Quote:
Originally Posted by jammies
BTW, the whole "French cowardice" thing is complete bs. Why don't we all pick on the Czechs, or the Poles, or the Danes, or the Norwegians, or the Belgians, Dutch, Yugoslavs, Greeks, or any of the other nations the Nazis steamrolled? It was on the blood of the French that the Allies won WWI, American propaganda to the contrary. Losing WWII to a numerically superior enemy that had perfected a tactical doctrine 20 years in advance of everyone else's doesn't make French soldiers or the French in general cowards. Have a little more respect for a nation who has been Canada's ally and friend for over a hundred years.
And no, I'm not French or of French descent. It's just an ignorant and rude prejudice that has been imported from the USA and is long overdue for correction.
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Don't forget that even after the French military surrendered, many French citizens fought bravely in the Resistance, often at great peril to both themselves and their families/communities (being captured usually resulted in execution). How many downed Allied airmen were smuggled out of Nazi-occupied France by members of the Resistance? How many Allied lives were saved on D-Day because the Resistance sabotaged German railways and other valuable targets?
Another fact that most people who criticize the French in WWII conveniently ignore is that Germany also steam-rolled the British and Commonwealth forces fighting in Europe in 1940 as well, forcing them to evacuate the continent at Dunkirk. For all of Churchill's passionate speeches about never surrendering, it was only geography (namely, the English Channel) that saved Britain from the same fate as France and the rest of Europe.