where did the joke come from about france?

Question

that they always give up and lose?
i'm currently taking a history class and it seems that from 1500-present france has been equal with the rest of europe if not greater
such as with napoleon, he only lost because all the other nations ganged up on him
does it stem more from the world wars where they got dominated by germany?

Answer 1

Napoleon was well respected by his opponents (Russians and British). His time and even his losses could not start that joke.



During 3 or 4 centuries before Napoleon France was a formidable adversary to England, Spain and Austria.



During Crusades Frankish knights were the core and the most reliable part of the Christian armies.



After Napoleon up to the end of WWI France was considered solid empire building nation very capable of fighting.



First part of 100 years war went very bad for France, but to be honest, England at that time included large parts of French territories and when we read that English king defeated French general, large part of "English" forces were Frenchmen as well. Besides, France had drove English kings out of France at the end. It means that even 100 year war could not possibly start that joke.



I guess, that joke was started during WWII. France quickly lost that war to Germany and surrendered. Nazi felt themselves very comfortable in Paris while French government allied France with Germany. Nazi could use all French resources with complete French cooperation in their war against England USSR and USA. France had spent whole WWII as Nazi ally.

Luckily for anti-Nazi coalition, French troops did not fight well for Nazi during that war.



It is amazing that nation allied with Nazi and fighting allies was considered one of the allies at the end of the war.



Italy did more to defeat Nazi in WWII than France. Italian troops fought Germans for 2 years while French troops waited for orders from Vichi.



PS No, brave French volunteers (like Charles de Gaulle) who violated orders of the legitimate French government are not France. There were many Italian volunteers violating Mussolini orders as well.They did not change the fact that Italy was German ally for the first half of the war.

Answer 2

The joke about France is the fact that with the number of wins they have and the number of losses they are in nearly last place in comparison to the rest of the world. Napoleon didn't lose because everybody ganged up on him, he lost because he made a very stupid move, he tried invading Russia in the fall, then when he came back to France everybody saw what happened and took advantage of the weakened state of the military. France has a very long history if doing very well in battle but being forced to withdraw before victory, this is a sign of bad military training and leadership.



---------------------



Eric did you know the only thing that prevented France from being able to over take the colonies after the War for Independence was the fact that France was almost bankrupt and there was a strong political upheaval going on due to the American Colonies support. The King didn't support the colonies because he felt some need to defend their rights for independence, no he did it to get the England out of the Americas and to strengthen Frances hold in the new land, it back fired on him.

Answer 3

It doesn't seem like any of these people have done their homework. Here's the real scoop;



Up to WW1, many European intellectuals thought that their societies had been elevated to a point where large scale conflict was unrealistic. Marx's ideas were so popular that many people believed the working class would refuse to fight among themselves for the benefit of their rulers. They were wrong, obviously.

France was a world super power for a long time. In WW1, they fought the Germans hard and lost millions of people. After the war France got a huge dose of anti-war culture. The book/movie "All quiet on the western front" showed how terrible was was for everyone involved. The people in France (and even England) were waging a war on war. Some intellectuals thought the countries should just disarm themselves because nobody ever won at war. Thankfully, Churchill wasn't gunna have any of that ****. When Hitler was at war with Poland, he left the French border barely protected. His generals told him that the French could invade and defeat them in a single day, but he didn't care. Hitler knew about their anti-war spirit and took advantage of it, making sure to sensor anything like that in his own country. After defeating Poland, his generals told him that they would need years to prepare for an invasion of France, and that it would be a costly invasion. Hitler made a bet based on French culture and won. They invaded after only a few months of preparation and the French just gave up. If not for French passivism, WW2 might have gone a lot differently.

THATS why the French are stereotyped as cowards who give up.

Answer 4

The Joke is ironic it is based on the fact that after they fought Germany to a stand still in the first war they were trounced in three to four weeks in 1940 the truth is that France is the Number Three Power in the World Militarily and the a major economic power next to the US and China. The joke comes from Jingoism by the Americans. The Sad truth is that the French People were totally unprepared for the 1939 war and so the German Army rolled over them. The French Fleet and colonial Armies were still formidable forces .so much so that the British felt that they had to deny the main battle fleet to the Axis.



As for Europe "ganging" up on Germany England did what you do to any bully they stood firm. That Hitler never secured his western flank by defeating England before he invaded the Soviet Union proves only that Hitler was not the Strategic Master that everybody thought he was he couldn't even keep to a plan of attack .

Answer 5

The real answer is in recent history. In 1940 France was considered to have the strongest army in Europe. Then the Germans invaded and swept through Northern France in a matter of weeks. France surrendered their whole country in just weeks of fighting.

Then after the war France was chased out of her colonies by indigent forces. Vietnam in the early 50's and North Africa later.

If that wasn't bad enough, France withdrew from the military part of the NATO alliance, leaving the US, UK and Germany to face the Soviets.

All this gave them a bad reputation.

Answer 6

The Mighty French Army is so feared by the other countries of the world, that they

have to give their soldiers an aspirin every 3 days just to handle the stress.

In the Middle East, France favors those who buy the most military equipment and

supplies from them, irregardless of what that equipment might be used for. If you

need an ally, don't look to France.

Answer 7

England and France have a long history of rivalry. England beat France in several wars, built a stronger empire, and had to rescue them (twice) in the 20th century.



So the English have a fairly poor view of the French military.



Given the USA also had to help bail the French out in the World Wars, and given so many Americans are descended from the English, they have a similar view as the English do.

Answer 8

actually France have the highest win vs lose ratio of any country on earth when it comes to battles (when it comes to wars won they are in second place behind Great Britain)



This particular 'joke' began in the US back in 2002-03 when France refused to join the US in invading iraq, certain sections of the US media began to suggest that the reason France was refusing to fight was because they were cowards (rather than the real reason, which we all now know - that the entire war was a bad idea)



The British due to their long, long history of fighting the French (over 400 years worth of war in the last 900 years) and fighting alongside them, do enjoy mocking the French, however respect is also given to just how hard the French fight - as no other nation on earth has as much experience of fighting them than the british do. And in British history victories over the French are given more respect than any other because people understand just how hard they had to fight to earn them.



Of course the French have their own joke -

Question = How many wars has America managed to win without help?

Answer = 1, the civil war

Answer 9

i think of that french criminal expert is the sorest loser I even have heard of in a loooong jointly as !!! i detect it staggering that somebody might even attempt to strike controversy on the end results of the international Cup very final. assume that the best argument might desire to be made for the French criminal expert's case and Zidane might desire to have been delivered returned to the interest. assume which you will meet Mr. H.G Wells, supply this French criminal expert with a time device and deliver him returned with Zidane and a ton of data returned to the 2nd of Zidane's expulsion. In all certainty, rather it does no longer rely in any admire. Going to penalty photos, no rely if Zidane had a shot or no longer, very practically easily David Trezeguet might have shot a penalty shot, and he might've ignored it, in spite of Zidane's presence of the sphere, supposing that Zidane scored his very own shot. rather, I say, provide it up. Italy gained honest and sq. and any fan of the French team is in simple terms doing a disservice to his team via keeping on whining approximately Zidane's expulsion. for my section, that's extra suitable to lose a international cup with dignity on the sphere showing which you're a classification act via accepting defeat gracefully, than to win a international cup on the fee of continuously looking like the whiniest, sorest dropping team in the history of the international cup.

Answer 10

Not really an answer to your question but i find it funny how americans like to laugh at France . Did you know that Louis 16 basically bankrupt France to help the United states get their Independance ?

Answer 11

They say the Winners write history.



Need i say more...