Why americans forget that France was a great military power?

Question

Why does the average american guy (80 IQ) think that France is country with an history only full of defeat?
Charlemagne?
Jeanne D'Arc?
Napoléon?
Louis XIV?
Lafayette?
De Gaulle?
François 1er?
The colonies etc...
The nuke power
the LEGION ETRANGERE

Answer 1

WAS!!! now they're great at surrender.

They were once a great Democracy, Now their just a Marxist joke. Pretty much the lib plan for the US.

THE WEAK HAVE INHERITED FRANCE.

Answer 2

OK....

Charlemagne started as "King of the Franks" which was part of France, Germany, and Belguim. He conquered France but was not French.

Jeanee D'Arc never really led men in battle, was just used as a figurehead, was captured and executed by the english after a major defeat.

Napoleon was a Corsican, not a Frenchman. He lost at Waterloo.

Louis XIV was a great king but left miltary matters to his generals who, on the whole were a good lot. He made France and later Spain into Great Powers.

Lafayette never accomplished much as a French officer in/for France but did perform very well for the US.

DeGaulle was a Colonel at the beginning of WWII and made himself a general. He was in reality a figure head of the Free French Forces as they were used under UK/US Control. DeGaulle himself was not ever directly in charge of French Forces after the surrender of France, merely titular much like Jeanne D'Arc.

Francois the First was an excellent King in terms of being a patron of the arts and builder of palaces. His miltary acculades are almost non-existant with only one notable success against the italians. He was captured By CharlesV of Spain and Germany. His internal crusade against the French Prodistants created decades of civil war and unrest in France.

French Colonies? A mixed bag of successes and mostly lost after WWII much like the other European countries.
Defeated in Canada and the Carribean by the English, Gave Louisanna to the Spanish without a shot.
Lost the revolt in Algeria, Senegal, VietNam, etc

Nuke? - Rainbow Warrior.

Legion Etrangere - Made up of Foreigners and frankly used very badly by the French Government.

France has turned out many good soldiers and some excellent military thinkers. As a military power, France has always been exclipsed by the UK , Germany, and Austria. France has usually failed to exploit military success politically.

Oh and the average IQ of any population is 100 by definition.

Answer 3

human beings have been unwell of war. So while Hitler pushed for issues like Czechoslovakia and rearming, the Allies and the League of countries stated "ok do purely no longer initiate a war.". no longer in basic terms that, yet human beings enjoyed Hitler. human beings from all facets widespread him for having pulled Germany out of the international recession, something no different us of a had yet achieved. Poland, France and all the different eu international places that have been taken fell in in basic terms some weeks or months. The German defense force, after its (frequently secret) rearming, grew better and extra effective than the two the British and French armies. in the process the "calm" factor of the war (1941-1944) the German army grew to become into battling the British army interior the English Channel, making any substantial offensive extremely complicated. The Soviets did no longer connect the war, they have been further into it. Hitler grew impatient of the region interior the Channel, so he attacked the Soviets (which he had till then a treaty with). This 2nd front gave the Allies some room to breath and set up D-day.

Answer 4

Some excellent answers. Hey buddy, if you're going to decry Americans' generalizations, don't get cute with your own. Dumb-a$$ is dumb-a$$, regardless of Westphalian nation-state borderlines. What people don't get is that the average French soldier is a well-trained, well-equipped and capable trooper. Even though St. Cyr is an excellent school, the French military establishment seems to turn out some real a$$hats who get promoted. The 40,000 plus dudes who got stuck in that valley at Dien Bien Phu were solid soldiers, who were failed by an arrogant command structure.

Answer 5

You are correct..France *was* a great military power, for hundreds of years. But no longer. World War one broke the spine of the French Army and sapped the nations will to fight. The German occupations of WWII further damaged the nations pride. It doesnt appear to most Americans that France has the *will* to fight anymore. And dont mention the Legion, by law you cant be French and in the Legion, so that doesnt count.

Answer 6

Truthfully, I don't believe that the average American knows much about history. Most people that I speak to only remember that the French constructed the Maginot line and when the Germans marched on Paris in WWII, the French surrendered rather than see the city destroyed. I don't know how many times I have heard Americans say to my French friends, "We had to save your ***!"

The average American doesn't even know much US history let alone European history. The French underground was one of the deciding factors in getting the Germans out of Europe in WWII, but most American's don't recognize that point.

Unless you have really big guns and start wars where you can show really big explosions on TV, most American's don't believe you have military might. The power of strategy and diplomacy also contribute to the success of your country, and, sometimes, discussions can help to avoid the need to utilize the military. But, to many American's you only talk about things because you're too scared to fight.

I'm not saying that the French are a great military force in the world today, but the French have used their power and influence to help to preserve Western Culture for hundreds of years.

Answer 7

Because if it wasn't for the U.S. entering World War 1 and 2...France would have been toast. Our soldiers in WW1 entered when both France and Great Britain's military manpower was nearly depleted and exhausted from 3 years of war.
In World War 2, America and the allies liberated France from the Germans at the cost of thousands of American lives yet the French hate us even today.

Answer 8

Hmmm,

French defeats;
o-Quebec
o-French & Indian Wars
o-Waterloo
o-Badajoz
o-Peninsula war
o-Trafalgar
o-Camerone
o-Sedan 1870
o-1914-1918
o-1940
o-Vichy
o-Algeria
o-Mutinying Legionaires in the Putsch
o-Paris riots last year
only 30 seconds worth of thought. give someone an hour, and you'd be amazed at the losses mentioned

Sad that Frances best arent for the most part french, but eastern europeans

Answer 9

I noticed your use of the verb "WAS". At one time Greece was a great military power, as was Rome, as was Babylon, as was Persia, etc. But you also must admit that your recent military history is one of run, surrender, acquiesce, and defect. France has been commandeered by liberalism. Alas, I fear America is not far behind. The more liberal a countries politics, the more pantywaisted their society becomes.

Answer 10

First off, the key word in your sentence is "was".

Secondly, people with the biggest mouths are not always those with the biggest brains.

Thirdly, it's not nice or correct to say that the "average" person has an IQ that places them in the borderline area of feeble-mindedness.