Why has France militaryly done so bad since Napoleon? (WWII, war, Roman)

[FrogCT]

Napoleon seems to be the last time France was capable of doing anything militaryly right. Since then they seem to have been pretty bad. They were completely destroyed and humiliated during the Franco Prussian war, had it not been for Britain, and their friends Germany would have destroyed them in WWI, in WWII well..... You all know how that goes.

So why, after Napoleon have they been such complete failures when it comes to war?

[MyTarge13]

To much rich French food and great wine?

[Ariete]

Without France, there would've been no trench war stalemate in WWI. If you say France did poorly in WWI it's blatantly false and unjustified.

The French lost the Franco-Prussian war, the Indochina independence war and the initial stages of WWII. Except for those, France was victorious in every war it fought, from Crimea to China.

[jobseeker2013]

France was a much stronger country at the time of Napoleon. The population was second only to Russia and they were not that far apart back then. Other than Spain, no major states were on the border. After Napoleon, France experienced a population decline, and when Germany and Italy united, France was at a disadvantage. The population of Prussia was similar to France at the time of the Franco Prussian war. Germany's population continued to grow and before WW1 almost had double the population of France. Industrialization also benefited Germany and their economy was much larger.

[joe from dayton]

Poor visioning and lack of leadership at the upper command levels, especially during WWII. That said, the French army is often improperly maligned.

[FrogCT]

Originally Posted by Ariete

Without France, there would've been no trench war stalemate in WWI. If you say France did poorly in WWI it's blatantly false and unjustified.

The French lost the Franco-Prussian war, the Indochina independence war and the initial stages of WWII. Except for those, France was victorious in every war it fought, from Crimea to China.

My point is say hypothetically there was no real WWI it was simply Germany vs. France, neither side having any allies at all. Even so Germany would have decimated France and relatively easily taken it over.

[-thomass]

Originally Posted by FrogCT

My point is say hypothetically there was no real WWI it was simply Germany vs. France, neither side having any allies at all. Even so Germany would have decimated France and relatively easily taken it over.

Of course, but Germany was much more powerful and had a larger population. France did well on its own to hold off Germany at the battle of verdun.

[Dd714]

Originally Posted by FrogCT

Napoleon seems to be the last time France was capable of doing anything militaryly right. Since then they seem to have been pretty bad. They were completely destroyed and humiliated during the Franco Prussian war, had it not been for Britain, and their friends Germany would have destroyed them in WWI, in WWII well..... You all know how that goes.

So why, after Napoleon have they been such complete failures when it comes to war?

And to add insult to injury - Napoleon was Corsican, not French.

I am really tempted to break out my repertoire of French Military jokes....

[SWFL_Native]

Same could be asked of Italy since the Roman Empire.

[jmking]

Originally Posted by SWFL_Native

Same could be asked of Italy since the Roman Empire.

Not really. Without Italy's money houses, navy and soldiers, the Spanish Empire would never have existed.