On June 22, 1940, which was destined to be a big day that shocked the world, France submitted its instrument of surrender to Germany in the forest of Compiègne. It was the first and only world power to surrender to the Axis powers in World War II.
From May 10 to June 22, 1940, in just 42 days, France surrendered, and the defense of the capital was over before it even began, and in an instant France became the laughing stock of the whole world.
First, a good deck of cards is played poorly.
Many people must think that France is weak, and it is normal to lose when it comes to Germany, which was at its peak at the time.
But that's not the way it is.
Before World War II, France was a first-class world power, the strength can be ranked in the world's top 5, France has a land area of 550,000 square kilometers, is the largest country in the whole of Europe, larger than Germany, Italy and Japan.
Moreover, at that time, France also had 12.34 million square kilometers of colonies, and the energy supply continued to transport manpower, material resources and financial resources.
In addition to these, France also had a complete industrial system, capable of mass production of various types of equipment, including military weapons, which were later accepted by the Germans intact and made Germany brilliant in disguise.
France is even more powerful in terms of military, with an army of more than 3 million, and the degree of weaponry and mechanization is second to none in the whole world, so France at that time was known as the world's first army.
They also own thousands of aircraft and a world-numbered navy.
At the same time, the French built the Maginot Line on the border, which they claimed would never fall.
Therefore, from the paper data, France's strength is even stronger than Germany, but it surrendered 42 days after the beginning of the war, which has to be said to be ironic.
Therefore, people feel that among the 5 permanent members of the United Nations, the other 4 countries are worthy of the name and are the world's great powers, while France feels a little different in it, which is called the "shame of the five permanents".
No one can occupy Paris before France surrenders.
Of course, France became a laughingstock not only because of this incident, but at best it was a fuse, because in French history, failure and surrender have been commonplace.
The history of France is very old, there are traces of human activity 2 million years ago, in 1000 BC, the Celts began to settle in France, build cities, and multiply.
Later, the Franks sent troops to conquer here, the Frankish kingdom was established, and France began to take shape.
Thus began the defeat and humiliation of France.
In 524, the army of the Kingdom of Burgundy defeated the Frankish army and the King of France was executed.
In 845, the Bretons defeated the Frankish army and invaded the French mainland.
In 851, France was again defeated by the Brittans and ceded large tracts of land.
France was defeated twice by the Duke of Normandy in 1054 and 1058.
This was the case until 1337, when the Anglo-French War broke out, lasted for 116 years, involving several generations, and finally France was defeated, a large area of land was occupied, and even the French king was captured.
In 1340, he was defeated by the English at the Battle of Sluys, losing control of the Strait of Dover.
In 1346, France was defeated by an English army that had only 1/3 of its own.
In 1356, he was again defeated by the British and the king was taken prisoner. And after 4 years was forced to cede a large area of land.
In 1415, it was again defeated by the British army with fewer victories and more victories, and the country fell.
In 1430, The famous French national heroine, Joan of Arc, was defeated and captured by the British army, and the French did not find a way to redeem it, resulting in Joan of Arc being burned by the English army.
In 1763, after the Seven Years' War between England and France, France was again defeated and lost a large number of colonies around the world.
In 1804, Napoleon established the First French Empire, ushering in the peak of France to date, he sent troops to sweep through Europe, sharp, but in 1814 Belgium Waterloo suffered defeat and was forced to surrender.
(Of course, Napoleon's defeat does not deny his strength, he is an icon of the entire French, and he is also recognized as one of the most powerful Frenchmen in the world, so much so that there is a classic old saying: "Napoleon can no longer be a country after napoleon")
In 1862, the French army was defeated by the extremely poorly armed Mexican army.
In 1870, war broke out between France and Prussia (Prussia was later Germany), and France was defeated and surrendered again.
"No one can occupy Paris before France surrenders," the phrase appeared, and then it has been passed down.
In 1940, France surrendered after only 40 days of resistance in World War II.
You know, at that time, the German army sent 2.24 million people to attack, France had 3 million people, coupled with the impregnable Maginot Line, even the arrogant Hitler thought it would take at least a year to occupy France, but it did not expect to take only 42 days.
The funniest thing is that the vanguard of the German army rushed to Paris, trying to get the credit for capturing the capital, but halfway through, France surrendered. This also confirms the saying that "no one can occupy Paris before France surrenders".
In 1954, the french and American coalition forces were defeated by Vietnam and forced to recognize Vietnamese independence.
In 1962, France was defeated by Algeria, which was so backward that it surrendered.
According to the various manifestations of the History of the French, this classic picture appeared.
Third, the real France.
Throughout the history of France, it seems to be a failed textbook, except for the brief glory of the Napoleonic era, other times have been bullied by various foreign forces, but is France really a weak chicken?
In fact, everyone has overlooked one thing, and it is worth thinking about it, no matter how much global change is in that era, France has always had a place.
Why?
This also shows from the side that France's strength has always been not to be underestimated.
Although the whole world is ridiculing and ridiculing the French, only the real strong will be paid attention to, and the real weak countries, such as Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia in Africa, Moldova and Albania in Europe, Nepal in Asia, Bolivia in East Timor and the Americas, etc., will never be paid attention to.
If France is not a weak chicken, is it strong?
In terms of territory, france itself covers an area of 550,000 square kilometers, ranking 49th in the world, and is the third largest country in Europe.
And France still has 11 pieces of land overseas, so the actual area of France exceeds 670,000 square kilometers, you know, modern society has gone from land to sea, and a large number of overseas territories, so that France's territorial sea area exceeds 10.08 million square kilometers, ranking the forefront of the world.
In terms of population, France has a population of more than 68 million, of which one million come from overseas territories, and this size of the population allows France to fully enjoy the dividends of population, and now they are the largest agricultural producer in the European Union, producing 10% of global trade in agricultural products.
In terms of the economy, France's GDP in 2020 will be about $2.599 trillion, second in Europe and seventh in the world. Import and export trade ranks fifth in the world.
France's per capita GDP is about $39,000, ranking 34th in the world, although it is not as good as the previous Britain and Germany, but it is indeed a rich country and a rich people.
In terms of resources, France's iron, coal, bauxite reserves are relatively rich, as well as lead, zinc, uranium, potash and so on. With 26.4 per cent forest cover, resources are second to none in Western Europe.
In terms of industry, there are only 7 countries in the world that have truly industrialized, and France is one of them, and France ranks in the forefront of the world in automobiles, aviation, nuclear power equipment, military industry, food, chemical industry and so on.
On the military, France has 500,000 troops, but also one of the world's nuclear weapons countries, they have a complete military production system, can independently produce nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, nuclear-powered submarines, etc., its aircraft manufacturing industry is also second to none in the world, the production of Phantom 2000 best-selling countries.
From the perspective of land, population, agriculture, resources, economy, industry, and military, France can be regarded as a strong country, and it is not at all compatible with a weak country.
Why does it give the illusion that France is weak?
There are many reasons why people feel that France is weak, in addition to the bad experience in World War II, the most important thing is the pride of the French, who have always lived in the glory of Napoleon and the Great Navigation Era, believing that they are top-notch powers, with the strength and status of China, the United States and Russia, and they cannot see the gap in their own strength, so they have a feeling of "moral unworthiness".
Now even the British, who had suppressed them for hundreds of years, saw their place clearly, and only the French were still clamoring about the glory of the former French Empire.
epilogue
France is definitely not a weak chicken, as a permanent officer or enough confidence, but it can only exist as an old power.
Do you think France is weak?
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