Why do the French military get a slating? History shows them to have been very successful?

Throughout history the French have been very successful in attacking a retreating army, but should the opposition turn and start fighting back, as in the Franco/Prussian war, The French reverse their tactic to retreat and/or capitulate themselves.

Hence Give me French officers, German NCO's, and British Tommie's, and I will win any war.

I think your "understanding" of the French military successes is a little off course. Prior to the French Revolution they had a formidable Army and Navy, but since Waterloo and Trafalgar, have done little of note. They earned the reputation of being "Surrender monkeys" in WW1 and "collaborators" in WW2 after capitulating very quickly. The only part of the French Military exempt from this being the Legion D'Etranger which is realistically French in name only. I make no comment on Frances' continuing export of Exocet missiles to Argentina (marked Farm Machinery) during the Falklands war.

Incidentally "Maxmom" it is the Commonwealth War Graves Commision that cares for the Allied Cemetaries in France, not just the French.

Your claim that they wereincredibly supportive of the allies in WWII" just doesn't bear scrutiny either. Some fought with the Maquis and Free French forces, true, but the majority were happy living under the Vichy regime under Nazi occupation.

1) During the WWIII "L'Appel du 18 Juin" was a famous speech by Charles de Gaulle in 1940... It is one of the most important speeches in French history.

In WWII Liberation of Belgium, Battle of the Bulge (1944-1945) - Two French Light Infantry Battalions and six French Light Infantry Battalions from Metz region. The 3rd SAS French battle honor bears the Battle of Bulge.

2) The Battle of Mao Khe, Viet Commanders Giap planned to breach the French defenses at Mao Khe, which was about 20 miles north of the port. He hoped that the fresh 316th Division, supported by diversionary attacks from the 304th and 320th divisions, would be enough to break the French.

French Strength: 400

reinforced by 6e BPC

3 destroyers

2 landing craft

Casualties and losses: 40 killed/

150 wounded.

Viet Minh Strenght: 102nd/308th

141st/312th

209th/312th

36th/308th

in all about 10,000

Casualties and losses: 134 killed/

426 wounded/14 missing

It probably started with Napolean and went from then on, WW1 was militarily not good for them and in WW2, the phenomenal shock tactic of the German 'Blitzkrieg' or 'lightning war' as it was called seemed unstoppable.

In WW2 the German forces were equipped with modern armaments in big quantities, they had also perfeceted the 'Blitzkrieg' styke of warfare through their part in the Spanish Civil War, the Guernica incident being a prime example and beyond.

In WW2, the French lacked modern equipment in large quantities, they were still using obsolete Char B and Renault tanks in many cases, faced with modern Panzer tanks and modern thinking German Generals like Rommel and Guderian, (Rommel who bypassed the fortified 'Maginot' line of defensive gun bunkers), it was no surprise that the French were ultimately and quickly outmanouevered.

However, with more modern equipment supplied by the UK and USA, Free French Forces in the UK were able to form effective fighting forces and divisions such as the Battalion Choc, a commando force and also when the D-Day invasion started they were very useful in forward roles in French units made up of troops that had escaped at Dunkirk.

There was an unfortunate perfect storm of circumstances in 1940 that led to them being over run.

1944 showed that with modern equipment they could be very effective.

They should not be written off, but there was also an added complication in France that the political situation just prior to WW2 split the nation into communist and right wing supporters, many French welcomed the Germans to rid France of the Communists, you often hear of 'collaboration.' Read a book called 'j'accuse De Gaulle and the book of Jean Moulin's life and you will understand more about the political situation in France which contrributed to the 1940 problems.

I hope this helps!

The french are slated due to what has happened in history like ww1 ww2 and the napoleonic wars they also got it bad after agincourt but it was said if the french lines never fell to the nazi's the war would never have got as far as it did and the british would not have been surrounded ww2 was bad for the french because the french outnumbered the germans in numbers and weapons but still lost and in agincourt were defeated by an army 6 times smaller than its own

I have wondered about this, too. I think it stems from the fact that they are not a military superpower.

We Americans would do well to remember that if not for the French, we may not have won independence from Britain,

The French were incredibly supportive of the allies in WWII and the graves of fallen Americans in France are honored and well kept.

Alexander the large's invasion and conquest of the Persian empire. regardless of being quite outnumbered,Alexander continuously defeated the Persians and took over their extensive empire in only 4 years. The impression became the Hellenistic worldwide, a multicultural fusion of Classical Greece and western Asia that flourished for almost 3 hundred years till now the final of its kingdoms got here decrease than Roman administration - an empire profoundly inspired itself by utilising Greek custom, and the inspiration of present day western custom and civilization.

People joke about them because it ends up that we had to save them in WWI and WWII. It became a pride factor, that has evolved into a joke on the French that we see in todays society. No one really cares about what happened during the American Revolution :P . They just think about the events of WWI and WWII.

Well because of the massive amount of frenchmen killed in WWI they were morally paralyzed when WWII came, even Hitler himself admitted that had the French actually attacked him, they (the Nazi's) were so unprepared and not ready that they "would have had to retreat like dogs with their tails between their legs"

Quite simply because France with a larger more modern army that was already on a war footing, was defeated in less than a week by German forces in WW ll