“We chuckle at the French, but their military is about twice the size of the Brits - they are the largest military on the continent.”
As they were in 1940. How did that work out?
IMO, one should not confuse the willingness and abilities of
French soldiers with the incompetence of the French command structure. French soldiers did their duty against the Germans in 1940. The failure rested with the French High Command.
But tell that to the men who fought at Verdun in 1916.
you simplify it.
1914-1918 most of the western front battles were fought on french soil - they lost more men in WWI than America has lost in all of her wars.
1940 their military leadership was still stuck in WWI - they imagined they were safe behind the Maginot line. When it failed, they floundered. The men fought, but the generals gave up hope early - probably broken from Verdun 24 years earlier.