I think the "cowardly french" thing comes from them consistently losing wars for a few centuries as well as the fact that the British felt the French were.....less than enthusiastic about offensives by the end of WW1. The British felt they were doing all the heavy lifting on the Western Front, and to a certain respect, they were.
For those who like to make uneducated jokes about french soldiers in WW2...
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I think the "cowardly french" thing comes from them consistently losing wars for a few centuries as well as the fact that the British felt the French were.....less than enthusiastic about offensives by the end of WW1. The British felt they were doing all the heavy lifting on the Western Front, and to a certain respect, they were.
Another thought, the Germans likely would have taken Paris (and beyond) in WWI had they followed their original tactical plan which was not unlike the Blitzkreig (just no tanks or concentrated air support). They were relying heavily on Belgium capitulating and allowing them safe passage, along a highway of sorts, straight into an ill defended region of France. Instead, the Belgians resisted, and the German generals stopped and levelled most of the Belgian forts along the way. This ate up considerable time, since the heavy siege artillery (the only thing capable of taking out the fortresses) of the day required a concrete base to be constructed before it could be utilized. This ate up weeks of time, destroyed the element of surprise (or semi-surprise, since France was well aware of German intentions to invade at some point), and allowed the British Expeditionary force to mobilize and cross the channel while France diverted some of it's own military to the Belgian border. So perhaps Germany recalled some of those lessons when the decision was made to bypass the Maginot line and many small pockets of resistance, heading across France as quickly as possible.
I try not to limit myself to jokes about the French military, I prefer to joke about french people as a whole.
Lighten up guys, they are called jokes for a reason. If people try to pass it off as history that is a different matter, but that is often not the case.
Lighten up guys, they are called jokes for a reason. If people try to pass it off as history that is a different matter, but that is often not the case.
Hardly true. The French had the most casualties of any nation involved in the First World War. Being on their own soil, the men often went without leave for long periods of time, and were thrown into 'patriotic' battles, the mess around Verdun being one of the most notable. The French Army was so beaten down by 1917 the British Army was forced to take over part of their line. They simply could not replace men fast enough any more, and the men they had were so worn out they couldn't keep going and were starting to refuse to advance. The French pulled back from the line long enough to revive and reinforce, then fought on. Americans landing in France in 1917 sealed the deal. Though the British, French and other nations had almost been exhausted, large numbers of fresh Yanks meant that Germany would not win. They made one last attempt in the months before the Americans came, and very nearly broke the backs of both the Commonwealth and French forces.
But they are just jokes, and it's fun to rile up the French guys at work.
I believe Harts tatics were written after WW1. Heinz Guderian can be the only one described as the father of blitzkrieg. He had a pioneering hand prior to WW2, and then successfully used to great success.
I don't think anyone actually believes the french were totally useless cowards, its just fun to joke about. Not like they will do anything about it...haha
Actually in 1917 the French army mutinied due to hundreds of thousands of men being killed in pointless offensives. French military doctrine at the time encouraged continuous offensives even when ill advised. After signing a treaty with Russia in 1917 the Germans freed up dozens of divisions from the eastern front and launched a huge offensive in the west to roll up the British and French before fresh American troops arrived. They almost succeeded too.
I do not recall that it was quite a full out mutiny, doubtless some units abandoned their posts by that point, many others were refusing to leave the trenches and go on the attack. The higher ups realized they were hooped and struck a deal with the Brits and other nations to close up their lines while they straightened out their military. I'm only into 1915 in my Times History of the War. Looking forward to some further detail on these times from a period perspective, but there's probably ten or so volumes to get through first.
Lee Enfield
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Too many French Communists actively sabatoged the war effort, factories and arms.
As the German National Socialists were allied to the Russian Soviets, the French Communists actively welcomed and assisted by collaborating with the invading Germans.
This assistance only changed after the Nazis abrogated the Non-Agression Treaty by invading the Soviet Union.
The English tradiditionally had RED coats to hide any bleeding from their enemy. The French had BROWN uniforms. You draw your own conclusions.
Humor is in the mind of the reader as well as the writer. There only has to be a hint of truth and the hearer will fill the blanks.
Humor is in the mind of the reader as well as the writer. There only has to be a hint of truth and the hearer will fill the blanks.
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Chuckbuster
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I saw what you did there...well played, sir.
The French military of 1939, was the Canadian Military of 2015. Good men, ####ty equipment and political leadership that didn't have a clue. Hear Harper bashing Putin again, not wise in our case unless you're willing to create a Military, capable of defending our Arctic sovereignty.
Grizz
The French were definitely not cowards. They may have been remembering the tales told them by the WW1 vets. Remember that the French soldiers at that time were slaughtered all over the front in hopeless frontal attacks ordered by commanders that didn't really care about the welfare of the men under their command. They did have a mutiny over that.
The Somua S35 was an excellent tank but like aLl French tanks it was a one man turret and hand no radio. The tank commander had to sight load fire command the crew and watch for hand signals from his CO in another tank.
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