the French military are they any good...?

Question

seeing how thay sucked in ww1, gave up in ww2 and Vietnam...

Answer 1

It appears that you answered your own question. The US has a long history of saving their b*tts in a war, and they still haven't paid back their war debt from WW1.

Answer 2

I don't know where you people get the misconception that the French are poor soldiers?

Under Napoleon Bonaparte they fought all through Europe, initially sweeping all before them.It was Bonaparte stubborn insistence about being in Moscow during winter that lost the campaign not the individual soldier.In the 1870 / 71 Prussian Military superiority defeated the French Army, their equipment was hopelessly outdated.

In WW1 the French bore the brunt of the fighting, at Verdun alone they took nearly 1 million casualties, with no help from the British or U.S.!

The U.S. did not get involved in WW1 until June 1917, by that time the French had been fighting with the British for over 3 years, once the Americans arrived the French and British had to train them for combat particularly trench warfare, and the Americans initially disregarded any advice given from the soldiers who had been in the trenches for years, the Americans charged headlong into No Mans Land and suffered from heavy machine gun fire, losses were high and they learned the hard way what the British and French learned in the bloody days of 1914, 1915, and 1916.

Don't take this as anti-American bashing the US bough one great assets into the war was 300,000 fresh troops per month, whereas France and Britain had virtually been bled dry by the horrors of 3 years in the trenches, the Germans too were running low on Reserves, their attempts to defeat the British and French before the U.S. came in had not worked.
In WW2 the French had little stomach for fighting as memories were to fresh of the appalling French losses in WW1, Petain went over and collaborated with the Nazis to avoid bloodshed.
But the Free French Military was created under Charles DeGaulle, look up the record of the French 2nd Armoured Division who fought from Normandy to Paris and liberated their city from the Nazis.
The French also had the Colonial war against the Japanese in Indo-China (now Vietnam), French troops were also fighting in North Africa, and French Air Force were in Great Britain and a French squadron was also flying with the Soviets against the Germans.
After WW2 the French had their troubles in Indo-China against the Viet-Minh after losing at Dien Bien Phu they gave up Vietnam, then their next war was in French Algeria, again a political shift saw the French order their troops out of Algeria and independance given.
And we also have the French Foreign Legion.

Answer 3

I hear they have a Unbeatable Track team, outran the Germans in 1870, 1914-thru 1917, 1940, the North Koreans in 1951, the Vietminh in 1954, the Algerians in 1960 sure I missed someone, Costa Rica possibly?

Answer 4

the french once has had an empire to rival the english. the fact that in recent they have taken to arts and such means that the recent government has taken up concerns with domestic matters and have left matters of international intrigue to others. now in ww2 when they "gave up" they had the most effective resistance sysytem set up to daunt the germans and slow them way down. now it was not the same as true warfare in general terms but it served it purpose it tied up valuable german troops that would have other wise been on the front line shooting at our people. how did they suck in ww1 they fought on our side and won. how is that sucking?they pulled out of vietnam because of the u.s. government not being willing to let its troops win the war.

Answer 5

Ever heard of Legion Etranger?

Answer 6

The French have a military? rofl

Answer 7

I hear white flags are standard issue to French troops.

Answer 8

They are expert at dropping their rifles and raising there hands, they excel in retreat, and are also good a switching sides.

Answer 9

No they are not. Their policy is laissez faire. You cannot rely on them in a time of need. Unfortunately they have forgotten what the US did for them in WWII.

Answer 10

I needed a laugh thank you that did the trick.