Why are the French good at protesting but useless at war?
Discussion
MikeStroud said:
We have a UK centric view of these things. As a kid I thought the UK had won the second world war single handed, then I learnt the USA actually played a big part, then later I learnt Russia had an even big hand in the outcome!
Likewise. Although my Dad or Grandad did explain the Russian front to me at a fairly young age.I find it embarrassing that even some fairly old British men still appear to be unaware/ignoring of the US and Russian contributions.
Talk of "Blitz spirit" by similar people is just downright cringesome.
Exige77 said:
Or the Torinese who saw off the all conquering Napoleon who came with 40,000 men to take the city and went home with 10,000.
Me thinks History is not some PHers strong point
"Jingoism and great national stereotypes of our time" would be a popular choice as a PHer Mastermind specialist subject.Me thinks History is not some PHers strong point
The French fought extremely well in the Marne sector in WW1 - they were in many ways superior to the British forces - which they commanded btw.
Then we have Austerlitz...a bit before mind.
The Brits really do need to stand back and widen their historical perspective.
Blitz Spirit - really? We bombed the fook out of Germany for 5 years, and their industrial production only fell in the last 6 months of the war. By which time we had flattened market towns for fun.
I love my country, but we really do need to stop drinking the Kool Aid and realise we didn't win either World War on our own and what we went through at Home in WW2 was nothing compared to Holland...
Exige77 said:
irocfan said:
valiant said:
The Italians on the other hand...
Yup - those cowardly Romans 
Me thinks History is not some PHers strong point
Chozza said:
Exige77 said:
irocfan said:
valiant said:
The Italians on the other hand...
Yup - those cowardly Romans Me thinks History is not some PHers strong point
MC Bodge said:
Likewise. Although my Dad or Grandad did explain the Russian front to me at a fairly young age.
I find it embarrassing that even some fairly old British men still appear to be unaware/ignoring of the US and Russian contributions.
Talk of "Blitz spirit" by similar people is just downright cringesome.
I'll always remember something that popped up on QI, at the time of the blitz, crime sky-rocketing and scams and crims were able to pretty much run amok.I find it embarrassing that even some fairly old British men still appear to be unaware/ignoring of the US and Russian contributions.
Talk of "Blitz spirit" by similar people is just downright cringesome.
Chozza said:
Or dare i say Napoleon ( Born Corsica , Italian parents ( ok .. so Corsica was sold to the French prior to his birth - but wasn't recognized as a province till after )
He regarded himself as French most of the time.Don't forget that Napoleon didn't do much fighting. If was the French soldiers did that.
They had a number of foreign nationals in their armies and they were regarded as inferior in performance to the French ones. When Nappy was worried about winning, he sent in his French mob.
I don't know much about the French in Vietnam, but I remember reading, years ago, about the battle at Dien Bien Phu. The French put up a tremendous defence but the loss of the army caused all sorts of political problems. Just a few stragglers got out. There's a film, according to IMDB, but I haven't seen it.
Halb said:
I'll always remember something that popped up on QI, at the time of the blitz, crime sky-rocketing and scams and crims were able to pretty much run amok.
The criminal east end gangs that ruled there in the 60s and 70s started life during the war, particularly the blitz. They were an asset to the Germans.Derek Smith said:
Halb said:
I'll always remember something that popped up on QI, at the time of the blitz, crime sky-rocketing and scams and crims were able to pretty much run amok.
The criminal east end gangs that ruled there in the 60s and 70s started life during the war, particularly the blitz. They were an asset to the Germans.Derek Smith said:
The criminal east end gangs that ruled there in the 60s and 70s started life during the war, particularly the blitz. They were an asset to the Germans.
My Dad tells me stories of his uncle who was a "spiv" during the War, he dodged the draft and would sell stuff on the black market, he would go poaching at night and was generally a bit of a slimeball. Post war he ended up dealing in scrap metal, but had his collar felt and spent an inordinate amount of time at Her Majestys pleasure.At some point (soon, I hope) our younger generations are going to realise that lazily harking back to the past and droning on about the 'blitz spirit', foreign stereotypes and things like 'British engineering' has no actual value. There is nothing particularly exceptional about the Britain of today and we are going to have to work bloody hard to build a new reputation that the rest of the world might actually respect and care about.
Derek Smith said:
He regarded himself as French most of the time.
Don't forget that Napoleon didn't do much fighting. If was the French soldiers did that.
They had a number of foreign nationals in their armies and they were regarded as inferior in performance to the French ones. When Nappy was worried about winning, he sent in his French mob.
Apart from the Swiss. Napoleon regularly attached Swiss regiments to the Imperial Guard.Don't forget that Napoleon didn't do much fighting. If was the French soldiers did that.
They had a number of foreign nationals in their armies and they were regarded as inferior in performance to the French ones. When Nappy was worried about winning, he sent in his French mob.
Oh, and the Berg Lancers (Germans), The Dutch Grenadiers, the Dutch and the Polish Lancers...
(Lets not talk about the Neopolitans...)
FF
AnotherClarkey said:
At some point (soon, I hope) our younger generations are going to realise that lazily harking back to the past and droning on about the 'blitz spirit', foreign stereotypes and things like 'British engineering' has no actual value. There is nothing particularly exceptional about the Britain of today and we are going to have to work bloody hard to build a new reputation that the rest of the world might actually respect and care about.
Quite right. We are fortunate to be British, but not exceptional. The nostalgia of many of the post-war generation for their parents' (and grandparents' colonial) exploits has caused, and is causing, big problems.
NoNeed said:
What a stupid thread, the French are crap at protesting, that's why they have to do it so often
Just a joke but it goes without saying that our French cuisins are a very brave breed
Well they have better food, better weather, fantastic wine, delicious champagne and of course the Alpine Factory...Just a joke but it goes without saying that our French cuisins are a very brave breed
Plus they take exceptional care of the War Graves.
Got to admit though, they do like a protest and make everyone else in Europe look like amateurs.
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