heavycola wrote:areon wrote:DogDoc wrote:The difference between Hitler's march to Paris in six weeks and the subsequent capitulation by the cheese-eating surrender monkeys and the brave fight the British mounted by themselves for nearly 2 years is mind boggling. I will forever have profound respect for the way the British held out against Nazi Germany, alone, and nothing but contempt for the French collaborators who folded in less than 2 months.
Everyone should step back and realize that the Allies hadn't militarized and were ALL unprepared for it, so stop hating on certain groups.
HEAR HEAR
And these sentiments do a huge injustice to the memory of the members of La Resistance, who must have been some of the bravest men and women that lived during those years. Vichy was a terrible stain on French history but it was politicians, not the french people, who succumbed.
It was not my intent to impugn the honor or memory of the French Resistance fighters. It was my
every intent to impugn Marshal Petain and the rest of the collaborating cowards in the Vichy government and those who fought for them. It may have been politicians that negotiated Vichy France but it wasn't politicians that opened fire on American troops as they stormed ashore in North Africa in November, 1942 during Operation Torch and it wasn't politicians that resisted the Allies at Dakar in 1940 and in Syria in 1941. It is of the opinion of some that the French actually fought more valiantly against the Allies than against the Germans in France.
Excuses aside, the French folded after a short six weeks.
Six weeks! The Russians, similarly outmatched at the start of the war as were the French, fought on even when the gates of Moscow were in sight by German forces and hung on to eventually defeat Hitler. Their losses? Twenty million.
You can rationalize all you want why the French collapsed so quickly but it does not restore their honor. Yes, Vichy is a stain but is a stain that was a defining moment for them.
Dunkirk was a military "success" not because of the French but simply because Hitler allowed it. At that time, he still had hope for a negotiated peace with Britain and thought that sparing the BEF would prove his peaceful intentions.
When the Battle of Britain was at its height and Churchill declared that the British would "fight them on the beaches," I believe that he sincerely meant it and that Britain would not capitulate. The French responded with the Vichy government and an organized resistance to Allied military operations.
While I hold the French freedom fighters in high regards and with great respect, it is the actions of its government that I highly disdain. Conversely, I have the utmost respect for the actions of the British during this same time.
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