As did Britain.unnamednewbie13 wrote:
France wasn't the only one. The United States also neglected to prepare for the next war.
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Pretty much. I'm no Francophile, but seriously mocking France for its failures in WW2 is silly. They had the misfortune of being in the way.
not really, some of their "failures", such as Operation Catapult, like Teds mentioned, were the result of French leadership failures, (arguably part of the ossified high command)unnamednewbie13 wrote:
Pretty much. I'm no Francophile, but seriously mocking France for its failures in WW2 is silly. They had the misfortune of being in the way.
Yes really. Whatever the faults that plagued France, other allies weren't without their own share of them. Might as well mock the UK for being driven out of France and the US for training with wooden guns and trying to pop Panzers with 37mm AT.
no other allied military suffered losses in a similar fashion to the french navy after the invasion of Franceunnamednewbie13 wrote:
Yes really. Whatever the faults that plagued France, other allies weren't without their own share of them. Might as well mock the UK for being driven out of France and the US for training with wooden guns and trying to pop Panzers with 37mm AT.
But, as mentioned previously, the rest of the Allies pulled their heads out of their collective asses and kept fighting.unnamednewbie13 wrote:
Yes really. Whatever the faults that plagued France, other allies weren't without their own share of them. Might as well mock the UK for being driven out of France and the US for training with wooden guns and trying to pop Panzers with 37mm AT.
Everyone fucks up. Not everyone has the sack to unfuck their fuckups.
Hindsight is 20/20 isn't it-Sh1fty- wrote:
Even with the money poured into their stupid M-line.
Even with 20/100 foresight, the French really should've been better prepared.Adams_BJ wrote:
Hindsight is 20/20 isn't it
They were the leaders in inflicting crippling sanctions on Germany after WW-1.
There was even an ambassador that, at the conclusion of the WW-1 treaty talks, predicted to within a month's accuracy, that the conditions imposed on Germany at the end of WW-1 would lead to another world war within 20 years.
If anyone should've been concerned about getting their asses kicked by Hitler's Germany, it would've been the French.
Skiers 1, 2 and 3 are ill-prepared for disasters on the mountain slopes. Avalanche occurs. Skier 1 is closest to it and gets rolled. Skiers 2 and 3 take cover behind a rock face and mock skier 1 for not pulling his head out of his arse. Dumbass had no training!rdx-fx wrote:
But, as mentioned previously, the rest of the Allies pulled their heads out of their collective asses and kept fighting.unnamednewbie13 wrote:
Yes really. Whatever the faults that plagued France, other allies weren't without their own share of them. Might as well mock the UK for being driven out of France and the US for training with wooden guns and trying to pop Panzers with 37mm AT.
Everyone fucks up. Not everyone has the sack to unfuck their fuckups.
If you're talking numbers, I'd think the Soviets would have a bone to pick with you.Trotskygrad wrote:
no other allied military suffered losses in a similar fashion to the french navy after the invasion of France
they lost them to an "allied power" simply because a naval commander wasn't sure what to do.unnamednewbie13 wrote:
If you're talking numbers, I'd think the Soviets would have a bone to pick with you.Trotskygrad wrote:
no other allied military suffered losses in a similar fashion to the french navy after the invasion of France
The problem may have had less to do with military capabilities than it did with political structure/systems.
Also, we should mock the Italians for being two faced guineas
Also, we should mock the Italians for being two faced guineas
Last edited by Spearhead (2012-05-16 21:06:48)
yeh the italians get away with it purely because everyone fucking loves pizza
Small hourglass island
Always raining and foggy
Use an umbrella
Always raining and foggy
Use an umbrella
French armor was quite capable. Their numbers were solid. The problem was their leadership and tactics. They were ready for a slow moving battle, which the Wehrmacht decided not to fight. The Maginot line was partially successful. The German military never seriously breached it. It did its job in forcing the Germans through the low countries (talk about being friendly to neighbors!). Unfortunately for the French, the time the line bought them was not what they thought it would be, nor did they capitalize on it. The French leadership was in panic and surrender mode before the battles were even fought. That is the real reason for their loss. Some of their generals gave up at the first sign of German breakthrough and started crying!
Not like America did much better when the Canadians burned down the white house in 1812 lawl.RAIMIUS wrote:
French armor was quite capable. Their numbers were solid. The problem was their leadership and tactics. They were ready for a slow moving battle, which the Wehrmacht decided not to fight. The Maginot line was partially successful. The German military never seriously breached it. It did its job in forcing the Germans through the low countries (talk about being friendly to neighbors!). Unfortunately for the French, the time the line bought them was not what they thought it would be, nor did they capitalize on it. The French leadership was in panic and surrender mode before the battles were even fought. That is the real reason for their loss. Some of their generals gave up at the first sign of German breakthrough and started crying!
they were brits and it was in 1814Cybargs wrote:
Not like America did much better when the Canadians burned down the white house in 1812 lawl.RAIMIUS wrote:
French armor was quite capable. Their numbers were solid. The problem was their leadership and tactics. They were ready for a slow moving battle, which the Wehrmacht decided not to fight. The Maginot line was partially successful. The German military never seriously breached it. It did its job in forcing the Germans through the low countries (talk about being friendly to neighbors!). Unfortunately for the French, the time the line bought them was not what they thought it would be, nor did they capitalize on it. The French leadership was in panic and surrender mode before the battles were even fought. That is the real reason for their loss. Some of their generals gave up at the first sign of German breakthrough and started crying!
One does not simply burn down the White House. It will always appear again like a stubborn weed.
And it was the pink house.RTHKI wrote:
they were brits and it was in 1814Cybargs wrote:
Not like America did much better when the Canadians burned down the white house in 1812 lawl.RAIMIUS wrote:
French armor was quite capable. Their numbers were solid. The problem was their leadership and tactics. They were ready for a slow moving battle, which the Wehrmacht decided not to fight. The Maginot line was partially successful. The German military never seriously breached it. It did its job in forcing the Germans through the low countries (talk about being friendly to neighbors!). Unfortunately for the French, the time the line bought them was not what they thought it would be, nor did they capitalize on it. The French leadership was in panic and surrender mode before the battles were even fought. That is the real reason for their loss. Some of their generals gave up at the first sign of German breakthrough and started crying!
It more to him calling it the "stupid m-line"rdx-fx wrote:
Even with 20/100 foresight, the French really should've been better prepared.Adams_BJ wrote:
Hindsight is 20/20 isn't it
They were the leaders in inflicting crippling sanctions on Germany after WW-1.
There was even an ambassador that, at the conclusion of the WW-1 treaty talks, predicted to within a month's accuracy, that the conditions imposed on Germany at the end of WW-1 would lead to another world war within 20 years.
If anyone should've been concerned about getting their asses kicked by Hitler's Germany, it would've been the French.
They were prepared, they were expecting a fight, they just prepared for the wrong thing. I'm sure no-one was calling it the "stupid m-line" when they were setting it up.
It wasn't the first time the German's went through Belgium.
And above your tomb, the stars will belong to us.
And it wasn't the first time the swiss wanted to be neutral either.-Sh1fty- wrote:
It wasn't the first time the German's went through Belgium.
Nobody gives a crap about the Swiss. What's your point?
And above your tomb, the stars will belong to us.
You just made my point.-Sh1fty- wrote:
Nobody gives a crap about the Swiss. What's your point?
If the French and Germans had evenly matched militaries at the time then yes, maybe.
No nation kept pace with the German military buildup, and creating an impregnable defence is pretty hard.
No nation kept pace with the German military buildup, and creating an impregnable defence is pretty hard.
Fuck Israel
The word "Blitzkrieg" became common for a reason. That reason was not that it lost to stationary immobile armies.
In terms of numbers and technology the French army was very much on par with the Germans. The French strategy and tactics however were very lacking.Dilbert_X wrote:
If the French and Germans had evenly matched militaries at the time then yes, maybe.
No nation kept pace with the German military buildup, and creating an impregnable defence is pretty hard.
The German military build-up prior to the war is often exaggerated. The German's did conduct a massive build up, but their army was reduced to a fraction of it's size after the Versailles treaty so they were starting from scratch. It's impressive to say the German's went from a few tanks to thousands, but they still had less tanks than the French. Also, as I've said before, the Germans didn't have a single panzer unit defending the French border when they invaded Poland, and yet France had ~2500 tanks ready to cross into Germany. But instead of launching a proper offensive, the French just played along with the "phoney war" which allowed Germany's massive production to continue, as well as the redirection of troops from the Polish front to the French.
In fact, during the actual Battle of France, after Germany had repositioned its forces and continued production, France STILL had many more tanks and artillery than the Germans, and the only real numerical advantage the Germans had was in the air.
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