Keep your White flag handy frenchie.
You go by one instance 84 years ago.
To say that the French are all “cheese eating surrender monkeys” is short-sighted to say the least. Now, whilst it is true that the French collapsed like a deck of cards in World War II, that shouldn’t be taken as representative. In particular the French had rather a good result against the Brits in the conflict from 1775–1783 which the Americans call the Revolutionary War. Their own version of history rather overlooks the fact that most of the experienced troops and a significant number of their officers were French.
French involvement in the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783 began in 1776 when the Kingdom of France secretly shipped supplies to the Continental Army of the Thirteen Colonies when it was established in June 1775.
A Treaty of Alliance between the French and the Continental Army followed in 1778, which led to French money, matériel and troops being sent to the United States. An ignition of a global war with Britain started shortly thereafter. Subsequently, Spain and the Dutch Republic also began to send assistance, which, along with other political developments in Europe, left the British with no allies during the conflict (excluding the Hessians). Spain openly declared war in 1779, and war between British and Dutch followed soon after.
France’s help was a major and decisive contribution towards the United States’ eventual victory and independence in the war. However, as a cost of participation in the war, France accumulated over 1 billion livres in debt, which significantly strained the nation’s finances. The French government’s failure to control spending (in combination with other factors) led to unrest in the nation, which eventually culminated in a revolution a few years after the conflict between the US and Great Britain concluded.
What happened in 1940 was not a result of cowardice on the part of the French soldier. It was a consequence of vastly superior leadership and tactics on the part of the Germans. Leadership in war is everything; it’s very hard for any amount of bravery and courage to overcome poor generalship.
In the wars of 1870 and 1940, the French troops were at a severe disadvantage compared to their German counterparts when it came to their commanders. In 1914, the French leadership may have been better, and it was at least as good. In that campaign, it was a French general (Joseph Gallieni) who showed resolve and initiative when the Germans were just a few miles from Paris, and his actions saved the French capital. Whenever the French faced a serious threat, there was always someone like Petain or Foch to provide strong leadership and prevent defeat.