Why is France suddenly so Gung-ho

[A Weary Exile]

The French have been war-crazy ever since their foundation. They participated heavily in the crusades, The Italian Wars, The Seven Years War, The Napoleonic Wars, The Franco-Prussian War, WWI, WWII, etc..

On that note, Have you ever heard their national anthem?

Spoiler

"And the bloody standard is raised!"
"The baying of these ferocious soldiers!"
"They come into our arms to slit the throats of our sons!"
"To arms citizens! Form your battalions!"

That's a pretty Gung-ho anthem.

 

[Bobbity]

Well this is hardly new, if you'll recall the sole reason the US revolutionary war turned out in favor of the Americans was massive support from the French.

Basically this. They got their butts kicked in World War II, and they didn't support President Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq. The rest of their record as warriors? Pretty much spotless. France actually has a pretty violent history, once you get into it.

Yea but at least Bush went to congress and has U.N. resolution 1441 to go to war Obama just calls it something other than war. That like a rapist saying I'm not a rapist I'm a unauthorized penetrator.

Please don't tell me you believe that.

 

[WolfThomas]

Basically this. They got their butts kicked in World War II, and they didn't support President Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq. The rest of their record as warriors? Pretty much spotless.

*Cough* Crecy *Cough* Agincourt *Cough*

But I agree they do have a pretty interesting military history and currently a huge military. It's definitely a nasty stereotype to call the French cowards. But they do have some large blunders under their belt, but I guess it's normal for any country that old.

*Cough* Indochina *Cough* Algeria *Cough*

 

[Spacewolf]

The French have been war-crazy ever since their foundation. They participated heavily in the crusades, The Italian Wars, The Seven Years War, The Napoleonic Wars, The Franco-Prussian War, WWI, WWII, etc..

On that note, Have you ever heard their national anthem?

Spoiler

[youtube]4K1q9Ntcr5g[/youtube]

"And the bloody standard is raised!"
"The baying of these ferocious soldiers!"
"They come into our arms to slit the throats of our sons!"
"To arms citizens! Form your battalions!"

That a pretty Gung-ho anthem.

i think you missed the 100 years war as well which as the name suggests was quite a big one.
Most of history involves france and britain being at war although england was never invaded by French, (the normans where from the same place as the saxons and angles)

 

[blind_dead_mcjones]

because they're french, they've always been a very proud warrior culture even before they existed as a single nation (case in point: the Gauls), hell they were at war with britain on and off for the best part of 800 years

Seriosuly, though, yes, the cheese-eating surrender monkey thing[footnote]which apparently was only started in the 80s or so, due to political differences[/footnote] never was particularly funny, and it's getting rather stale now. Especially given that most people cite the French defeat in WW2[footnote]Against the Germans.

and when people cite that they often forget/ignore the fact that EVERYONE was losing to the germans initially, its only when the allies banded together that the onslaught brought about in part by the blitzkrieg was impeded

they also ignore that even though france capitulated only half of the country went along with it while the other half waged a feirce gurellia war against both the germans and the vichy government, seeing them as spineless traitors

 

[deleted_by_strongbad]

WWII and Iraq are pretty much the only times the french didn't jump on the chance to warmonger, they have pretty much always been huge on the war, hell in WWI the french and russians did a massive amount of the fighting.

As far as Iraq Bush/Obama debate: Bushites, are you crazy? Seriously, yeah Bush went to congress, but under false pretenses, the Iraq Resolution was entirely based upon WMD's, after finding none Bush back-pedaled and said it was about humanitarian reasons and not admitting fault which to me implies knowledge of no WMD's. I don't see how this is better than Obama's current actions. Also as stated above the Libya actions are not technically war so again I don't see how this is argument is valid. For Obama you have no official congressional resolution and results in limited military action that puts a few soldiers at risk to support a UN supported no fly zone and slightly extended action, for Bush you have a resolution based upon fraud that put a ton of soldiers at risk with a UN condemned full blown invasion and you call for impeachment on Obama. Seriously?

 

[Legion]

Wrong! Look at this completely factual record of France as a military force http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/france.html. Even now, they're not doing the brunt of the work. They just screamed firsties and let everyone else do what was needed.

Both quoted from the article:

Please note that the Web designer is not American and blaming the Web designer for America's history is illogical.

World War I
- Tied and on the way to losing, France is saved by the United States [Entering the war late -ed.]. Thousands of French women find out what it's like to not only sleep with a winner, but one who doesn't call her "Fraulein." Sadly, widespread use of condoms by American forces forestalls any improvement in the French bloodline.

Oh, please, you quote this crap as a reliable source?

 

[Jovlo]

http://www.cracked.com/article_18409_the-5-most-statistically-full-shit-national-stereotypes.html

The French have a history of military butt-kicking.

 

[Dana22]

I believe in 2012 there will be Presidential and Parliament elections in France.

 

[superjaz90]

From what I understand, France has got itself a lot a new military tech that it has been wanting to test out. The Dassault Rafale jet which was delivered in December 2010 is currently getting its first combat operations in Lybia.

 

[thelonewolf266]

after reading a few of your posts I found a fun fact.On a UN backed mission in Chad France sent 2000 troops, 8 helicopters, 500 person logistical support. Britain sent a grand total of 4 troops now that's commitment to the cause.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Now you see why the British have been after them for so long!

 

[brendonnelly]

ahem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon

 

[merman]

after reading a few of your posts I found a fun fact.On a UN backed mission in Chad France sent 2000 troops, 8 helicopters, 500 person logistical support. Britain sent a grand total of 4 troops now that's commitment to the cause.

Again, because it's a former French colony...

It's definitely about making Sarkosy more popular at home. You look at the other recent laws - banning the burkha, clamping down on gypsies - and it's all in aid of making the Government look strong at a time when their economy is in peril (not least due to being part of the Euro zone and having to bail out other countries).

 

[Sanglyon]

Anyone else see it as funny that the raphael jets that 6 months ago were being sold to gaddhafi are now being used on him?

It's "Rafale". It means wind blast.

French guy here.

As for why Sarkozy is going "gung-ho", I think it's because he have poor ratings and need to pull a PR stunt.

Especially after the scandal during the tunisian uprising, when the minister of defence proposed to "offer our police expertise to help Ben Ali control the insurgent". Oh boy, was that a mistake. Helping a dictator against the people doesn't sit well in the country that call itself "country of human rights". She had to resign, and the government is still struggling to make people forget about this.

Feel free to ask questions. I'll answer after my cigarette break .

 

[Donbett1974]

France arguably has the most impressive record of all current nations today. In World War 2 they didn't do much because World War 1 had just destroyed their country - but other than that they are a tremendous fighting force and have been "gung-ho" for hundreds of years.

This is nothing new.

They thought that The Maginot Line would protect them.
One of the biggest reason why the French are called cowards is because when most allies where about to be captured they would destroy anything that would give the Nazis an advantage but not the French thou. One time the allied force told the French to sink 3 ships that were dock to keep out of Nazi hands but nope they started repairing them instead. It's hard to trust a country that helps the enemy out of stupidity or so they get treated better when captured ether way they earn the coward badge.

 

[TheBelgianGuy]

Differences is, France won't shove it in everyone's face, unlike the US.
France has military bases all over the world. They have been fighting all over Africa for some time.

Recent French military actions.
1991 : Evacuation of French citizens and foreigners in Rwanda, Gabon and Zaire.
1992 : Cambodia and Somalia
1993 : Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
1995 : Rwanda
1996 : Central African Republic
1997 : Congo-Brazzaville
Since 2001 : Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan
2002-2003 : Operation Licorne in Côte d?Ivoire
2008 : EUFOR Tchad/RCA in Chad.


Did you know any of them? You didn't huh? While all the US wars immediately get news attention, the French actually like to keep quite about them.

 

[TheBelgianGuy]

France arguably has the most impressive record of all current nations today. In World War 2 they didn't do much because World War 1 had just destroyed their country - but other than that they are a tremendous fighting force and have been "gung-ho" for hundreds of years.

This is nothing new.

They thought that The Maginot Line would protect them.
One of the biggest reason why the French are called cowards is because when most allies where about to be captured they would destroy anything that would give the Nazis an advantage but not they French thou. One time the allied force told the French to sink 3 ships that were dock to keep out of Nazi hands but nope they started repairing them instead. It's hard to trust a country that helps the enemy out of stupidity or so they get treated better when captured ether way they earn the coward badge.

Hahaha you are so ignorant it makes me laugh.

"The French fleet in Toulon was scuttled on 27 November 1942 on the order of the Admiralty of Vichy France to avoid capture by Nazi German forces during Operation Lila of the Case Anton takeover of Vichy France."
3 battleships
7 cruisers
18 destroyers
13 torpedo boats
6 sloops
21 submarines
9 patrol boats
19 auxiliary ships
1 school ship
28 tugs
4 cranes
Thirty-nine small ships


Yeeeaaaaaaah. I hope you're not a history teacher, or you should be fired.

 

[thelonewolf266]

France arguably has the most impressive record of all current nations today. In World War 2 they didn't do much because World War 1 had just destroyed their country - but other than that they are a tremendous fighting force and have been "gung-ho" for hundreds of years.

This is nothing new.

They thought that The Maginot Line would protect them.
One of the biggest reason why the French are called cowards is because when most allies where about to be captured they would destroy anything that would give the Nazis an advantage but not they French thou. One time the allied force told the French to sink 3 ships that were dock to keep out of Nazi hands but nope they started repairing them instead. It's hard to trust a country that helps the enemy out of stupidity or so they get treated better when captured ether way they earn the coward badge.

Hahaha you are so ignorant it makes me laugh.

"The French fleet in Toulon was scuttled on 27 November 1942 on the order of the Admiralty of Vichy France to avoid capture by Nazi German forces during Operation Lila of the Case Anton takeover of Vichy France."
3 battleships
7 cruisers
18 destroyers
13 torpedo boats
6 sloops
21 submarines
9 patrol boats
19 auxiliary ships
1 school ship
28 tugs
4 cranes
Thirty-nine small ships


Yeeeaaaaaaah. I hope you're not a history teacher, or you should be fired.

Now I'm not disputing what you said or supporting the other guys point but there was this incident http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Mers-el-K%C3%A9bir

 

[Kortney]

France arguably has the most impressive record of all current nations today. In World War 2 they didn't do much because World War 1 had just destroyed their country - but other than that they are a tremendous fighting force and have been "gung-ho" for hundreds of years.

This is nothing new.

They thought that The Maginot Line would protect them.
One of the biggest reason why the French are called cowards is because when most allies where about to be captured they would destroy anything that would give the Nazis an advantage but not they French thou. One time the allied force told the French to sink 3 ships that were dock to keep out of Nazi hands but nope they started repairing them instead. It's hard to trust a country that helps the enemy out of stupidity or so they get treated better when captured ether way they earn the coward badge.

Most French males between the age of 17-30 were killed or wounded in World War One. Let that sink in. They lost around 5% of their entire population. Their country was ripped apart, their economy had barely recovered and they lost an entire generation of men.

And you expect them to do it all again? With what, exactly? I can certainly empathise with the French people who didn't want to fight.

And you can't really criticise Vichy France for repairing German ships. They were Allied with them.

Trust them or not, France's military record blows your country's out of the water. And without them, you would have had an incredibly tough time gaining independence. World War 2 was a hiccup, yes, but one that any country in its position would have suffered from. It's very easy to sit there and judge from your side of the fence. Your country has never been through anything that even remotely resembled what the French suffered through in World War 1.

By the way, it is kind of funny seeing American's criticise the French for not helping much in World War 2. How many times did the USA ignore the world's cries for help in World War 1 and at the beginning of World War 2? Stacks of times. Whilst the French were losing almost an entire generation to machine gun fire, trying desperately and bravely to defend not only their country but Europe itself, the USA was sitting at home for nearly four years. Don't you think it is a tad hypocritical to then turn around and accuse the French of not helping? I certainly do. But hey, you might not think so! I honestly don't really care - I'm just pointing out the flaw in logic.

So, with all due respect, I don't think you are exactly in a position to criticse the French for not doing much in World War 2. Once you've had your country invaded twice and had millions of your own people slaughtered in your own backyard - then you can comment on the moral obligation to fight (which your country barely had to begin with).

Anyway, this is all off topic! This isn't a discussion about World War 2 - so I'm not going to carry this discussion any further. I was just pointing out the fact that France has kicked a lot of ass in it's history as a military power. Which is, objectively, true.