Help with France during the Cold War?

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Cabal

Thanks, Rillifane, I was going to say something rude.

WWI was fought on French soil, the destruction covered one fifth of France, one adult man out of three between the age of 20 to 40 dead or wounded. Now look around you and try to imagine that kind of thing. One adult man you know or met out of three, your family included. Some villages did not see a single man come back from that war. 4 millions men were wounded, some so badly they did not survive more than a few years after the war. Their death is not recorded as war casualties but it is estimated than a further half a million men died of their wounds. The French population recovered from that bleeding in 1970. The US entered war in 1916 and did not see fighting until end 1917. Despite the attempt to rewrite history the US did not win single handedly WWI. They helped end it more quickly and considering the blood bath that war was this is a great thing but modern historians now agree that by the time the US started fighting the Germans were beaten.

As for WWII, yes France fell so abruptly it left the world stunned, but if the civilian population suffered the occupation the French did not seat back. Thanks to the help of the Allies there was a French army fighting in Africa, then Italy and then France and Germany in the Allied command. And just to give you some information about the occupation since you seem to think that the French just enjoyed life during that time, let me translate you a little note:
"Coward criminals working for England and Moscow have shot in the back and killed the Feldkommandant of Nantes in the morning of the 20th October 1941.
To pay for this crime I have ordered the execution of 50 hostages.
This crime is so bad that 50 other hostages will be executed if the culprits have not be arrested by the 23rd October 1941.
I offer a reward of 15 millions Francs to the inhabitants of the country who would contribute to the discovery of the criminals.
Der militarbehehslaber in Frankreich
Von Stulpnagel
General der infanterie"

The last 50 hostages (civilians picked randomly from a list) were shot.

Did you know that in the occupied countries men were taken and sent to work in Germany as 'voluntary' workers (slaves by another name), that was called the STO. Please have a look at it. 30,000 Frenchmen died there.

Vladimir ILL

"After Napoleon we decied to stick to Peace and Love" because the French really didn't do anything after Napoleon

"We" should buy a spade and make holes everywhere, anywhere - Piss and love alone, winker -

David

I can only second what was said in the first two answers you received. To be ignorant is one thing; to not only go out of one's way to call attention to that ignorance, but to seek encouragement in that endeavor is something else entirely. And this is the section reserved for questions pertaining to *travel* to France.

Rillifane

Perhaps if you're studying history it might be nice if you actually knew some.

Let me point out the following numbers to you:

Casualties World War I
United States 117,465 (0.1% of the population)
France 1,897,800 (4.8% of the population)

Casualties World War II
United States 418,500 (0.32% of population)
France 562,000 (1.35% of population)

In other words, as a percentage of population, the French lost 48 times more citizens killed in WWI and more than 4 times as many killed in WWII.

In World War I, French combat deaths as a percentage of those mobilized were the highest of any country in the war. More than 16 of every 100 French soldiers died in battle. The comparable figure for the United States was less than 3.

EDIT:

You are welcome Cabal.

I still remember LaFayette and recall the words of the Roman Seneca that â€œNothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.â€

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