the Interior, Thomas de Maizière. The persecution and the flight of the Huguenots greatly damaged the reputation of Louis XIV abroad, particularly in England. Both kingdoms, which had enjoyed peaceful relations until 1685, became bitter enemies and fought each other in a series of wars, called the "Second Hundred Years' War" by some historians, from 1689 onward. 1985 apology In October 1985, to commemorate the tricentenary of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, President François Mitterrand of France announced a formal apology to the descendants of Huguenots around the world. At the same time, the government released a special postage stamp in their honour reading "France is the home of the Huguenots" (). Legacy Huguenot legacy persists both in France and abroad. France Several French Protestant churches are descended from or tied to the Huguenots, including: Reformed Church of France (), founded in 1559, the historical and principal Reformed church in France since the Protestant Reformation until its 2013 merger into the United Protestant Church of France Evangelical Reformed Church of France (), founded in 1938 some French members of the largely German Protestant Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine United States Bayonne, New Jersey Four-term Republican United States Representative Howard Homan Buffett was of Huguenot descent. Charleston, South Carolina, is home to the only active Huguenot congregation in the United States John Sevier, the first governor of the state of Tennessee, and the only governor of the State of Franklin was of Huguenot descent. In 1924, the US issued a commemorative half dollar, known as the "Huguenot-Walloon half dollar", to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Huguenots' settlement in