Is this fact true?
1.4 million French soldiers (enlisted in the French army) died during World War I. This is greater than the total number of US soldiers that died in all the wars in which the US fought, including the Civil War.
1.4 million is the usual estimate. This site, breaking it down by country puts France at 1,368,000.
(The use of the word “casualties” is troubling, because that figure usually includes both dead and wounded, but the 1.4 (or 1.368) million figure for dead is pretty standard. Over 162,000 were lost at Verdun, alone.)
Yep. The US probably has suffered about 1 million deaths in all the wars we’ve fought. This includes combat deaths, and deaths attributed to wounds which later led to death.
Source : http://www.geobop.com/World/NA/Topics/History/Civil_War/reference/compare/
More French soldiers were killed at the Battle of Verdun than all of the total US soldiers killed in the whole of WWI.
This had a lot to do with why the Nazis defeated the French army - not, as many enjoy implying, French wimpiness or hatred of Jews. It’s also often overlooked that many French DID die fighting the Nazis; they didn’t just roll over.
www.worldwar2database.com/html/frame5.htm
This site says that more than 200,000 French were killed in World War II.
There have been many threads on this subject in the recent past, but it is still worthwile to point out that the steretype that the French are cowards is a comparatively recent, and almost exclusively an American idea.
The French were the European force to be reckoned with, during most of Europes history. And that’s why they’re on the security council.
I thought they were on the Security Council just because they were one of the Allies.
Agreed. It seems to be a curious and somewhat bizarre US-centric perception. No idea why.
As I understand it, they’re on the SC because of one reason and one reason only, Winston Churchill.
Allies? Heck no. Otherwise Canada, Australia, Germany, etc. etc. would be members too.
I’m just finishing watching the first DVD disk of “The World at War”. (BBC series created in 1974) (url=http://us.imdb.com/Title?0071075]imdb
So far I think it’s brilliant. It remarks that the French were the first to introduce motorized infantry, tanks, air power, but failed to follow up on them. For some reason, a great part of their army still used horses around the end of the 1930s. The last I watched, France was shaping up its forces, but was unwilling to attack directly yet (just like GB), lest Germany turn their full force on them. I expect the next bit relates directly to your question. I’d recommend trying to rent it in that case. (My library just started lending DVDs, which is how I have this one.)