Footage on YouTube about the 2nd world war and with alot of help we helped liberate France etc. Yes it was 80 odd years ago and we have moved on but...what i just watched was truly amazing. I'm hoping the likes of Smug and Rog can give me the overseas perspective as to why we are so hated...
Cos of the lager lout behaviour when a large minority are on holiday in Europe. And we voted to keep bananas straight.
Surely lager lout behaviour can't diminish the heroics of the brave young men who helped liberate parts of Europe tho?
Like you say mate it was 80 year ago, knackers causing bother was quite bad in the 80s and 90s. It was slightly tongue in cheek but I remember everyone being treat with caution from locals till they got to know us.
It depends where you go. The people of Arnhem love the Brits. They still turn out in huge numbers for remembrance day to thank our veterans. This is at the Gelrodome where Vitesse play their home matches.
I lived in France for five years and were made to feel really welcome, it was a rural areas so can't speak for the big cities. Something which is often overlooked but during Operation Overlord, D Day to many, there were over 30,000 civilian casualties along the Normandy coast due to prior bombing then the invasion itself and my father in law who landed on D Day often spoke of the animosity that the French showed compared to the open arms welcome he received from the Dutch, in fact right up to his death he kept in touch with the Dutch family he was billeted with near Eindhoven, a completely different experience than his time in France. Whether that has anything to do with today is probably debatable but highlights how the French in particular have often had problems with we English.
Didn't America come in and help liberate Europe too? How popular are they with the rest of the world? WWII is long gone.
If the French helped free the UK 80 years ago I would never despise them no matter what. Yes the war is long gone but it's not like it was a thousand years ago.
In all honesty mate it's partly because we remind them of a war that was shameful for many of them. Their army capitulated, they rounded up Jews, they collaborated, the government cooperated and their police colluded with the Nazis ... ... there were many brave exceptions but, on the whole, they'd rather forget it all, we're a constant and noisy reminder. In the village we just left, Montlaur, there are still families who'll cross the street to avoid each other.
Very informative mate. I never thought of it like that but I think I would feel the same as them tbh. They are obviously proud people and the thought of it all...
Maybe it’s partly reciprocal- they’re aware of the way we’ve badmouthed and disliked them in years gone by. We’ve looked upon them as different , not considering ourselves european
I always explain it to people like this. Imagine your house catches fire and you try to go in to rescue your wife and kids but are beaten back by the smoke and flames. You sit coughing and sobbing on the lawn while your neighbour runs in, saves them all and puts out the fire. You'd be grateful, celebrate with him and praise him to the heavens. But if he had a big parade every year and constantly reminded you that he succeeded where you failed you'd grow to hate him. You shouldn't but you would.
many many years of bad blood imho, and not just from the french, far too much has happened for some to forget (there are even a hell of a lot of welsh/irish/scots that will never forgive) and as i keep saying there is feck all we can do to erase the past, it happened and we were not alone in being complete kurnts to others on this planet...only way to move forward is to accept that people have changed and work together for a different future, hanging onto the past is one thing that will drive you mental.
I've never lived there, but that is very close to things I've heard from a couple of people who have. People like yourself who also like the country and it 's people. One lad who is retired now but spent a lot of time there up until about 2010 or so told me that most ordinary people have no problem with us at all. He blames what he calls an entrenched ruling class, who he says look down on everyone, including The French themselves! Good post mind that. I'll tell my mate when I see him.
Thinking a little out of left field. It appears from the outside that a lot of English don't embrace the local culture when they travel abroad. A large number of people want British food, British TV etc. This can come across as being superior to the locals. We have a family friend in Bali who works as a waitress and she thinks that the British tourists are the rudest.
Good point. I remember years ago seeing some cockney on the verge of throttling a waiter in Tenerife because his English wasn't good enough for him. I wont holiday in Spain, Greece, Turkey. Too many Brits. Its just home from home where all the pissed up chavs go for their cheap holidays.
Part of a holiday is discovering new things. I never eat "western food" when i'm travelling in Asia for example. I enjoy finding little hole in the wall cafes and eating with the locals. Some of the best nights we've had were after eating in a back street cafe and then having a few beers with the locals when it closed.
I'm the same, mate. My getaway place is Jamaica (avatar pic), I was starting to go every year until covid hit us. I love nothing more than walking into the local neighbourhood where I stay and finding a little street cafe to eat their jerk chicken or fish that is literally just pulled out the sea and like you say, a bit banter with the locals.
