The current bad reputation of the French is mostly because of WW2. They surrendered after only 6 weeks of fighting and then heavily collaborated with the Nazis. French collaboration was so heartfelt that they refused to hand over their navy to the British when requested to do so. They even fired on American ships and troops in North Africa when the Americans arrived to liberate them from German occupation.
The French were also enthusiastic participants in the Final Solution. According to Wikipedia, “the Nazis in France relied to a considerable extent on the co-operation of local authorities to carry out what they called the Final Solution. The government of Vichy France and the French police organized and implemented the roundups of Jews.”
After the war, De Gaulle promoted the narrative that the French heroically resisted the Nazis, but this was not at all true. The famous French Resistance was tiny until the last part of the war, and only grew once it became clear that Germany would lose. The French government also denied their role in the Holocaust for over 50 years until 1995 when Jacques Chirac finally admitted that, “[T]hose black hours soiled our history forever. … [T]he criminal madness of the occupier was assisted by the French people, by the French State. … France, that day, committed the irreparable.”
So, yeah, that’s why people dunk on France, particularly when it comes to military matters. They certainly did not live up to the ideals of the Revolution or the martial prowess of Napoleon.
Not at all. I identified a particular historical event where the French failed badly. Identifying one country’s specific mistakes doesn’t imply that others are angels. For example, obviously no one would claim that Germany and Japan were “angels” during WW2, but that goes without saying, right?
In fact, I responded to another commenter who called them out for racism and arrogance because that is far too general a claim with no evidence.
?? That may be why your country dunks of France. Personally, I dunk on France because of their racism, and their arrogance and unwillingness to learn or speak the current lingua franca and insistence on using their own language even when it’s not reasonable to expect it. Like, you live in Paris. It’s a tourist town. People are gonna come and buy croissants and pretend they’re sexually assaulting a cat in a cartoon, and sometimes they’re gonna do it in English. It’s the way things go, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but your language is not widespread anymore because your country no longer has any impact on society or culture, and it hasn’t had for one or two hundreds of years. Get over it, get with the program and quit being butthurt about generating revenue from foreigners while you still can.
Do you spend a lot of time in France? I’m wondering why you think France deserves special approbrium for racism, arrogance, and language preference. I get the sense that your dislike of the French is based on a caricature, not reality. But I could be wrong. Could you clarify where you get your ideas about the nature of French society?
The current bad reputation of the French is mostly because of WW2. They surrendered after only 6 weeks of fighting and then heavily collaborated with the Nazis. French collaboration was so heartfelt that they refused to hand over their navy to the British when requested to do so. They even fired on American ships and troops in North Africa when the Americans arrived to liberate them from German occupation.
The French were also enthusiastic participants in the Final Solution. According to Wikipedia, “the Nazis in France relied to a considerable extent on the co-operation of local authorities to carry out what they called the Final Solution. The government of Vichy France and the French police organized and implemented the roundups of Jews.”
After the war, De Gaulle promoted the narrative that the French heroically resisted the Nazis, but this was not at all true. The famous French Resistance was tiny until the last part of the war, and only grew once it became clear that Germany would lose. The French government also denied their role in the Holocaust for over 50 years until 1995 when Jacques Chirac finally admitted that, “[T]hose black hours soiled our history forever. … [T]he criminal madness of the occupier was assisted by the French people, by the French State. … France, that day, committed the irreparable.”
So, yeah, that’s why people dunk on France, particularly when it comes to military matters. They certainly did not live up to the ideals of the Revolution or the martial prowess of Napoleon.
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You’re acting like every others countries are angels
Not at all. I identified a particular historical event where the French failed badly. Identifying one country’s specific mistakes doesn’t imply that others are angels. For example, obviously no one would claim that Germany and Japan were “angels” during WW2, but that goes without saying, right?
In fact, I responded to another commenter who called them out for racism and arrogance because that is far too general a claim with no evidence.
?? That may be why your country dunks of France. Personally, I dunk on France because of their racism, and their arrogance and unwillingness to learn or speak the current lingua franca and insistence on using their own language even when it’s not reasonable to expect it. Like, you live in Paris. It’s a tourist town. People are gonna come and buy croissants and pretend they’re sexually assaulting a cat in a cartoon, and sometimes they’re gonna do it in English. It’s the way things go, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but your language is not widespread anymore because your country no longer has any impact on society or culture, and it hasn’t had for one or two hundreds of years. Get over it, get with the program and quit being butthurt about generating revenue from foreigners while you still can.
Do you spend a lot of time in France? I’m wondering why you think France deserves special approbrium for racism, arrogance, and language preference. I get the sense that your dislike of the French is based on a caricature, not reality. But I could be wrong. Could you clarify where you get your ideas about the nature of French society?