"We surrender" Said the French

[Pimppeter2]

What did they do in the 100 Year's War?
(Narrowly beat out the British... then surrender)

What did they do in World War 1?
(Surrender)

What did they do in World War 2?
(Surrender)

<url=http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/france.html>See here, for a comprehensive list.

They didn't surrender in World War 1

My bad, I forgot the Germans violently slaughtered them and occupied the whole country, and convinced the French to put up a puppet government.

No surrendering at all, no sir!
THATS WW2! THE FRENCH DIDN'T SURRENDER IN WW1! GERMANY DIDN'T EVEN MAKE IT TO PARIS!

But guess who still won the 100 year war? Thats right the British

What did they do in the 100 Year's War?
(Narrowly beat out the British... then surrender)

Are we forgetting that they came back and forced the British out of France. Ending The Hundred Years' War. I'm pretty sure that would make them the winners.

Yeah, but they were led by a non-Frenchwoman, so it doesn't count.

Please explain to me how that works

 

[LockHeart]

Hehe, this made me think of a joke I saw on Sickipedia today:

Spoiler: Worldwide responses to terrorist threats, all in good fun

The British are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." Brits have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to a "Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the great fire of 1666.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide". The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was
precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.

It's not only the French who are on a heightened level of alert. Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout loudly and excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose".

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

The Americans, meanwhile, are carrying out pre-emptive strikes, on all of their allies, just in case.

OT: I think it's mainly due to the fact that the French were convinced that they would lose to the Germans before the war even began, and didn't even fight for their capital city when the Germans advanced. Also, there was the whole thing with De Gaulle generally being a bit of a prick and upon the liberation of Paris (after he begged Eisenhower to allow French troops to be the first to enter it, despite British, Canadian and American forces doing practically all the work) announcing that France ?had been liberated by her own people, with the help of the armies of France, with the help and support of the whole of France ? that is to say of fighting France" without even mentioning the Allies, and the French just sort of accepted it and gave the whole surrender thing a Gallic shrug... Pissed a loooottt of people off methinks...

 

[Faps]

What did they do in the 100 Year's War?
(Narrowly beat out the British... then surrender)

What did they do in World War 1?
(Surrender)

What did they do in World War 2?
(Surrender)

<url=http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/france.html>See here, for a comprehensive list.

They didn't surrender in World War 1

My bad, I forgot the Germans violently slaughtered them and occupied the whole country, and convinced the French to put up a puppet government.

No surrendering at all, no sir!

I think you are confusing World War 1 with World War 2.

 

[mightybozz]

But guess who still won the 100 year war? Thats right the British

I'm not sure why I think it's to do with WW1/WW2.

Few hisotrical facts for you guys:
Hundred years war: England invaded 1066 by Normandy. Centuries later descendants of those Norman Kings claim the French throne, invade several times, win some battles, lose some battles, get beaten out of France. France WON.

WWI: When the hell did France surrender? French forces formed most of the Western Front for most of the conflict.

WW2: The source of the surrendering thing, due to the collaboration with Nazi Germany. Also see Homer Simpson (or possibly George Bush) attacking the French as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys. The USA had a weird reaction when the French government chose (along with most others) to say sod off to Bush and his insane, pointless, illegal crusade to Iraq.

The French throughout history were a powerful and dangerous military force. Ever heard of Napoleon? Conquered most of Europe with massive, massive armies. The reason Britain went for the immensely strong navy was because we knew we stood absolutely no chance of winning a war against France on the continent.

 

[Berethond]

What did they do in the 100 Year's War?
(Narrowly beat out the British... then surrender)

What did they do in World War 1?
(Surrender)

What did they do in World War 2?
(Surrender)

<url=http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/france.html>See here, for a comprehensive list.

They didn't surrender in World War 1

My bad, I forgot the Germans violently slaughtered them and occupied the whole country, and convinced the French to put up a puppet government.

No surrendering at all, no sir!
THATS WW2! THE FRENCH DIDN'T SURRENDER IN WW1! GERMANY DIDN'T EVEN MAKE IT TO PARIS!

But guess who still won the 100 year war? Thats right the British

What did they do in the 100 Year's War?
(Narrowly beat out the British... then surrender)

Are we forgetting that they came back and forced the British out of France. Ending The Hundred Years' War. I'm pretty sure that would make them the winners.

Yeah, but they were led by a non-Frenchwoman, so it doesn't count.

Please explain to me how that works

I'm mixing up my world wars, sorry...

And it's simple.
The victory is, in essence, the commander's. And, since the commander was not French, it does not count as a French victory.

 

[Skeleon]

The 300 Spartans weren't French. That is the deciding factor in this, the French suck. Their attidtude sucks, their military sucks. Why does their military suck, because its comprised of FRENCH PEOPLE.

Sounds like the problem here is racism, not actual cowardice on the French people's part.
Just because you have some problem with your Quebec neighbours doesn't give you the right to judge a whole nation.

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

WW2 obviously. Ya see, we tend to have a very short memory when it comes to the achievements of foreign countries, but when it comes to their short-comings... well, that's a whole different story.

 

[Mozared]

Earlier posted list is flawed as hell, though. With a little spin of words I can make a country like America look the same.

Civil war? Lost, mostly because the opponents were also American. World War I? Lost, seeing as they came in late on France's side and then signed a ceasefire. Gulf War? Lost; Kuwait was freed but Saddam remained in power. Vietnam? Lost. War on terror? Not quite lost, but closer to it than to 'won'.

It's not all that hard.

 

[Pimppeter2]

snip

I'm mixing up my world wars, sorry...

And it's simple.
The victory is, in essence, the commander's. And, since the commander was not French, it does not count as a French victory.[/quote]

Im pretty sure the commander was the King. WHO WOULD BE FRENCH. Joan of Ark was a general. She didn't have complete control of the army. Plus, the war ended after her death. Years after. She just began the movement.

 

[TheSunshineHobo]

Fair point. And France didn't surrender during WWI, but they still lost.

Since when? I'm pretty sure the Allied forces won. (that would include the French) The Germans never even reached Paris

The Allied forces won? WWI: Allies=Germans, Austria-Hungary, Ottomans, etc. Entente=British, French, US. France was going to lose, until everybody else came to their rescue. Regardless of all this, one fact remains: French people suck.

 

[The Austin]

This may have the potential to be the biggest flame war ever.

I'm German and live in Alberta, so I don't exactly like the French. At all.

And your German, so the rest of the world does'nt like you. At all.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Mighta been a lil harsh

 

[xXyZaThEx]

"Come to France, where we shall mock the country that saved us from the Germans twice!"

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

The thing is this stereotype only extends to the French Military. They surrendered during WW2, but the public's resistance groups are among the most fearless and efficient the world has seen. Hell look at Josephine Baker [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Baker] (see: Legacy).

But obviously a resistance group isn't easy to make fun of (unless we're talking about "Allo Allo" which is hilarious), so we just perpetuate the stereotype.

 

[Skeleon]

The victory is, in essence, the commander's. And, since the commander was not French, it does not count as a French victory.

Then the Austrians lost WW2? Germany never lost at all? Man, I'm relieved.

 

[Zamn]

But guess who still won the 100 year war? Thats right the British

No they didn't. The Hundred Years' War resulted in a complete expulsion of the British from France.

What did they do in World War 1?
(Surrender)

No they didn't. France was the single largest contributor to the winning Allies in the Frist World War.

The idea that the France always loses is just utter rubbish, constantly spewed in the anglophone world where the French generally aren't well liked. France was for most of its history the most powerful country in Europe. And the statistics are pretty good too, they've fought in more European wars than any other country and they've won more than twice as many major battles as they've lost.

 

[Sovvolf]

And France didn't surrender during WWI, but they still lost.

How is that cowardly?
Nobody calls the 300 Spartans cowards, they lost, too.

The 300 Spartans weren't French. That is the deciding factor in this, the French suck. Their attidtude sucks, their military sucks. Why does their military suck, because its comprised of FRENCH PEOPLE. They've lost nearly every war they've been in. They didn't suck when a fat, annoying, one armed bandit with a God complex led them though. They do have Napoleon, but he won all the fights- except the one that mattered.

"My question here is in no way meant to cause any sort of offence or to start flame baiting"

Thanks for listening.

 

[SilentHunter7]

Because noone remembers that crazy bastard Napoleon, and if they do, all they remember is him totally underestimating the Russian winter.

 

[Berethond]

Some people need to go read a fucken text book before they open their mouths. If you don't know what you're talking about, stop talking

I will open my textbook!

From Chappter 6: (regarding the King Williams War in 1702-1713) "Peace terms, signed at Utrecht in 1712, revealed how badly France and its Spanish ally had been beaten."

Regarding King George's War (1739): "Once again, France allied itself with Spain. And once again, a rustic force of New Englanders invaded New France. With help form a British fleet and with a good deal of luck, the raw and sometimes drunken recruits captured the reputedly impregnable French fortress of Louisbourg."

Just the two I know the pages for.

Because noone remembers that crazy bastard Napoleon, and if they do, all they remember is him totally underestimating the Russian winter.

But he wasn't French.

 

[TheSunshineHobo]

The 300 Spartans weren't French. That is the deciding factor in this, the French suck. Their attidtude sucks, their military sucks. Why does their military suck, because its comprised of FRENCH PEOPLE.

Sounds like the problem here is racism, not actual cowardice on the French people's part.
Just because you have some problem with your Quebec neighbours doesn't give you the right to judge a whole nation.

I don't really have a problem with the French, not to the extent that i'm playing it up anyway. I can say, however, that nearly every person i've met from France or Quebec has treated me with an air of contempt. Forgive me for thinking that an entire nation is snobbish and full of itself when all the people i've met from that country are snobbish and full of themselves. Whatever gave me that idea?