Although they are among the five permanent members of the United Nations, France has always lacked the strength it deserves in the international community, and in the final analysis, their performance in World War II is too humiliating.
On September 1, 1939, Germany raided Poland, the Second World War began, and then Germany defeated Poland with a "blitzkrieg" that shocked the world, but Britain and France, as allies, watched the fall of Poland and never sent troops to help Poland. Poland, which fought alone, was unable to defeat the powerful German army and was subsequently defeated.
France thought germany would be satisfied with swallowing a single Poland, but in May 1940, Germany launched an offensive against France. Subsequently, France's performance surprised the world even more, the so-called "Macedonian Defense Line" that will never fall did not play a defensive role at all, was easily bypassed by Germany, and then Germany was like a bamboo, only 45 days later, the German armored division marched into Paris, flaunting its might at the Arc de Triomphe, and then the French Vichy government announced its surrender. General de Gaulle was then forced into exile in England.
The French did not show the slightest fighting spirit in the face of the German offensive in the early days of World War II, and they completely lost Napoleon's majesty across Europe. When Germany attacked Poland, they showed an attitude of not caring about themselves, while when Germany attacked France, they were vulnerable and allowed to be ravaged by Germany.
From the performance at the beginning of World War II, it can be seen that France is a country that lacks tenacious fighting spirit. Indeed, their strength is inferior to That of Germany, and if they really want to engage in a deadly confrontation with Germany, it will certainly be difficult to resist the pace of the German army, and they may eventually be defeated. However, France's choice to compromise and surrender without any confrontation is really disgraceful, which also shows that France is a country that lacks cohesion, and their "war-fearing" attitude has also made the whole of Europe passive.
At the beginning of World War II, it chose to surrender, but after the end of World War II, France successfully became the five permanent members of the United Nations, with the right to veto, and its international status was greatly improved, which is really difficult to understand! In fact, the reason why France has become the five permanent members of the United Nations is also caused by specific historical reasons, after they became the five permanent members of the United Nations, because de Gaulle's international prestige is extremely high, so France's influence in the world is also unsatisfactory, but after de Gaulle, France has been going downhill. Today, France has been teased by the United States again and again, but they dare not speak out, and can only bear humiliation, completely losing the posture of a big country.
The reason why France is constantly falling, as if there is no longer a day to emerge, is related to the changes in the world pattern, but also related to the contradictions within France, in the final analysis, France's influence is constantly weakening.
One
In 1944, with World War II at its end and the victory of the anti-fascist coalition in sight, in order to coordinate post-war relations, the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom met at Dumbarton Oaks near Washington, D.C., where they passed a bill on the establishment of a universal international organization and proposed that the organization be named the "United Nations."
In February 1945, at the Yalta Conference, the four countries of China, britain, the United States and the Soviet Union became the founding members of the United Nations, and by June 1945, the San Francisco Constituent Assembly had finally established China, Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and France as five permanent members, and these five countries also had a veto.
As we all know, China made great contributions in World War II, successfully pinned down the huge Japanese army, and made great sacrifices as a result. However, at that time, China lacked due respect in the international community, such as the Yalta Conference did not have Chinese representatives to participate, which also reflected that European and American countries occupied an absolute right to speak in the division of interests in World War II, and China's weak national strength also made China suffer unequal treatment.
However, when the United Nations was founded, China was taken seriously, and it was the United States that played a leading role: on the one hand, the United States supported the national government, and they hoped that China could become an important chip against the Soviet Union, after all, the United States was most afraid of the Soviet Union's expansion momentum; on the other hand, since it was the United Nations, it should consider asia with a large population, if the population of Asia does not have a representative, the United Nations is difficult to convince the public, so that China will be assigned a qualification to the five permanent members of the United Nations. It also became the only Asian country among the five permanents.
Although it is said that China has become one of the five permanents on behalf of Asia, China has also won by strength, after all, when Japan invaded China, the courageous resistance of the Chinese people successfully dragged down the vast majority of the Japanese forces, and finally won the victory of the War of Resistance. On the other hand, France, they were defeated and surrendered at the beginning of World War II, which simply became an international joke, and after the end of World War II, they still recovered the lost land with the help of other countries, and various performances also made France look particularly cheap in the international community, but France eventually became one of the five permanents, in fact, there are several reasons:
First, de Gaulle's overseas formation of provisional governments also had some influence in the world.
De Gaulle went into exile at the beginning of France's surrender, and he was extremely dissatisfied with the French government at the time, after all, his idea was to fight Germany to the end. After traveling to England, de Gaulle formed a provisional government with the support of the British government and insisted on fighting Germany, although this influence was relatively limited, but de Gaulle also did his best to form a united front overseas and called on the French to fight the Germans to the end. De Gaulle's various performances can also be regarded as winning certain international extra points for France, and have also been highly recognized by britain and the United States and other countries.
After the formation of the provisional government, de Gaulle made a cut with the French Vichy government, so the French surrender was all pushed to the Vichy government, which was regarded as a puppet government, while the provisional government formed by de Gaulle was resolutely resisting the German invaders. From this point of view, de Gaulle also won international respect for France by personal strength, and also laid the foundation for France to obtain more international rights and interests later.
Second, France has a strong influence abroad.
It is well known that both Britain and France had vast colonies overseas in the 19th century, and their colonial influence persisted even after World War II. For example, in 1947, India demanded independence, and in order to prevent India from becoming dominant in the South Asian subcontinent, Britain specially orchestrated the "Mountbatten Plan" to promote the partition of India and Pakistan, and then expressed vague expression on the issue of Kashmir's ownership, which directly led to India and Pakistan fighting over Kashmir, and the hostility between the two sides still showed no signs of subsiding for more than 70 years, so the complexity of the situation in South Asia was caused by the British colonists.
In contrast, although France's overseas colonies are not as good as Britain's, France also has a great right to speak, and Western countries also see France' influence in the international arena, believing that France's influence in the international arena cannot be ignored, and it should be included in the category of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. At the same time, since France has so many colonies, in the eyes of Britain and the United States, as long as France manages it well, it is bound to be able to recover quickly, and the economic situation will certainly be quickly reversed. These favorable conditions that France has also made them a very promising country in the eyes of Western countries, and their expectations for France's future are also extremely optimistic.
Third, britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union are trying to balance each other!
Before the Yalta Conference, Churchill did not approve of France's entry into the norm, because Churchill and de Gaulle's relationship was not friendly, the two strongmen had their own personalities, and the two sides were not antagonistic.
However, after the Yalta Conference, the British changed their views, because at the Yalta Conference, the United States and the Soviet Union completely divided the post-war pattern very clearly, and the United States began to extend its hands to the British colonies, for which Britain had no way to do anything about it, after all, Britain relied on the United States to repel the German army, so that Britain saw that its living space in the future was bound to be further squeezed by the United States, but they could not stop it. In this situation, Britain thought of using France against the United States, after all, one more helper would definitely have more strength. So the British demanded that France be brought into the norm.
In the eyes of the Americans, what they are most afraid of is the Westward Expansion of the Soviet Union, and if no country on the Western European continent can balance the Soviet Union, it must be inappropriate. Since the British proposed to pull France into the permanent security council, the United States agreed from a strategic point of view, and they hoped to use France to achieve the goal of containing the Soviet Union!
At the same time, the Soviet Union also believed that France could not threaten its own interests in Western Europe, and it could balance the power of the United States and Britain, and the Soviet Union also felt that it was acceptable.
Therefore, the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom all felt that France's entry into normalcy was good for themselves and no harm, so they hit it off and pulled France into normalcy.
Two
France became one of the five permanent members of the United Nations was finalized by the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, although de Gaulle did not have much interest in joining the permanent security council of the United Nations at first, but he proceeded from the national interest, which was still useful for the future development of France, so France became one of the five permanents.
In fact, France's subsequent influence on the whole world was extremely prominent. In the late 1950s, France's economy developed rapidly with the help of industrial development, and after entering the 60s, the GDP growth rate reached 5.7%, even surpassing the United States and the United Kingdom, and was the leader in the whole of Western Europe. With the help of rapid economic development, France's comprehensive national strength has also been rapidly improved.
With the return of Charles de Gaulle to power in 1958, France began to exert great influence throughout Europe and internationally:
First, France began to strengthen its cooperation with Germany and to promote the formation of the European Community.
De Gaulle was a key figure in the rise of France after World War II, and his insight into the international situation in particular was quite accurate. During the period of hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union, he saw that the United States was trying to use Europe against the Soviet Union in a vain attempt to control Europe in its own hands, which de Gaulle could not accept. The United States has always advocated the idea of "European integration", and de Gaulle saw that the wolf ambitions of the United States were nothing more than to push Europe into the fire pit. De Gaulle did not accept the Us proposition, and he proposed, in tit-for-tat with the United States, the establishment of a "European Europe" to maintain the independence of the member states as much as possible.
At this time, France was also facing a thorny problem, that is, france alone, it was difficult to compete with the United States, at this time de Gaulle took into account the international situation, put forward a new French foreign policy, dared to resist the "de Gaulle doctrine" of the great powers for national independence and autonomy, and then in 1963, France took a key step and signed the Franco-German Cooperation Treaty with Germany.
Although Germany and France were mortal enemies in World War II, in international exchanges, there are no eternal enemies, no eternal friends, only eternal interests! Although it was less than two decades before the end of World War II, Germany had taken on a new look, and the international situation had changed dramatically, Britain had fallen, and the struggle for hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union had made the international situation full of uncertainty. This is both an opportunity and a challenge for Western Europe, and only by putting aside the historical mustard and cooperating can France and Germany develop the economy of the two countries and meet the challenges.
It can be said that the opening of a new chapter in German-French relations is also the embodiment of de Gaulle's long-term vision. Subsequently, under the organization of France and Germany, the European Community began to gradually form and exert its influence. Among the six countries of the European Community, Germany and France are the strongest, but Germany has not yet come out of the shadow of the defeated countries, and other countries still have concerns about Germany, so that France has become the actual leader of the European Community, at this time France's influence in Western Europe is also unprecedented, and de Gaulle also pushed France's influence in Western Europe to the peak.
In order to maintain its leadership position in the European Community and to prevent the destruction of European Union relations, France directly rejected Britain's proposal to join the European Community three times. From today's point of view, France's move is also extremely wise, after all, Britain is a churning stick, everywhere wants to blend in, everywhere wants to empty gloves white wolf!
Second, France's colonial power in Africa is extremely great, and its influence on Africa is extremely profound.
France's colonies around the world were not only in the Indochina Peninsula, but also had a great deal of control over Africa. From the 1830s onwards, France, starting from Algeria, rapidly expanded its sphere of influence in Africa, not only reaching central Africa, North Africa, and even East Africa, which also reflected France's ambition to control the whole of Africa in the palm of its hand. In fact, by the end of the 19th century, France was essentially in its own hands.
Of course, France's way of colonizing Africa is different from that of Britain, which is more prodding agents in the colonies, while France is directly ruling, and it is this way of ruling France that has a more profound impact on the colonies.
After World War II, the "wave of anti-colonialism" arose, Africa also broke out countless wars of independence, and eventually France was also driven out of Africa, but France's influence in Africa has continued to this day, so French has become a more widely used language on the African continent, and the franc is also a more common common currency in Africa, which is the mark left by France during the colonial period.
After World War II, France carried out post-war reconstruction, which also made France need a large population, so France opened the country's doors and allowed African people to immigrate to France. And Africans are also familiar with the culture and language of France, so they are also extremely adaptable to coming to France, which also promotes the connection between France and Africa, and these African immigrants have a profound impact on France later, like now the proportion of French Africans is getting higher and higher, directly affecting the future of France!
Third, France actively develops the military industry and nuclear weapons, providing important support for France's independence against the United States.
De Gaulle was a strongman and the leader of the French independence movement, but after World War II, France still looked at the Face of the United States, which also caused de Gaulle to be dissatisfied, in his concept, France should become a European power, no longer swayed by the United States. De Gaulle also recognized that France could only compete with the United States if it had strong military strength.
After de Gaulle returned to power in 1958, he advocated reviving France's glory and thus getting rid of the influence of the United States, so that under de Gaulle's attention, France's military industry and nuclear weapons research and development have made great progress, especially in February 1960, France's first atomic bomb test was successful, which shocked the United States and the Soviet Union, which also made France the fourth country in the world to possess an atomic bomb. France's nuclear support also gave de Gaulle a stronger confidence to compete with the United States, and the United States was also extremely unhappy about it, and even in 1963, the United States pulled the Soviet Union and Britain to sign the "Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty", the purpose of which was to curb the development of nuclear weapons between France and China.
De Gaulle advocated building an independent and powerful France, so seeing that the United States was commanding NATO, de Gaulle was particularly annoyed, and the military base established by NATO in France was also determined by de Gaulle to infringe on France's sovereignty, it is clear that France does not want the United States to control NATO single-handedly, if France has no right to speak in NATO, then France does not need to be in NATO. As France's differences with NATO grew, France formally announced its withdrawal from NATO in March 1966. De Gaulle's determination to lead France to independent diplomacy is evident!
Three
In the de Gaulle period, France, whether it is international prestige or comprehensive strength, has reached the peak after World War II, especially de Gaulle dared to compete with the United States, which really reflects his personal ability, but after de Gaulle, France has actually been going downhill, and today, even as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations, France has always been ignored!
The reason why France was so strong in the era of De Gaulle was because de Gaulle was able to twist France into a rope, and later, the spread of French liberalism made France always lack cohesion. It is difficult for a country to concentrate power, and with it is the inefficiency of governance, resulting in the country becoming more and more loose, so the current France is like a scattered sand, even if de Gaulle is reborn, it is difficult to screw it up.
France is also in fact facing a huge crisis, which does not take place overnight, but is the result of a long period of accumulation. Among them, the most prominent problems in France are the widespread occurrence of strikes and demonstrations in the country, and the increasing proportion of Africans.
In November 2018, the "Yellow Vest Movement" broke out in France, which in the final analysis is the concentrated rebound of long-term backlog of social contradictions in France, and with the expansion of the scale of the movement, all levels of France have joined in to exert pressure on the government in all aspects. It can be said that this movement directly gave Macron a blow, so that his reform faced great pressure, and finally Macron chose to compromise, meet the conditions of the demonstrators, and calm down. This movement is just the tip of the iceberg of the French strike demonstrations, which have become a way for the French to gain their rights, the French are not on strike, they are on the way to strike, which seriously affects the stability of the country. In order to obtain votes, the government can only compromise again and again, and the final result is that France is unable to move forward.
In fact, the crisis of the French population is even worse. After World War II, Africans began to immigrate to France in large numbers, and their descendants also became part of France, so that the proportion of Africans in France became higher and higher, while the proportion of Native French people became lower and lower because of the low fertility rate, which actually caused a series of social problems, because Africans and Native French people were very different in faith and culture, so conflicts were inevitable.
As the number of Africans increases, they will certainly squeeze out the living space of the original French, and they will inevitably win more political rights, which will have a series of effects on France. Now that the descendants of French African descent have become so common that they make up 60% of the total population of France, the pure French have become 35% and have become a minority, and in the future, the crisis in France is visible to the naked eye.
Originally, de Gaulle wanted to introduce African americans to drive economic development, but he did not think that this move would become a huge crisis in France today, and it is estimated that De Gaulle did not expect it!
Four
In fact, although France is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations, in the European Union, France has less say than Germany.
Germany and France are the dual engines of the European Union, in fact, Germany's influence is getting bigger and bigger, which is also due to the fact that Germany's industrial base is extremely stable, Merkel dares to fight with the United States in the face of Us pressure, like Merkel resisting the pressure of the United States to implement the "Nord Stream II" project, which is to let Germany occupy a more important position in the future EU. However, France lacks this strategic vision, and even if France has some strategic considerations, due to domestic pressure or Pressure from the United States, the final result can only be nothing. It can only be said that today's France is always insufficient in the face of the United States, and in terms of strategic decision-making, it is also hesitant, so it is really difficult for France to become a qualified leader of the Eu, and it is always ignored internationally!
France's internal contradictions make the French government more than enough and insufficient, which makes France already difficult to return, Macron is even difficult to settle domestic problems, how can it have full confidence and persuasion in the international community! It can be seen that the France of de Gaulle's era is gone, and the once strong and tough has become a thing of the past, but now France has become weak.
It can only be said that France's international prestige has also been lost with france's weakness, subject to the United States, France is completely like a small sheep, even if the United States requires France not to allow military trade with Russia, or even snatched away France's orders, France can only swallow its anger, this cowardly performance also makes France be seen as a joke everywhere in the world.
It can only be said that France's performance is more and more nostalgic for de Gaulle, but nowadays, even if there is another de Gaulle in France, it is difficult to turn things around!
Insist on the original, I am loyal to the liver and righteousness of the old third, welcome to pay attention!