Franco-Prussian War, I would presume (actually 70-71). The French were defeated in an extremely humiliating fashion more than once - Metz is the most famous, I think.
tongue-in-cheek history of French warfare
http://www.ixtreme.com/misc/frenchwarhistory.asp?title=french%20war%20history
French-bashing goes back a lot longer than the Iraq war.
As for cultural reasons, I think it’s because the US and France are so alike. Both have the combination of pretentiousness and vulgarity.
As for genuine gripes, I can think of three:
- France has even less of an ethical sense when it comes to selling people weapons than does the US.
- For fifty years, France played the US and USSR against each other, and
- Vietnam, which France set up but for which the US gets all the blame.
BTW, I’ve been to France several times, and I’ve always found the people delightful.
Excuse the intrusion but…could this be the first time that an SDMB moderator got warned by another moderator??
:rolleyes:
I only used “Brit” to indicate that I’m English despite living in Ireland, I would have thought it was obvious from my post that I wasn’t talking literally.
Actually, the “English-French Wars” lasted from 1194 to 1337, it was the following “Hundred Years War” when France allied with Scotland. Correct date, wrong name. 
Actually, yes we have - Napoleonic Wars
And Eurovision!
The British, rather than the English, took over from being at war with the French since the Act of Union between England and Scotland in, oh, 1707.
Just count every war with them since then - no need for more specific examples.
As an aside/hijack - I was always amused by my paternal grandfather (who was born around 1885 I think) who used to come out with things like, “Nothing wrong with the Germans! We fought on the wrong side in the first one - it was those damn froggies we should have been fighting!” (requires “old buffer” English accent).
Because the French have the stones to think they’re better than everyone, when everyone knows that the USA IS NUMBER 1!!!11!!!
(Puts in reading glasses) Is that No.1, or No.11 ?? Oh lets compromise and say that the USA is in the top dozen shall we… 
I think it’s that Americans view the French a lot like a lot of countries view Americans…as rude, arrogant, acting like their language and culture is better than other peoples’, monolingual, etc.
I don’t think that at all about Americans, Captain Amazing…
Well stated. The French swung into the socialist camp and it’s been a rocky friendship every since. Also, everything culturally American has been flung across the planet like so many discarded McDonalds hamburger wrappers. The French are very touchy about losing their identity. They have a language police and most recently tried to stop Islamic head gear in schools.
Some of it may be jealousy because deep down, they see what has happened with socialism. It has all the white elephant characteristics of the maginot line. They also probably have aircraft carrier envy (for those familiar with their most recent investment).
Civilization owes much to France. As Jefferson famously said, “Every man has two countries; his own and France”.
The Great French Revolution of 1789 ushered in our modern republican era. It was the beginning of the end of the empires of Europe, which climaxed in the destruction of the Russian, Hapsburg, and Ottoman empires in the Great War, in which, as others have observed, Republican France played a decisive role.
French bashing has always been favored by Tory reactionaries going back to Edmund Burke and company up to the neoconservatives controlling the present US administration.
I wonder if they are still serving “freedom fries” in some backward areas of the US. What about the Capitol dining room where the most enlightened of the 21st Century dine.
I’m not talking about you personally. But the “ugly American” stereotype is out there.
What I don’t understand is why everyone sees the spread of American culture as something sinester and evil. For heavens sake, until just recently the world ate it up. T shirts, jeans, fast food. That was what the young people world over wanted and we were more than happy to export it.
Come to your senses people, America isnt the only country that does it. I take it everone here is familiar with Pokeman?
Sure. I’m also familiar with a group of congressmen holding a photo op where they smashed a Japanese stereo with a sledgehammer. I’m also familiar with many localities offering sledgehammer swings at a Japanese car for a dollar.
They have their own culture, and the culinary tradition is the best in the world. I can see why the French get mad about the hegemony of American “culture”…let’s face it, the USA (by and large) is a mass-market culture…everything (from movies to food) is predicated upon selling huge volumes at low prices…the “Wal-Mart” way.
This means that we get mediocre food (ala McDonald’s), mediocre movies (like the Friday the 13th series), and mediocre TV (think “FOX”.
I think the French should be commended for their stand against crappy mass-market stuff-I much prefer to have a nice meal at a neigborhood restaurant than eat some crap at McDonalds 
What’s wrong with a nice Royalle With Cheese? Or did you decide to go to Burger King instead?
I dated a French woman once, and I always cracked up when she would be giving me directions somewhere and tell me to turn left at “the King Burger”.