Haha, I went and checked on wiki myself. I think for the Brits though Clarksons later usage of it was where it really came to be used as the insult it is. I'm not particularly pro-French myself but my Grandad only spoke highly of the French and Belgians both before and after the war. I'm sure he wouldn't have liked that description of them.
Londonistan was coined by a French politician. They have plenty of non too complimentary things to say about us as well. No problem with them surrendering. However their insistence they liberated themselves is rather galling for the Brits, Canadians and Yanks who were the main ones responsible. Though that was mainly down to the agenda of that megalomaniac De Gaulle.
Remarks like these are cheap, insulting and do you no credit. It is estimated that the French Resistance numbered around 400k, about a quarter of whom were killed in action, shot by firing squad or simply vanished, including my mother-in-law's 2 teenage brothers.
The French government credited 220,000 people with being connected to the resistance sfter the war.Not all of those were active in blowing things up and only increased lster in the war. In fact the Germans were surprised at how few troops they needed to keep order. Early In the war there was cooperation inproduction goods for them as the communist controlled unions were told to by Stalin who was at stage providing Germany with raw materials himself. The French police rounded up Jews at the behest of the Germans and surprised them by delivering more than were on the lists. Which isn't to say it would have been any better here of course. One difference though is we havevpeople in this country who delight in sneering at our past and doing the country down in politics and sections of the media, particularly the BBC. The French don't and embellish and glorify what they have done. A classic example is Le Chagrin et La Pitie, a brilliant film about the occupation in France. It contained some uncomfortable home truths and it was over a quarter of a century before it was shown in France. It would have been on here immediately.
Yeah, De Gaulle was a bit of an ungrateful prick. Hated the fact France was liberated by the Allies. The French resistance was noble and brave but he couldn't face that without foreign intervention, Vichy France would have been a satellite state.
I'm sure part of the reason the British Expeditionary Force made it to the Channel and mostly back home too was because of help offered by the French during the retreat for the troops and probably to stall the Germans advance. The French Resistance helped end the war sooner than than later and they were all heroes, many of them suffering the most brutal deaths resisting the Germans. Innocent French bystanders killed by the Germans in reprisals were equally as heroic.
The French are much more patriotic than us and cherish the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. After the Charlie Hebdo massacre and indeed now, they rally behind the Republic. We've just as many scientists, philosophers, heroes and great leaders to cherish, we're just awkward about our past for fear of being mawkish.
Yes, the French helped cover the retreat, some sacrificing themselves. A lot escaped to England as well. A stretch to say the resistance shortened the war. Ifvwe hadn't landed on D-day then therecwouldn't have been any change in the situation. Hate to sound ungrateful but being shot as a reprisal wasn't heroic it was just bad fortune.
I'd treat the victims of reprisals as heroes too just to honour their memories or it would seem like they died completely pointless deaths being murdered by the Germans. Nice to have an intelligent conversation on here anyway, thanks to you and the other fellas commenting
And we have a left wing intelligentsia which despises this country and its history. The French exported as manynif not more slaves than us but they aren't consistently beating themselves up about it and apologising for what their ancestors did. This isn't politics, Lambo, it is historical fact.
Not belittling what happened to them. It is just that heroism requires a conscious act. The fact the site of the massacare at Oradour-Sur-Gloane remains untouched to this day is testament to their sacrifice. A very moving place and probably receives more veneration than it would here.
As did the Spanish, Dutch etc. etc. Not to mention Belgium in Congo. There's even the North African Barbary States who enslaved well over a million Europeans and other Africans which is conveniently absent from the history curriculum.
I think folk would be better served looking forward rather than bearing grudges against folk who are, by and large, dead and the broad brush comments on how they acted and, in some cases, died is really poor.
Actually spelt Oradour-Sur-Glane, only half an hour from where I live now. So moving, I try and go there every year on the anniversary. If you've never heard about it google it. Ironically most of the German troops involved were from Alsace, allegedly having volunteered to fight in the German army because of their German heritage, Alsace and Lorraine having been German from 1871 to 1918, which only goes to prove how complicated history can be. In 1944 the total population of the village were killed, but in the burnt out church you can see the list of the dead from the 1914-1918 war, 99 men. In 1944 the population was 642. Do the maths, think about the loss of most of a generation, mostly of men who could have fathered the fit men in 1940, France was in no postition, mentally or militarily to fight Germany without mass help from allies (The British had about 400,000 troops in France, it would have taken a couple of million to resist the German invasion. http://www.oradour.info/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/d...-moments-of-Nazi-massacre-frozen-in-time.html
Jerusalem are you ****ing kidding This green and pleasant land Hardly rousing is it More like a lulaby
Clarksons just an attention seeker. He ought to read the book im just reading about the liberation of france. Belgium and Holland Plenty of British soldiers shooting each other in the foot from 30 yards to avoid having to fight. None of us have been faced with the absolute fear of WW2 so judging others is futile
