It is often said that although the French live on the mainland and the British live on a deserted island, the French have always been detached, isolated and conservative than the British.
The haughty Charles de Gaulle
To put it simply, because of their stubborn disregard for international affairs, the French have become one of the most selfish and egocentric peoples, and the bane of most of today's incidents (the above is just a personal opinion).
To understand all of this thoroughly, you must go back to the roots.
Geographical location and mentality characteristics
The geographical environment and the characteristics of the mentality are deeply rooted in any nation, and the geography and the mentality are inseparable, the mentality is born from geography, and the mentality is also transforming geography. It would be one-sided to look at one aspect in isolation without one of them. If we have a deep understanding of the nature of geography and mentality, we can understand the characteristics of most peoples.
France location
The French were constantly blamed, and it was precisely because of this fact that they were unreservedly celebrated only during the First World War.
A country's geography is the direct cause of their virtues and bad roots. Situated between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, France was perfectly self-sufficient, and they developed a sense of pretentiousness and arrogance.
If you can enjoy the pleasant climate and beautiful scenery in your own backyard, why go to another country to seek change? If you can go from the delightful and verdant castle countryside to the mysterious land of sand dunes and pines in just a few hours by train, or from the 20th century back to the 12th century, then why travel to a foreign country, learn an unfamiliar language, and familiarize yourself with different customs of life?
If spinach can be stir-fried into a dish that everyone loves, if your own food and living and friends are good compared to any other country, then why bother with the bad food and sour wine and the dull, stiff, vulgar faces of northern farmers, and why worry about passports and checks?
French food
The poor Swiss have seen nothing but mountains all their lives. Likewise, the poor Dutchmen knew nothing but a few black-and-white flower cows and a small patch of flat verdant meadow. If they don't travel abroad often, they will definitely be too lonely and bored to live. Sooner or later, Germans will get tired of the extravagant dining habit of eating with great music and boring sausage sandwiches. And Italians can't eat hollow noodles for a lifetime. Russians certainly don't want to wait in line for six hours to buy half a pound of margarine, they want to eat a meal once in a while.
Château de Mont Saint-Michel, France
The French are so lucky compared to these people. They live a life of heaven on earth. In France, it's easy to get what you're looking for, so they ask themselves, "Is it necessary to go away?" ”
In your opinion, the French may be wrong, thinking that they are stubborn and paranoid. But in many ways, the French are indeed favored by God, blessed by God, and blessed by geography.
The French have temperate, tropical and everything in between. France has the highest peak in Europe, and a network of canals spread over the flat French land connects the various industrial centers. A Frenchman can spend the whole winter skiing on the slopes of the small village of Savoie on the western side of the Alps. If he doesn't like skiing and prefers swimming, he can simply buy a ticket to Biarritz on the Atlantic coast or Cannes on the Mediterranean coast.
The Louvre – France's oldest royal palace is located on the north bank of the Seine in the heart of Paris.
If you're interested in a character, all you have to do is order a cup of coffee with milk and sit in a café of peace in Paris. Sooner or later, the figures who once made the front page of the world's newspapers will pass by here.
Among these people are violinists and pianists, promising actors and popular actresses. You can get up close to them and see their voices and smiles. Moreover, there is no particular attention paid to their appearance, because such things have been happening every day for the past 15 centuries, even if he is a king, emperor, or even the pope himself, and receives only as much attention as a freshman on campus.
It is here that we encounter a geopolitical mystery. 2,000 years ago, the tricolor of the Republic flew everywhere on this Western European plain, mostly between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea (once the French carried a tricolor, it would fly forever, unless the years and wind and rain wore it out unrecognizable), why did it suddenly become one of the most centralized countries in the world?
Geography holds that the fate of mankind depends on climatic and geographical conditions. It is true that these two conditions play this role, but definitely not forever. Sometimes, the opposite is true.
France is actually made up of two parts, which, if you look closely at the map, are back-to-back and relatively independent, with the Rhône Valley facing the Mediterranean Sea to the southeast and the vast plain facing the Atlantic Ocean to the northwest.
Through the Rhône Valley, the ancient Mediterranean civilization knocked on the door of the European interior for the first time.
As early as the 3rd century BC, Marseille in the south had become an important trading center, and Marseille coins had flowed into the surrounding areas of Paris and Tyrol in Austria. Later, when disaster struck Marseille, the citizens of Marseille invited the aid of the Romans, as they were threatened by the barbarians of the Alps. The Romans, of course, came very quickly, and, in their usual fashion, they ended up staying in Marseille. The Rhône estuary region was turned by the Romans into one of their own "provinces", the province of Provence.
Marseilles
Although the North does not have the natural advantages of the South, it is the North that founded France and its dialects, it is the North that creates the French nation, and it is the North that conveys the colorful essence of French culture to the world. It is inhabited by a mysterious people with blond hair, the Gauls (known to the Greeks as "Celts"), so the Romans called it "Gaul".
Gallic chicken
After six weeks in the Paris basin, an absent-minded tourist wondered, "Why did they choose this place as the base camp of the ancient Romans in the western and northern colonies?" ”
Open the map of north-France, and geographers have already given the answer to this question. Millions of years ago, the region was disrupted by frequent earthquakes, and mountains and valleys were pushed around like chips at a gambling table. Four thick rock formations from different periods are constantly flipped, and finally they are stacked layer by layer, like tea trays in Chinese tea sets.
Paris
The bottom and largest layer of "tea trays" stretches from the Vosges Mountains to Great Britain, and its western edge is hidden deep under the English Channel.
The second level, the "tea tray", runs from Lorraine to the Normandy coast.
The famous Champagne region is the third layer of "tea tray".
The fourth level is the Île-de-France, surrounded by the Seine, Marne, Tyve and Oise rivers, and Paris is in the middle of the island, which can maximize the defense against foreign invasion, which represents security, absolute security.
Because the enemy must first take the steep extension of these "tea trays", and at this time, the defenders have long been in the best defensive position, in case they accidentally lose, they can calmly retreat to the next "tea tray" line, and they can retreat 4 times in a row before retreating to the island in the Seine. Finally, they can burn down several outer bridges around the island, in which case the island becomes a fortified fortress.
Of course, it is still possible for a determined and well-equipped army to conquer Paris. However, it was quite difficult, as the First World War demonstrated. It was not only the brave British and French troops that kept the Germans out of Paris, but also the geological changes millions of years ago, which put up overlapping barriers and blocked the westward advance of the enemy army. The French war for national independence lasted for nearly 1,000 years, and to rest easy, the French only had to look at their western gates, while most countries had to guard their disparate borders. This is why France was able to develop into a highly centralized modern state faster than other European countries.
French terrain
The whole of western France, between the Vosges Mountains, the Severn Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, is naturally divided into several independent basins and peninsulas by low ridges. The westernmost part is the Seine and Oise river basins, a natural passage that connects them to the Belgian plain and has been the throat of the city of Saint-Quentin since ancient times. Later, the city of Saint-Quentin developed into a railway traffic center, and when the Germans attacked Paris in 1914, the main target was the city. Passing through the Orléans Pass, the Seine basin is connected to the Loire basin.
The Orleans region has played a very important role in French history. The French national hero, Joan of Arc, also known as the "Virgin of Orléans", and the largest railway station in Paris is also known as "Gare d'Orléans", the origin of these two names is closely related to the important geographical location of the north-south transportation artery of the city of Orléans. For Orleans, medieval armored knights fought bloody battles, and today's railway companies are also competing with us.
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc was a French national hero, a military strategist, and a saint of the Catholic Church. During the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), she led the French army against the English invasion and supported the coronation of Charles VII of France, contributing to the victory of France. Later captured by the Duchy of Burgundy, the Inquisition burned her at the stake for heresy and witching.
The world is constantly moving forward, but often the farther it goes, the more the past is repeated. Today, the Poitiers railway connects the Loire and Garonne basins. In 732 AD, it was near Poitiers that Charles Matt stopped the Moorish advance into Europe. In 1356, it was also in Poitiers that the Black Prince (son of King Edward III of England) completely wiped out the French army and extended English rule in France for another century. The famous Gasconne region sits south of the vast Garonne River valley, where the heroic Captain Dathanan and the noble King Henry IV was born. On the Garonne, there is a valley from Toulouse to Nabonne, through which the Gasconne region is directly like the Provence region and all similar ancient trading routes (which have been used for thousands of years before the beginning of recorded history), and for some, the Orléans Pass will always be a cash cow. It has as long a history as humans in terms of extortion and profiteering.
Napoleon
If you're not convinced, go to any mountain pass and find the narrowest part of the road 1,000 years ago. There, you'll see the ruins of several or even dozens of ancient castles. If you know a little bit of ancient history, then through the different stone walls you will know that in 50 BC, 6th century AD, 8th century AD, 11th century AD, 1250, 1350, 1500 AD, some bandits built castles here and extorted money from merchants.
Sometimes, you'll be surprised to find that those places are not desolate ruins, but a bustling city. But the fortresses, towers, moat cliffs and fortresses of Carcassonne will show you how strong a mountain pass fortress must be built to withstand the attack of a murderous and hungry enemy. At this point, the geographical overview of France is completed.
Now, a brief description of the characteristics of these inhabitants who live between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. What they have in common is a sense of coordination and balance. It can almost be said that the French always strive to be "organized", hoping that the word does not make you feel "boring, rigid and pedantic".
It is true that the French have the highest peak in Western Europe - Mont Blanc, however, this is just a coincidence, just as ordinary Americans are not interested in the Peinted Desert, and ordinary French people have never cared about the ice and snow of Mont Blanc. The French only know the villages and towns that have remained unchanged for thousands of years – the noblest life and greatest ideas in this city disappeared more than 1,000 years ago. The French only love the Meuse, Guienne, Normandy and Picardy regions, with their rolling peaks, meandering streams, aspen banks and misty.
French grapes
Watteau (French painter, 1684-1721, who founded the lyrical style of painting with realist tendencies) included all the good times and beautiful scenery in the painting. During the First World War, stories were imposed on the French as absurd, sentimental and out of touch with reality. In fact, the French are the opposite, the most rational and ardent realists. They know that human life is only once, and that a person's life expectancy is 70 years.
Watteau oil painting
Therefore, they try to make their realistic life as comfortable as possible, and will never waste time on their slim dreams. Life is like that, we must enjoy it to the fullest! Since modern people love food, let the poorest people also master cooking technology. Since fine wine was the best drink for true Christians in the time of Jesus Christ, make the best bar.
Since God Almighty believes that the world should be filled with all kinds of things that cater to the human senses, it is not to live up to the gifts of God, but to enjoy it to the fullest, because to do so is to follow God's will. Since the power of the collective is greater than the power of the individual, we should closely rely on the social cell of the family. The family is responsible for everyone's joys and sorrows, and individuals must do their part for the family's blessings and woes. This is the ideal side of French life.
French agriculture
However, there is a less "ideal" side to French life. This undesirable aspect is directly derived from the characteristics mentioned earlier. Families can often replace the beauty of life with terrible nightmares. The power of the family is held by countless grandmothers and grandfathers, and it is their stumbling blocks that block the pace of history. For the sake of future generations, the virtue of frugality has been replaced by stinginess, looting, theft, fraud and blackmail, and even every item of daily life has been changed from charity to a dime. If generosity and kindness are lost among people, civilization will also become dishonorable.
In short, a Frenchman, no matter how poor and humble his origins, has a pragmatic philosophy of life, which allows him to reap the greatest satisfaction with the least effort.
For example, because the French know that all men are born unequal, they will never be ambitious. For the French, it is inconceivable to work as hard as young Americans to become the president of a bank in the future, and they don't want to bother with it! What about 3 hours for lunch? Of course, it is good to use these 3 hours to make money, but because of this, it is not worth the loss to give up comfort and happiness.
French bread
Of course, the French are working hard to earn money, his wife and children are also making money, the whole country is making money, but they are making money and living the way they like, and they never pay attention to the opinions and ideas of others. This is the cleverness of the French, which, although it does not make the French rich, is better than the "success" creed of other countries, and it guarantees greater happiness.
When it comes to the sea, I don't need to say that the inhabitants of the sea make a living from fishing. Can they do anything else? Is it milking cows or digging coal kilns? But if you relate this topic to local agriculture, you will find an interesting phenomenon: over the past century, most countries have flocked to the cities, while 60% of the French still hold on to the countryside. In Europe, only France could withstand a long siege without importing food from abroad. The ancient farming methods were gradually replaced by modern advanced science and technology, and the French peasants no longer farmed like their ancestors who lived in the time of Charlemagne and Clovis, and the French achieved fundamental self-sufficiency.
Rural France
Every French peasant was a landowner, so they could remain in the countryside. Maybe his farm wasn't really a real farm, but it was his own. England and East Prussia were two old world powers in Europe, where large fields were occupied by large landowners who did not know their names and whereabouts, but the French Revolution completely eliminated large landowners, no matter who they were, nobles or clergy, whose fields were divided among small farmers.
Rural France
It is difficult to get large landowners to accept this form of distribution, but what difference does it make that their ancestors used the same coercion to seize these lands? Moreover, the benefits created by this agrarian revolution for the whole of France were enormous, and it made the fate of more than half of the French people closely related to the lifeblood of the country.
However, there are pros and cons to everything, and the downside is that it over-inflates nationalist sentiment in France. Why are the French, even if they move to Paris, only willing to interact with their own villagers? Why do countless small hotels catering to people from a certain region fill the streets of Paris? The best explanation is localism. Why are the French so reluctant to settle abroad? That's because the French feel satisfied in their own country, so why should they go to other countries!
Rural France
Let's talk about French agriculture. Because to make wine, a large part of the French are tightly tied to the land. The entire Garonne Valley is dedicated to wine culture. Bordeaux, near the mouth of the Garonne, is the export center of wine, and Sète on the Mediterranean coast is a famous wine export port in the Rhône valley. The Landes plain, just south of Bordeaux, is a vast expanse filled with silt, shepherds on stilts and flocks of sheep who can live outdoors all year round. All the wines produced in Burgundy are in Dijon, and Reims, the ancient coronation city of France, is the centralized packaging of champagne.
French wine
When neither food production nor winemaking can sustain the lifeblood of the people, industry becomes a new pillar industry. The emperors of ancient France only knew how to brutally exploit the common people, and laughed at the beautiful noblewomen at Versailles. They turned the French court into the center of fashion and civilized life in the world, and people from all over the world came to learn their elegant manners and understand the difference between eating and eating.
French cuisine
What should the world wear today? How to wear it? Again, Paris is leading the way. The industries that provided Europe and the Americas with the necessary luxuries (most people still preferred simple necessities) were centered on or depended on France, and millions of women had the opportunity to work. The endless flowerbeds of the Riviera are the source of those $6 or $10 bottles (the bottles are small, which is the result of our wise taxation of products that we in the United States cannot produce).
French home
Later, coal and iron were found on French soil. Picardi and Artois were darkened and ugly by those huge piles of coal ash and slag. However, in the Battle of Mons, where the British wanted to prevent the Germans from advancing into Paris, they never dreamed that these garbage mountains would play an important role. Alsace was able to supply more steel to France, so as soon as the First World War ended, the French hurriedly took it back, so that Lorraine became a steel center, followed by the Central Plateau and also became a French steel base.
French industrial zone
Alsace gradually turned to the textile industry during the past half century under German administration. With the development of recent years, the French now have 25% of the population engaged in industrial production, and today they can proudly say that on the face of it, their industrial cities are similar to those of Britain and the United States, just as boring, hideous, and inhuman.