Why are Americans so anti- French?

[Serb]

You forget about education. (Or the lack of education in American case)

[Rasbelin]

I agree with Pande. I must admit that this thread looks more like a cheap farce.

Off-topic...

I suggest that you remove that vB code tag from your location box, Pande.

[Pandemoniak]

No... I like my vb code line.

[Faeelin]

Originally posted by Serb


And it comes from an American?
Perhaps, you are just jealous? Perhaps, you think that they are more arrogant and greater bastards then you are?

It's not just that, it's the fact that the French have never been number 1. It's contemptible.

[Dinner]

The French have been consistently antiAmerican in all things since the end of WW2. The Americans got tired of the unfair and capricious abuse lumped upon them by the hypocritical frogs thus resulting in the current state of affairs.

The real question is why were the French so anti-American to begin with? I contend it was envy; envy over American power and anger over France's fall to a second rate power.

[Inverse Icarus]

let's not forget who got PINK in civ3.

(sidebar: the arabs are also pink, same reason?)

[Ramo]

They smell.

[Dinner]

And their momma's dress them funny...

[Ethelred]

To quote the imoral Captain Harry Flashman:

"Because they're so froggy."

[Bereta_Eder]

They are indeed arrogant without basis.
I was just wondering why Americans seem to have some kind of "vendetta" against them

In Greece noone bothers us so much as to continiously ridicule them so I was just wondering

I have to say I have laughed a lot of times at Dinodoc because whenever ther was talk of french or the word surrender I already knew what his post would be

[Kontiki]

To be serious for a moment, much of it has to do with deGaulle vhemently opposing "American Imperialism" post-WWII, coupled with the fact that France desperately tried to hold onto all of its former colonies after the war - a time when the US continued to argue (hypocritically, some might say) for self-determination. It's pretty easy to infer from this (correctly or not) that the French were not content being a second-rate power to the US and the Soviet Union. This of course continued with the French quazi-withdrawl from NATO, and their leading voice about creating a a solid, strong EU to rival the US.

Americans (and many others) also seem to enjoy making fun of France for getting smoked by Germany in WWII in far less time than a "great power" should have. Chalk up another French logistical victory with the Maginot Line.

[Ethelred]

World War Two has absolutely nothing to do with it. Snide remarks about the French have been around for longer than that. Mark Twain made remarks. Of course he made remarks about Americans as well.

Approximate quote of Mark Twain:

Its not British, its un-American, its French.


I don't remember what he we was referring to. It was in the one man play Mark Twain Tonight.

[Ned]

Kontiki, I think the real fall-out was the battle of Dien Bien Phu. We imposed certain conditions on military assistance that were unacceptable to the French. From that point on, our relationship has been strained.

Here is a brief history:

"President Roosevelt pressured the French during the Pacific war in an effort to force them to give up colonial control of Indochina. Roosevelt reflected the attitude of opinion molders who opposed imperialism yet supported "manifest destiny" for the United States. Idealists convinced of America's duty to preserve global order exhibited a zeal similar to that of earlier missionary adventurers. Rosevelt stressed nationalistic self-determination but concluded that postwar peace and stability after World War II would
depend on America's global leadership. After his death, president Truman followed the lead of the European contingent in the department of state. America therefore provided substantial financial aid and moral support to the cause of reoccupation of Vietnam by the French as a means to stop godless Communism. As the First Indochina War progressed, aid from the United States continued to escalate until virtually all financial support came from America. The French came to be seen less as greedy imperialists and more as valiant opponents of the spread of communism throughout Southeast Asia.


During the battle of Dien Bien Phu, American aircraft carriers were positioned in the South China Sea ready to assist the French. Bombers and fighters stationed in the Philippines were available. Atomic weapons were seriously considered as an option. Negotiation of the cease-fire in Korea allowed America (and China) to extract itself from prolonged combat there. American decision makers weighed the possibility
of becoming involved in another quagmire in Vietnam in direct combat with Chinese forces. This might
have occurred if America sent its bombers to the hoped-for rescue of the French forces at Dien Bien Phu.

United States Congressional conditions for continued support of the contingency plan to bomb Viet Minh positions at Dien Bien Phu were:


1) United States intervention must be part of a coalition to include the other free nations of
Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and the British Commonwealth.

2) The French must agree to accelerate their independence program for the Indochina States so that the United States assistance would not appear as supporting colonialism.

3) The French must agree to stay in the war.

There was no time for condition one to be met if it were possible at all. Condition three could not be met by the war-weary French. And condition two apparently did not interest the French in any case. The alternative contingency plan to rescue French forces with a beachhead evacuation was favorable to the French, but conditions deteriorated before it might have been effected. Also, the American commanders in the Pacific seemed to have even less understanding of the severity of actual conditions than their French counterparts."

[Pandemoniak]

Honestly, america never admitted they would still be england without france's help. That makes them angry, and with their lack of education, they answer by the simplest feeling ever : hatred.

[Cairo_East]

It has NOTHING to do with politics. It has EVERTHING to do with the perceived arrogance of Parisians. Non-verbal communication patterns of french people can be quite offensive to Americans.

Also, the perception that all french people love Jerry Lewis when we think of him as a doddering old fart.