American Francophobia

[Plaything48]

For the past sixty years, France has been a mainstay of American xenophobia. Since World War II, their citizens have been the butt of foreigner jokes for three generations of Americans. It all boils down to a deep-seated suspicion that, for whatever reason, the crepe-eaters just plain never fought hard enough against the Germans.

America stereotypes the people of France as rude, effete bastards having an undeserved air of self-importance and a culture based primarily around their cuisine. They are generally dismissed as pretentious egomaniacs, with a propensity toward an undeserved ethnocentrism.

These prejudices against the French are so engrained in American culture that isolated instances go unchallenged by typical citizens. In fact, they're barely even noticed at all -- fading into the background. Since they were young, Americans have become desensitized to anti-French portrayals in the media and overall culture.

So, naturally, when France began making noises that they would veto a United Nations resolution authorizing America to stomp Saddam flat, the response back in the US of A was fairly predictable.

French wine flowed in the streets, the various gutter bordeaux and beaujolais, never mind that the French still received payment for such spilt protest. And Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly called for a consumer boycott of French goods.

Florida Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite sponsored House Resolution 1265: the American Hero's Repatriation Act of 2003. "France has consistently turned its back on the United States... They forget, if it weren't for America, they would be speaking German today."


To provide, upon the request of a qualifying person, for the removal of the remains of any United States servicemember or other person interred in an American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery located in France or Belgium and for the transportation of such remains to a location in the United States for reinterment.

[white rice]

Charles de Gaulle, look him up,

[orgaelin]

It's not just an American thing - the English (like me) feel the same way about the French. I've been to a number of European countries but in most cases didn't get much chance to ask what they thought of their French neighbours... though I suspect the attitude would be the same.

Why do we all feel the same way about the French? It can't surely be that we're all just suckered in to the stereotyped views. I have been to various parts of France and every time I found the locals to be rude and arrogant. I did not go with any pre-judgement in mind, and wasn't even aware of the stereotype when I first went. Quite simply, the majority of French people are less friendly and polite than the English or the Americans.

[the c/b]

I agree , we English, myself including, detest the french,

there lack of commitment during WWII,there lack of respect to visitors to there their country, this is the perseption of there so called allies,
their holding to ransom of their own government, when said government does something the public disagree with.

Or maybe we hate the fact they have the balls to stand up for what they believe in, to stand up to the people they elected and say no,

we want it this way

can we really call them spineless ??

we English do not challenge the govt much,

Poll taX

Miners Strike

Fuel prices,

But not often we seem to get the results the French get, without caving someones head in,

starting to make me think

[PeterAngelo]

When we and the Brits let Hitler occupy France they had to suffer the years of horror at the hands of those insane serial killers. It will take forever to forget what really happened.

The French know - they still grieve - the Americans and Brits won't admit it - ever.

Rude? We are lucky they don't spit on us instead of just in the food they serve - and they do.

It takes a lot of study of history, law, government, and religion to understand the position of the French.

They were patsies in WWII. To say the French didn't fight hard enough is to say that a woman tied down didn't fight back and wanted to get raped.

Britain, Russia, Italy, Germany, China, Japan, Switzerland, and every player in WWI, and WWII were working out long term banking and political relationships that were a continuation of policies and relationships going back centuries.

The big players in the world - the oldest money - plan decades and centuries ahead. They have time to plan for the future of their families fortunes because they control the money, laws, and arms.

That's why Kennedy's, Bush's, Rockefellers, etc., do what they do. It is not public service - it is private piracy.

France had the unlucky fate of being geographicalyy positioned in a place at the center of the battlefield.

History shows that WWI and WWII were urban renewal projects that allowed the ancient European cities to be rebuilt with indoor plumbing and electricity.

We were allied with Russia throughout the "Cold War". While they used pure slave labor for fifty years to build a 20th Century infrastructure, we used the phony threat to install tyrants all over the world who killed their own people so we could steal resources and use cheap labor.

The world is hip to our game now and the Internet is spreading the word like a giant E-Grapevine.

It will strangle the hold of the Ancient Empires that still want to control with money.

The Muslums lost the first thousand years of the Crusades because they got cought in our money trap.

They have their own banks now and are driving the West crazy. If we can't rule with our "capital" and terror we have no game.

We have no game.

The French have always been an independent force. The Napoleon Code is their system and it is as different from ours as night and day.

They were as horrible as the British in their world colonization and are mad that they never could get control of the game. Who can blame them?

They get crapped out all the time by us and Britain. Germany isn't much of a friend either.

They have a right to be angry.

Our history teachers do not teach our children how America subverts the dreams of the whole world while professing to be the great "beacon of light and freedom."

It makes me puke to write the words - imagine how they feel.

I did a lot of business with the National Bank of Paris in an import-export business that was essentially a smuggling operation. It made money hand over fist, and they were very co-operative. The Israeli firm I worked for wouldn't use any other bank.

America cost France a lot of money when we blew away their contracts with Saddam. We are soooo bad.

We don't know what our government does unless we research past the lies - the rest of the world has no such problem illusions.

I love French food and French Women.

No one is all bad - except maybe me.

[sean327]

Why are French streets lined with trees?

So the Germans can march in the shade!

[PeterAngelo]

Don't we love barbarians?

[G. Adams]

I'm English, and if my government starts infringing my rights further than they are now I'm moving straight to France. I love Paris. It's the most beautiful city I've been to yet, and could never get bored with it. Kinda wish we had a Napoleon 200 years ago to knock down London and get it built properly.

[PeterAngelo]

London? I thought WWII was an urban renewal project. Hitler did a good job - except he should have destroyed Schmuckingham Palace and all the rest of those monuments to evil.

British people never had rights. The descendants of all your colonial victims are swarming all over the Emerald Isles - great irony. The imperialistic policies of the last millenia have been so brutal and sadistic it will be no loss when the last WASP is blended with the Blackest Warrier of their deepest nightmare.

The only good thing I can say about Britain is that Irish women are the best on Earth. I married four of them and have ten children and grand-children.

Half Irish - half Sicilian.

We'll fix the world with our sex organs. At least it will be fun trying.

[G. Adams]

If the best thing about Britain is Irish women then we are in trouble, because Ireland is completely seperate to the British Isles.

In which, case I wholeheatedly agree with you. I'm only 2nd generation English, beyond that everyone in my family is Irish, from Cork mostly. And to top it off, my grandma had Sicilian cousins, though by marriage I presume.

The one flaw to having so many Irish people close in my family is that they keep telling me I'm going to hell for not being Christened. Don' you just love grandparents? :)

[orgaelin]

I don't know much anything about the Irish. But I'm sure not proud to be English. Our royalty are German for christ's sake! I wouldn't mind being Scottish. The odd thing is that the only Scottish and Irish people I have ever met have been very angry (short tempered) people, with a strong fondness for alcohol. I know they're not all like that at all, but I do think that is the stereotype for them.

[castille]

The French didn't really fight that hard in WWII. Most of the French politicians were almost happy to surrender to the Germans. Yet France was in turmoil; most of the French were either Communists or Nazis, and civil war was coming close before 1940.

Of course, the Brits were much worse than the French. Their little expeditionary force dashes back to Britain when they take a few blows, then all they do is bomb the Germans from afar, it took them almost 4 times as many supplies and equipment to defeat the Afrika Korps, strategic bombing was shown to be useless (the Germans suffered very minor damage, and most industry was rebuilt rapidly), and the only real British achievement was when they supported the American invasion.

Even the French werent happy with the British, Paris was in fact attempting to unite with Berlin post-WW2, and drive the British away from mainland Europe economically.

[G. Adams]

Aw you know how to piss people off don't you Castille?

First of all, Great Britain and France were racked by Depression during the 30's, we were not prepared to fight. The British Expeditionary Force was outnumbered and beaten tech-wise. The British wanted to hold a line to the sea but the French wanted to retreat to Paris, splitting the forces. We were pushed to the sea, to Dunkirk. Most of the soldiers were brought back to the UK, but the equipment was lost on the beach. We couldn't mount a reoffensive until we were armed again. The Germans meanwhile had spent six years re-arming, while we were disarming. So they could mount an air war quickly and effectively. Hitler had intended to invade Britain, under Operation Sealion, by battering GB from the air. But we endured 9 months of air attack, took out more Germans planes than they did ours (despite the Mescherschmitt being MUCH better techologically than our Spitfire) and won the battle of Britain. We held on long enough for the USSR to tie up Germany on the Eastern Front, making the invasion of Britain impossible.

In North Africa we lost at Tobruk but rallied at El Alamain and defeated Rommel. The USA played a great role towards Western Africa, yet we took eastern africa. The Long Range Desert Group, and later the Special Air Service, showed some of the greatest bravery and balls of that war, driving straight into German Airfields gunning and grenading the planes, and the SAS planted explosives then walked sometimes over a hundred miles back to base.

We had to give our entire gold reserves to the US before they would help us at all, and then they threatened to withdraw that help if we didn't give up all our research on atomic weapons to them and end our research. Not only that, we were paying that lend-lease debt until 1998, to give you an idea of how much we payed.

So, Castille, fuck you.

[orgaelin]

I feel exhilerated Mr Adams - damn good job of shutting the old chap up! I love it when people know their stuff... unless they're arguing against me!

[PeterAngelo]

G. Adams:

Great piece of history from your perspective. If Americans were actually taught history instead of ra, ra, propaganda, maybe Americans would keep the criminals in Washington in line.

99.9% of Americans wouldn't even know what you are talking about.

I mentioned Napoleon to a twenty-three year old young man last week and he had never heard of him.

What kind of vote can he cast? Americans are mostly uneducated because they are lazy and can survive with minimum education or ambition.

[Paavo]

</span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by
So, Castille, fuck you. <hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>

Oh boy, so strong feelings...I love it!

It's like me talking to a dude from the states and he was telling me how my country (Finland) took a beating from the Russians during WWII. I have never punched the keys on my keyboard that hard, telling him that we indeed beat the Russians, even at the very unfair circumstances.

(so what's your point?)

Uhm...none. *escapes*

[G. Adams]

</span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by (PeterAngelo,)
G. Adams:

Great piece of history from your perspective. If Americans were actually taught history instead of ra, ra, propaganda, maybe Americans would keep the criminals in Washington in line.

99.9% of Americans wouldn't even know what you are talking about.

I mentioned Napoleon to a twenty-three year old young man last week and he had never heard of him.

What kind of vote can he cast? Americans are mostly uneducated because they are lazy and can survive with minimum education or ambition.<hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>

Bloody hell, we were never really taught about Napoleon but I still knew who he was and roughly what he did when I was about 10 years old (combination of lucky parentage, teenage mutant ninja turtles and Sid Meier games. hehe, consumerism put to good use).

[Pooeypants]

Can someone give me a link to an article about how Britain rejected Hitler's peace proposal in return for the safety of the empire? I've been using google but it's quite hard to find what I'm looking for.

[Impenitent]

try http://www.historychannel.com/

[Pooeypants]

</span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by (Impenitent,)
try http://www.historychannel.com/<hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
Lmao, look at that poll, 91% (2160 No Vs 216 Yes) of Americans do not believe that they were mislead about Iraq's WMD program...I can't believe how much the propaganda works over there, even when their own Chief Weapons Inspector points out the Intel wrongs.

My gawd, I hope the history hasn't been manipulated on this site.

Long live Oceania. And remember we have ALWAYS been allied to Eurasia.