Why does French have a history of losing?

Question

Are they losers?

Nepoleon Wars, WW2, Indochina wars.~~Mainly they win sometimes because they always side with the US>

Answer 1

In addittion to the wars you mentioned, the French lost many wars centuries ago. This was mainly because of their military policies. The French depended upon alliances with other large countries, while their rivals ala Great Britain had much more diplomatic savvy. The Britons often allied with other small countries and formed a network of allies around their rivals. As another answerer said, in the Napoleonic wars, Napoleon himself could be in only one place. However, the Napoleonic empire was dominating Europe until the attack on Moscow in the winter. They lost much of their army when retreating from storms. The French did gain some diplomatic savvy in recent decades and sided with rising countries or superpowers.

Answer 2

Actually, France did a great job of conquering its' own lands and establishing the written french language before many other countries could do the same for their own people. They lost the Napoleonic wars only after taking most of Europe, which is no easy feat considering their location. They are an easy target to reach by land or sea, with few actual defenses from the rest of Europe. They also held Indochine for a considerable amount of time, established in 1887 through to 1954. An impressive period of time to hold an Asian protectorate. The French also did a great job colonizing Quebec in Canada, and while they no longer control it, they are still speaking french. There are also areas of the United States that also speak french in Maine and Louisiana, former french strongholds. The only thing the United States had to do with France is buying the Louisiana Territory off of them, attacking the Germans in WW2 to liberate the European continent (late I might add) and getting the French help and support to help them win the American Revolution. So, the French are pretty tough actually, and without them bailing us out, we wouldn't be a country. They also rarely side with the US, outside of WW2.

Answer 3

France has a history of losing for the same reason the U.S. does. Fight enough wars and you lose some of them. France having a much longer history than the U.S. has lost more wars. It has also won more wars.

The U.S. was an ally of Napoleon in the war of 1812 and the U.S. was essentially defeated (the U.S. capital was burned), although so unimportant that Britain ended the war once Napoleon was defeated.

The U.S. lost its war in Indochina a decade after the French had given up.

In WW2 the U.S. was defeated in its pacific colonies and faired dismally in its early battles with Germany. But where France was located on land next to Germany, the U.S. was located across an ocean from both Japan and Germany and thus had time to recover from its early disasters. If the freedom of the U.S. had hinged on the defense of the Philipenes, Pearl Harbor, or Kasserine Pass, the U.S. would have lost the war.

Answer 4

It doesn't have a "history of losing" - they won most of the Napoleonic wars - but the Brits kept bribing the rest of Europe to start new ones...

The largest war France was involved in was WWI - and they won that - the decisive battle was at Verdun, and was a 100% French victory.

Answer 5

See if you can look at a broader perspective ... the reason France is a country of considerable size today is because they defeated the British (multiple times) the Germans and the Italians, all on their own. Please also remember that the reason the USA is a free and independent country today is because France came to the rescue when Geo. Washington and the continental army were going down the tubes and making very little if any progress against the British.

As always in history, there are two sides to every story.

Answer 6

ah come on - give the french a break, eh? first, the term 'losers' or 'losing' depends on your perspective. i am an american & can honestly say that the french were winners when it came to napoleon. wow! what a guy! the french are what they are today & known for (he also influenced america, big time) napoleon and napoleonic rule. the french president charles degaulle was anything but a loser. degaulle was the leader of the french resistence during ww2 and a damn good french president for his times. the french aren't fighters - they're lovers & that's ok with me. the world is filled with enough macho men, it's kinda' nice to know that, like the italians, the french have shown the world that there is more to life than rockem' sockem' , et cetera. me? i'd rather see bread, wine & cheese than bullets, bayonnets and bombs? wouldn't you?

Answer 7

You forgot the wars with Britain before the American Revolution and the Franco-Prussian War. Coincidence maybe that they lose a lot. It also seems they can be very glorious.

Answer 8

well the napoleonic wars they were fighting the whole of europe... and Napoleon could only be in one place at a time.

Answer 9

This Question is Racist