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After WW2, when the French put up little resistance to, and in many cases collaborated with for selfish reasons, the German invasion. So the stigma of a one-time event stays forever, as do stigmas with many events that people refer to when discussing modern issues. Also, the post-WW2 issues between France and the West did not help.
The French have a great military history. I have no idea why so many people focus on a one time thing. But then again, WW2 was THE military event in history, at least modern history, so what people did during it will be focused on for years and years.
In all fairness,the french do the same thing to africans and arabs,so what goes around comes around,the french are also very prejudice in general,according to their own polls,70 to 80% of french citizens dislike their own immigrants.
The french people use some nasty words to describe americans,so it is just the boomerang effect.
When a lot of crime, slums, and riots come from a specific few groups (immigrants), of course there is going to be prejudice. It is like inviting someone into your home, then they trash it and complain they do not like it there. If France is so bad, they are welcome to return to their former countries. Fact is, no matter how bad they (immigrants) think they have it in France, they are treated much better by the "prejudice" French than they are in their own home country by their own people.
Maybe the fact that few American people indentify themselves as of French ancestry or care much about it, as opposed to Irish, Italian, etc makes bashing easier as no one would raise an eyebrow. Cowardice they say?
When a lot of crime, slums, and riots come from a specific few groups (immigrants), of course there is going to be prejudice. It is like inviting someone into your home, then they trash it and complain they do not like it there. If France is so bad, they are welcome to return to their former countries. Fact is, no matter how bad they (immigrants) think they have it in France, they are treated much better by the "prejudice" French than they are in their own home country by their own people.
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French prejudice started a longtime,during the colonization era,where they used propaganda to destroy countries in Africa,Asia,South America and the Antilles.
Bringing civilization to the savage populations of Africa,the german had the same arguments,they wanted to civilize the french.
So prejudice is in the french culture,the emigration is only a consequence of the colonization,why did the french invade these countries in the first place ?
I've seen it all the time. Depictions, jokes in the American media about how the French are cowardly, eat cheese and surrender. It's ironic though, since France was at times among the most powerful countries militarily in many times in history. Napoleon's army, for instance, was quite a force to be reckoned with. Even today, the French are pretty tough. For instance, as a contemporary example they intervened in Mali when many countries wouldn't. The French Foreign Legion is well known for it's toughness. Why then is there the opposite perception, that the French can't put up a good fight?
Where did it start and how did it become an idea of mockery as part of popular culture? Did it start from WWII? If so, I'd find it odd that French people get singled out in history as many groups, peoples and nations have been on the losing/surrendering end at least once in their history.
Even prior to WW2, France has a long history of punching below its weight, and for its military standouts to be those who weren't actually from mainland France (the FFL, Napoleon was Corsican). But certainly the perception largely comes from WW2, so lets focus on that.
In 1936, France had by far the most powerful land army in the world. Large, well equipped, modern; they were superior to the armies of the US, Britain, the Soviet Union, Imperial Japan, and Germany. At a time when they absolutely dwarfed Germany militarily, probing and pushing from Hitler was met with consistent and total submission, surprising and amusing Hitler who assumed he would be countered. When war finally broke out, countries far weaker than France fought far harder and far better for far longer. And post-occupation, considering its population, the French resistance was quite minor compared to the resistance in places like Yugoslavia.
To me, its not the fact that France surrendered so quickly that is so disgraceful- its the fact that they surrendered so quickly, and effectively joined the Axis. Only a portion of France was directly occupied by the Germans- what people seem to forget or choose not to remember is that half the country, governed from Vichy, remained independent and eagerly stepped up to be a German sidekick in what they thought would be the new world order. Petain believed that with their vast colonial possessions, they could carve out a vital administrative role for themselves in the German dominated Europe- obviously since Germany had defeated them, well, of course they would defeat the British and Russians as well. French soldiers fought and killed British, American, and Commonwealth soldiers in the name of Hitler. They fiercely defended North Africa for the Axis when the Allies landed there.
I admire many aspects of French culture and history, and no people should be judged by the actions of their ancestors and things that happened before they were ever born. But the behavior of the French military and leadership during this period of the time was shameful, cowardly, despicable, and should not be forgotten. The disincentives to choosing the hard rode are clear and undeniable. From a purely pragmatic perspective there should be disincentives to taking the easy rode as well, and shame is one of them.
1. The French saved the US's a** during the revolution.
2. That statue of liberty was a gift from 'guess who'?
3. France voted against the illegal war in Iraq so it pi**ed off Americans who can't think for themselves.
4. I'm American and I love France. If I didn't love Scotland so much I'd move to France in a heartbeat.
1. The French saved the US's a** during the revolution.
2. That statue of liberty was a gift from 'guess who'?
3. France voted against the illegal war in Iraq so it pi**ed off Americans who can't think for themselves.
4. I'm American and I love France. If I didn't love Scotland so much I'd move to France in a heartbeat.
1-How many countries saved France from disaster ? the US twice,England twice,Canada,Russia so forth
2-Did americans needed a statue of liberty to survive the german invasion ? it was a gift by the french,americans never asked for that gift !!
Americans gave you the best gift : liberty itself,they freed France from German occupation 2 times,and that was not a statue,that was a fact.
3-After the No,french vote at the UN, the french end up sending troups to Iraq so hypocrisy is still the norm in France !!
4-little contradiction,on the personal level,you don't love France enough to leave Scotland or the US,so in fact,it is clear that France is not a priority for you.
1-How many countries saved France from disaster ? the US twice,England twice,Canada,Russia so forth
2-Did americans needed a statue of liberty to survive the german invasion ? it was a gift by the french,americans never asked for that gift !!
Americans gave you the best gift : liberty itself,they freed France from German occupation 2 times,and that was not a statue,that was a fact.
3-After the No,french vote at the UN, the french end up sending troups to Iraq so hypocrisy is still the norm in France !!
4-little contradiction,on the personal level,you don't love France enough to leave Scotland or the US,so in fact,it is clear that France is not a priority for you.
If you don't want the statue of liberty, give it back. The engraving on it about 'give us your poor...etc' is invalid now anyway. Might as well just have it removed.
4. I don't live in the US any more, I live in Scotland. I visit France often though and if Scotland votes to divorce the UK I will be moving to France.
BTW, it wasn't England's military in the wars, it was the British military which includes Scotland and Wales. Learn your geography and history.
1. The French saved the US's a** during the revolution.
2. That statue of liberty was a gift from 'guess who'?
3. France voted against the illegal war in Iraq so it pi**ed off Americans who can't think for themselves.
4. I'm American and I love France. If I didn't love Scotland so much I'd move to France in a heartbeat.
If I were French I don't think I'd be going around to a bunch of Americans reminding them of fact 1. Considering the French almost have a reputation for being saved by others lol.
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