Have the french ever won anything?
I mean come on, they must have.
shareThe French Revolution
I'm genuinely convinced that every movie would be better with Arnold Schwarzenegger in it.
MovieChat Forums > Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) Discussion > Have the french ever won anything?
World Cup 1998
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Its that man again!!
Well, they were instrumental in winning the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. And France was pretty screwed up under Napoleon, it didn't take long before they realized he sucked almost as much as the Bourbons did so not only were the English fighting Napoleon, the French were fighting him too.
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The french win the cheese eating surrender monkey award every year.
shareIn recent history it was the French who fought for the British colonists in America and Secured them a treaty leading to the formation of the USA. Why do you think the US has the statue of liberty? It was a gift from the French and used as a welcoming signal to immigrants arriving from abroad.
The French have won many wars and battles in history. The only country who has never won a war is the US. They even got battered in Vietnam once the UN pulled out. The last US solder to leave Korea was airlifted off the embassy.
The US also did not join WW2 until it was already won and still lost more troops then all the allied forces combined.
In short the French have a great history when it comes to war, just like the English and Spanish.The English Empire actually formed the world we know today and created a few country's while they were at it.
The English Empire actually formed the world we know today
No such thing as the "English Empire".
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If people want to critique the US, be my guest. However, it helps if you know what you're talking about.
Ever heard of the American Revolution? The US won that. The American Civil War? US won again. Spanish American War? Ditto. Late entry into WWI and WWII doesn't change the fact that the US was among the winners of both.
While it may be arguable that WWII in Europe was won by the time the US entered, the world would be a vastly different place if the Soviets had swept over all of Europe. Britain couldn't have liberated western Europe without US participation. Meanwhile, the Pacific war was almost entirely a US effort. The Soviets didn't even declare war against Japan until after the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
Higher casualties of US forces compared to their allies reflects two things: 1) the fact that the US bore the lion's share of the burden in the Pacific, and 2) a conscious, strategic decision that the US would take on the heavier fighting in Europe. England is a small country and could not bear the loss of soldiers as well as the much more populous US. Consequently, from D-Day on, the US took on the more dangerous tasks, with only minor exceptions, while Britain provided support.
Furthermore, US soldiers still in South Korea would be surprised to know that "The last US solder to leave Korea was airlifted off the embassy." Perhaps you were "thinking," rather confusedly, about Vietnam?
Based on your post, I think your screen name ought to be "Imoron."
The US also did not join WW2 until it was already won and still lost more troops then all the allied forces combined.Have to make big lies lately?
1) On the Allies side, USSR and China lost millions of troops in WW2 while the USA lost slightly more than 400,000 troops.
2) The USA was effectively fighting multiple wars in WW2. While most other countries were only fighting on one front, the USA was fighting on all sides of the world (Asia, Africa, Europe, Pacific and Atlantic). No other country came close on troop involvement in so many places. The USA had almost three times as many troops involved in the war versus France and had twice as many military casualties. Do the math.
3) Only the USSR had more troops involved in World War 2 than the USA.
4) Even if we don't count Great Britain, China, or USSR losses, there were still more losses by France and Poland (combined) than the USA and that ignores all of the losses by all of the other Allied countries. Plus, it is harder to have any further military losses once your country is occupied. At that point all of your losses are civilian which were huge for almost every country involved in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Poland lost 17% of their population. share
taraanis: "Have the french ever won anything? I mean come on, they must have."
Sure. They did. That's even one of the reasons why the English/US military vocabulary is made of so many (mostly?) French words.
France was even the dominant military power in the last half of the 17th c. and during the French revolutionary wars/Napoleonic wars and partly at the origin of modern warfare (hence the numerous military loanwords from French in English).
France in war has known some really great highs but also some really low lows, sometimes. Globally the French results in war are probably not that great (especially if we put aside the Napoleonic era), but as said there were also some glorious moments. If France kept on growing and its power in Europe and in the world increasing there must be a reason.
After the battle of Seminara in 1495, in southern Italy, where the French army trounced the troops of Spain and of the Kingdom of Naples, the Spaniards decided to reform their way to fight, which led to the creation of the tercio system that made the Spanish army alsmost invincible in Europe for about 150 yrs - until the French army defeated them at the battle of Rocroi in 1643, which proved to be the end of the Spanish quasi-invincibility.
That's also the French that ended the reputation of invicibility of the Swiss pikemen at the battle of Marignano in 1515 where the French army defeated them (with what was probably the first use of artillery in Europe in a big battle, that really had a non-negligible role in the victory).
Maybe we can mention the battle of Bouvines in 1214 in which a French army and its king defeated throroughly a bigger army composed of knights and troops from the Holy Roman Empire (~Germany+Austria and more), Flanders and England. The defeat was so harsh for the enemies of France that Otto IV, the Holy Roman Emperor, was later replaced by Frederick II Hohenstaufen and that the weakened English king had the Magna Carta imposed to him in 1215.
More in relation with the movie, France has also won some naval battles against the British Royal Navy (even though it was rare). Sometimes a smaller French ship captured a bigger British ship too. In one instance, at the battle of Hudson's Bay in 1697, one French ship defeated alone 3 English ships.
A great French victory in a naval battle was the battle of Texel in 1694, against the Dutch.
And many more, etc...
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