I'm gonna take a wild guess here and go out on a limb.
But if they're from Quebec wouldn't that make them Canadian, rather than French as such?
What WARS has France won?
- Thread starter mountainhare
- Start date
But if they're from Quebec wouldn't that make them Canadian, rather than French as such?
It's truly sad how much crap France takes for having surrendered in WW2. Where were the mighty British when all that was taking place? Oh yes, fleeing for their lives at Dunkirk, calling it a miracle that Hitler didn't find them and completely finish them off (indeed, it turned out Hitler knew about them, but the British did such a poor job holding him off that he didn't even think it would matter if he let them escape). France didn't surrender in 3 weeks anyhow, they stood off against Germany exchanging fire on the border for several months together with the British, then when Germany finally invaded through Belgium and Holland they stood no chance. Unfortunately for the French, they didn't have a nice cozy backup island to flee to.
When's the last time Britain won a war without America's help? I certainly know one case where America barked and Britain fled the Suez with its tail between its legs. I guess they've always got the Falklands then, fighting against a world class army of course. And why is France getting sh*t for surrendering, when f*cking Spain right next door practically jumped into Hitler's arms? Fascists from Spain have been free to roam the world completely unapologetically for decades since Franco's death, meanwhile for some reason France is the one that always gets picked on, even though by most measures France is a much better place to live.
When's the last time Britain won a war without America's help? I certainly know one case where America barked and Britain fled the Suez with its tail between its legs. I guess they've always got the Falklands then, fighting against a world class army of course. And why is France getting sh*t for surrendering, when f*cking Spain right next door practically jumped into Hitler's arms? Fascists from Spain have been free to roam the world completely unapologetically for decades since Franco's death, meanwhile for some reason France is the one that always gets picked on, even though by most measures France is a much better place to live.
Not even close to being true.
Guderian and Rommel wanted to go in and finish the Brits with the Panzer Divisions, Hitler (because Goering wanted some glory for the Luftwaffe) held the panzers back after being assured that the Luftwaffe could do the job. They failed.
And one reason the Brits were "fleeing for their lives at Dunkirk" was because the French command had moved them into Belgium, and then (when that turned out to be a mistake) back along the coast while French High Command lost more and more of France giving us Brits nowhere to reform...
Well that's one way of putting it.
Pandaemoni
Valued Senior Member
But don't you know? Dunkirk wasn't a defeat, it was a tactically brilliant military withdrawal.
In point of fact, though the British propaganda machine had to go into full swing to ensure that spin stuck in the minds of everyone in the UK, the British were right to run away. That was the Wehrmacht at its height. In just a few years they had control of most of continental Europe and only lost 30,000 men in taking it.
Pandaemoni
Valued Senior Member
French Canadians are about as French as New Yorkers are Dutch.
Parisians seem rude to Americans, but in part that is because the locals disdain tourists, and that is how most Americans encounter them--as tourists. If you travel elsewhere in the country and the people are very nice.
Many large cities get the same bad rap. New York is famous *in the U.S.* for being rude...but again New Yorkers are mainly disdainful of tourists (and add to that that New Yorkers, like most large city dwellers, learn to ignore the throngs of people milling about them, which tourists take as further evidence of rudeness, but is actually a psychological adaptation to the extreme bustle of the environment).
So the French are to blame for the defeat of Britain's army in France? According to this article, about 100 000 French troops were also evacuated at Dunkirk, and thousands of French troops sacrificed themselves to ensure the British could escape. You can't say Britain was just abandoned or thrown to the wolves by an ungrateful France. Germany nailed you with the Blitzkrieg just like they nailed everyone else they faced over the first couple of years, and if they had stuck to bombing RAF airfields, naval bases and radar stations, most historians think they would have been fully capable of finishing you off. The biggest difference between France and Britain was France didn't have a giant moat around it, so I guess now they're all called cheese-eating surrender monkeys, because they were too cowardly to face the panzers and eat their flak sandwiches like real men.
On the subject of French Canadians and politeness, I have to say I get a great vibe from most of the French Canadians I meet. Some of them are pricks, but most of them are very cool people, and I don't know why so many Americans treat them like a band of snobbish 17th century colonial peasants. Really, their lifestyle and mentality is far closer to the American way of life than anything in Europe or Latin America, and if you go out into the suburbs of Montreal you could easily confuse the place with suburban Denver, give or take a few little details.
On the other hand, as far as Americans and politeness go, I felt a strongly negative vibe when I was recently down in California (conference at Stanford). Maybe it had something to do with the recession, I was essentially staying in Silicon Valley after all, but it seemed hardly anyone gave a crap about their jobs or the people around them, certainly not any bit more than whatever their wages warranted. Lots of hyper-obese grouchy people, and what I can only describe as "service with reluctance". If someone wants to tell me the example I saw on display was more friendly and inviting than Quebec, I can't help but roll my eyes.
Essentially yes.
The French were in overall command of French forces and the B.E.F.
Unfortunately French high command was set up for a war at the pace of the previous one - no radios to the main HQ (only couriers) and "long weekends".
It was a French decision to move forward into Belgium and rely on the Maginot Line, but the Germans didn't want to play that game so they came through at Sedan and forced a hasty, unprepared retreat. It didn't help that the French units not in Belgium (mostly second-line and largely untrained troops) tended to run away about as often they stood and fought.
Yes a large number of French troops were evacuated (so the French didn't "sacrifice themselves just so we Brits could escape" - they were also ensuring as many French men as possible could get away. And a large number of Brits also stayed behind (at Calais, for one). I wasn't implying that we were "thrown to the wolves", it was a major f*ck-up on the part of Gamelin. He was out of date and totally unprepared (and actually unwilling to prepare for) mobile warfare.
Blitzkrieg was a myth: there was no such thing.
That's one school of thought.
I think you should actually read my posts: at no point have I suggested they were "cheese-eating surrender monkeys", and it's never been part of my vocabulary.
The Fall of France happens to be something I've been interested in for decades and I probably own more books on the subject than most libraries.
Yes they are canadian but there not really, Damn this is actually hard to explain, hold on..
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=08881f44-e10c-4af6-b241-280dd68d4299&p=1
we just don't get along, but now that there semi gone were having more progress.mainly because, there dumb and now they loose a lot of federal money, which is being directed towards us.
Last edited:
Not to dispute your larger point, but Montreal isn't exactly typical of Quebec. In the first place, it's a mixed city, with a considerable population of Anglophones; you won't find that in most other places in Quebec, and this works out to Montreal being the most "integrated" city in Canada in terms of Anglo/French relations. So I'd expect that they generally have a more cosmopolitan outlook - certainly their famed jazz and comedy festivals, strip clubs, and accepting attitudes indicate as much.
But I can't really say how different the rest of Quebec is; Montreal is the only part I've visited. And as far as that goes, I highly recommend it - just avoid the winter months, and also the English-speaking bar area (Rue Crescent I think it's call; it's all corny dance clubs for American college students taking advantage of the lower drinking age in Canada).
France and past wars
I know you hate to be an idiot...It's really sad the lies spread about the French and their past wars...I think of the French soldiers that died for their country...all these honorable man that fought and perished, and won wars, all this glorious past seem to vanish because of being overrun during the second war...the irony is that the British would not have fared any better! I find this distortion are mainly from British and Americans who trivialize French accomplishments!! The military history of France encompasses an immense panorama of conflicts and struggles extending for more than 2,000 years across areas including modern France, greater Europe, and European territorial possessions overseas. According to BBC History: "There have been 53 major wars in Europe, France had been a belligerent in 49 of them; UK 43. In 185 battles that France had fought over the past 800 years, their armies had won 132 times, lost 43 times and drawn only 10, giving the French military the best record of any country in Europe". Shame on you!!
I know you hate to be an idiot...It's really sad the lies spread about the French and their past wars...I think of the French soldiers that died for their country...all these honorable man that fought and perished, and won wars, all this glorious past seem to vanish because of being overrun during the second war...the irony is that the British would not have fared any better! I find this distortion are mainly from British and Americans who trivialize French accomplishments!! The military history of France encompasses an immense panorama of conflicts and struggles extending for more than 2,000 years across areas including modern France, greater Europe, and European territorial possessions overseas. According to BBC History: "There have been 53 major wars in Europe, France had been a belligerent in 49 of them; UK 43. In 185 battles that France had fought over the past 800 years, their armies had won 132 times, lost 43 times and drawn only 10, giving the French military the best record of any country in Europe". Shame on you!!
France's past wars and battles
In 185 battles that France had fought over the past 800 years, their armies had won 132 times, lost 43 times and drawn only 10, giving the French military the best record of any country in Europe".
Hundred Years War
War of Austrian succession
Thirty Years War
American War of Independence
French Revolutionary War
War of the first Coalition
War of the second Coalition
War of the third Coalition
War of the fourth Coalition
War of the fifth Coalition
Crimean War
Second Opium War
War of Italian Revolution
WW1
In 185 battles that France had fought over the past 800 years, their armies had won 132 times, lost 43 times and drawn only 10, giving the French military the best record of any country in Europe".
Hundred Years War
War of Austrian succession
Thirty Years War
American War of Independence
French Revolutionary War
War of the first Coalition
War of the second Coalition
War of the third Coalition
War of the fourth Coalition
War of the fifth Coalition
Crimean War
Second Opium War
War of Italian Revolution
WW1
Last edited:
They never ever won a war. They rather fuck with their face and fight with their grape treading feet.
France did not win any of the world wars. They were in fact liberated by the allies. The true flag of france is not the bleu blanc rouge. It is entirely white.
Pandaemoni
Valued Senior Member
Ivan Seeking
Registered Senior Member
This was good. For a time it came up when you Googled [feeling lucky] for "French Military Victories"
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/victories.html
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/victories.html