Do the French make as many shows about killing the English as the English make about killing the French?

AJUMP23

AJUMP23

Parody of actual AJUMP23
I am watching some old English shows like Sharpe's Rifles, and Hornblower and can think of a lot of shows where the British kill the French all the time. I was wondering if they make as many shows about French military conquest over the Brits. DO they focus on Killing the Germans, or killing each other in the revolution.

Just a general curiosity.
 
Not really, the only time the French tend to appear as antagonists is during fiction set during the Napoleonic wars.
The British fought pretty much everyone though at one time or other, so the French, although closer geographically, don't really figure that much.

As to the French themselves, dunno, Napoleon conquered most of continental Europe in his day but never Britain, and even at Waterloo he was only brought down by Wellington's coalition thanks to the timely arrival of Prussian forces under Blucher.
That being said, the French do get the bragging rights of having one of their own on the English throne with William the Conquerer!
 
Clear said:
Not really, the only time the French tend to appear as antagonists is during fiction set during the Napoleonic wars.
The British fought pretty much everyone though at one time or other, so the French, although closer geographically, don't really figure that much.

As to the French themselves, dunno, Napoleon conquered most of continental Europe in his day but never Britain, and even at Waterloo he was only brought down by Wellington's coalition thanks to the timely arrival of Prussian forces under Blucher.
That being said, the French do get the bragging rights of having one of their own on the English throne with William the Conquerer!
Click to expand...
He wasn't technically french though. He's Norman which means he's french speaking Dane.

the french Can't make tv shows killing the English because they failed many times. They could make some fictional fantasy setting where they do manage to killEnglish successfully.
 
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The Hamburglar said:
He wasn't technically french though. He's Norman which means he's french speaking Dane.
Click to expand...
It gets worse though. The Plantagenet's were fully French and held the throne from the 1100s until the 1400s. The language at court was French until the Tudors won the throne.
 
We were at war (not continuously but very regularly) with England from the early 13th century until the end of the 1st Empire (1815), so any show within this very long time frame has a high chance to see people from one country killing someone from the other, the heroic side depending on who produced it...

But I must say that it seems that our UK friends have a huge love/hate relation with Napoleon while we honestly don't care that much :) And it's also true that germans replaced english in our hearts as our historical arch enemy since the mid 19th century.
 
The Hamburglar said:
The french Can't make TV shows killing the English because they failed many times. They could make some fictional fantasy setting where they do manage to kill English successfully.
Click to expand...

Almost as many times as the English killing the French.
The only people who managed to kill the French successfully are the Germans/Prussians.

Also we don't really hold a grudge the same way the English do.
To me it feels like the UK still hasn't gone over they aren't the top superpower anymore and their old foe isn't what it used to be also.

France learned that lesson after WW2 but the English don't seem to have gotten it just yet.
 
To my knowledge there aren't many French historical TV shows (not many TV shows in general that aren't cop procedurals or comedies, actually). There was this one about a village during WWII, one about Louis XIV and Versailles,... that's basically it. (maybe also Kaamelott, which is a humorous retelling of the Arthur legend, but that's before France and England even existed)
Generally speaking outside of Joan of Arc and Napoleon, there aren't that many historical figures in pop culture. So to answer the question, nah French TV doesn't give a shit about the English.
 
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Ballthyrm said:
Almost as many times as the English killing the French.
The only people who managed to kill the French successfully are the Germans/Prussians.

Also we don't really hold a grudge the same way the English do.
To me it feels like the UK still hasn't gone over they aren't the top superpower anymore and their old foe isn't what it used to be also.

France learned that lesson after WW2 but the English don't seem to have gotten it just yet.
Click to expand...

boris Johnson just increased the military budget.

we're coming for
You frenchie. Once we mop the floor with you the Germans will fall in line.
 
I always wondered if Eurogamer, an English video game site, took a point or two off their review of Jeanne D'Arc because the game essentially presented their ancestors as devil-possessed fiends.

www.eurogamer.net

Jeanne D'Arc

The Independent recently reported on a survey's findings that 50% of the British public do not believe in the historica…
www.eurogamer.net www.eurogamer.net
 
INCUBASE said:
They can make as many films as they like

They'll always be cheese eating surrender monkeys

And Paris smells like shit
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You see, the French don't have this attitude at all, which is the difference.

When they refer to Brits, it is usually to praise their strengths; music, actors, etc

We do feel bad for what they eat.):
 
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INCUBASE said:
They can make as many films as they like

They'll always be cheese eating surrender monkeys

And Paris smells like shit
Click to expand...

They are a tiny country that was surrounded by German and their allies in the whole continent during WW2, which was the only war they "surrendered" to, in order to save their people from bombings that would have led to an ineluctable loss. In the other hand, the last war your country won was WW2 which you couldn't have without the Russians. Since then, despite your army size, budget and technology, you go home crying war after war; remember Korea, Vietnam, Kuweit, etc etc etc... 💩

Cheese eater 😘
 
20cent said:
They are a tiny country that was surrounded by German and their allies in the whole continent during WW2, which was the only war they "surrendered" to, in order to save their people from bombings that would have led to an ineluctable loss. In the other hand, the last war your country won was WW2 which you couldn't have without the Russians. Since then, despite your army size, budget and technology, you go home crying war after war; remember Korea, Vietnam, Kuweit, etc etc etc... 💩

Cheese eater 😘
Click to expand...

Tbh don't ever listen to what I say, I have forum bi-polar
 
INCUBASE said:
They can make as many films as they like

They'll always be cheese eating surrender monkeys

And Paris smells like shit
Click to expand...
If anything, France could make a film about their main ally deserting them after just 4 wks of fighting... Yes, once the writing was on the wall, the British army fled mainland Europe leaving all of their equipment and leaving France to fight alone. I am a Brit by the way.

It should also be noted that the tactics used by the Wermacht were new, unheard of and revolutionary. (Even if they were taken and refined from what the British army had practiced in the 20s). Nobody was prepared or could stand against them for the first few years of the war. Even with all of (I won't say his name because I work for a German company and I am typing this on my work PC) his bad decisions in Russia, Von Manstein wrote in his book that left alone, the army could have fought Russia to a stalemate until the end of 1943.

My point is, any country would have surrendered in the same situation.
 
Ballthyrm said:
The only people who managed to kill the French successfully are the Germans/Prussians.
Click to expand...
This blew my mind a few years back - despite everyone laughing at French for surrendering during WW2 France has one of the highest ratio of wars won / wars fought in history.
 
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The English have spent centuries successfully kicking the shite out of the French and the Scottish, with the odd, fluke wins for the old enemies against the English. We got so good and kicking French and Scottish arse that they were both forced to join forces against us.

And our French readers may point out that French kings conquered England in 1066, but this wasn't the French King or French nobles, but the Normans from Normandy. Not the same as the French state.

The French could do a TV series/films about the later stages of the Hundred years war, but it's been done a few times already and it always focuses on Joan of Arc.
 
IDKFA said:
And our French readers may point out that French kings conquered England in 1066, but this wasn't the French King or French nobles, but the Normans from Normandy. Not the same as the French state.
Click to expand...

Doesn't make any difference once the Normans settled in Normandy, now they're just part of the mix (the "Francs" that gave France its name are also one of the many populations that settled there). Also they're the reason all your fancy words have French roots. Once the Northmen settled in France, they started speaking French and became French. :p
 
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How did these people conquer anyone? They look like a Dark Souls character creator meme.

images
 
Alx said:
Doesn't make any difference once the Normans settled in Normandy, now they're just part of the mix (the "Francs" that gave France its name are also one of the many populations that settled there). Also they're the reason all your fancy words have French roots. Once the Northmen settled in France, they started speaking French and became French. :p
Click to expand...

Alx said:
Doesn't make any difference once the Normans settled in Normandy, now they're just part of the mix (the "Francs" that gave France its name are also one of the many populations that settled there). Also they're the reason all your fancy words have French roots. Once the Northmen settled in France, they started speaking French and became French. :p
Click to expand...

They spoke French, but were Norman.

It matters not. Henry IV started to change the status quo by becoming the first King of England who spoke English as a first language.

His son, Henry V, then dominated France and was made heir to the French throne. Henry VI, was then, briefly anyway, king of both France and England.

Yet, Henry VI was a weak king and absolutely nothing like his warrior King father. This resulted in English lands in France going back to France and a brutal civil war in England known as the War of the Roses.

So, swings and roundabouts.
 
NotCentered said:
If your country was able to provide the best wines, the best food, free health insurance and women who don't need to be dressed like prostitutes to be sexy, may be you would be pompous as well :)
Click to expand...

Italian wine & food shits all over French wine & food & French women need to be introduced to soap, and have a shave more often, I've seen less hair on sailors than French women.
 
What? The popular joke is that the french always surrender
Ballthyrm said:
Almost as many times as the English killing the French.
The only people who managed to kill the French successfully are the Germans/Prussians.

Also we don't really hold a grudge the same way the English do.
To me it feels like the UK still hasn't gone over they aren't the top superpower anymore and their old foe isn't what it used to be also.

France learned that lesson after WW2 but the English don't seem to have gotten it just yet.
Click to expand...
Don't forget Vietnam. They were humiliated at the last major battle of Bien Den Phu.

Oh and Russia! Napoleon got his ass kicked and never recovered from it in his career
 
As much as me as a German likes to talk shit about the french, I feel angry if someone else does.

It's like someone insulting your brother you have fist fights with all the time and then it's suddenly family business.
 
Cyberpunkd said:
This blew my mind a few years back - despite everyone laughing at French for surrendering during WW2 France has one of the highest ratio of wars won / wars fought in history.
Click to expand...

Hail Napoleon. Isn't that the greatest French General. Also Louis 14, he did some conquering.
 
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Ballthyrm said:
Almost as many times as the English killing the French.
The only people who managed to kill the French successfully are the Germans/Prussians.

Also we don't really hold a grudge the same way the English do.
To me it feels like the UK still hasn't gone over they aren't the top superpower anymore and their old foe isn't what it used to be also.

France learned that lesson after WW2 but the English don't seem to have gotten it just yet.
Click to expand...

France learned that lesson over the course of the Napoleonic wars, WW1 and WW2.

Britain was never invaded or devastated like the continent and never experienced the national "humbling" that so many of the former Great Powers did.

English exceptionalism is a blight on our country and I hope a disastrous Brexit truly kills it once and for all. We need to recognise our weaknesses and strengths and stop trying to play chess with checkers.
 
Wolvers said:
France learned that lesson over the course of the Napoleonic wars, WW1 and WW2.

Britain was never invaded or devastated like the continent and never experienced the national "humbling" that so many of the former Great Powers did.

English exceptionalism is a blight on our country and I hope a disastrous Brexit truly kills it once and for all. We need to recognise our weaknesses and strengths and stop trying to play chess with checkers.
Click to expand...

"English exceptionalism", excuse me!

Of all the nations in the UK the English ironically enough are the least nationalistic.

You want to talk about separatism and nationalism,then what about the Scots? They've been pushing to go their own way since before Brexit was a thing! How is Scotland leaving the union with the rest of the UK somehow more noble and justified when its joining was a political act same as joining the EU was, and at least was with a country that it shared a physical geographic border!

But hey "English nationalism" is Fascism, "Scottish nationalism" is Fookin' braveheart!

The big laugh is making out that the Welsh, Scots, and Ulster Irish have a monopoly on giving Westminster the old side-eye. Ever hear of the North/South divide in England, ask anyone in the North if they feel they get treated the same as Lomdoners do!

Britain was humbled severely after WWII, mainly at the hands of our American friends who's "Lease lend" policy payback led to a decade of austerity for this country, the likes of which make modern measures seem tame. Learm your damn history.
 
Clear said:
Not really, the only time the French tend to appear as antagonists is during fiction set during the Napoleonic wars.
The British fought pretty much everyone though at one time or other, so the French, although closer geographically, don't really figure that much.

As to the French themselves, dunno, Napoleon conquered most of continental Europe in his day but never Britain, and even at Waterloo he was only brought down by Wellington's coalition thanks to the timely arrival of Prussian forces under Blucher.
That being said, the French do get the bragging rights of having one of their own on the English throne with William the Conquerer!
Click to expand...
William the conqueror wasnt French! He was norman, a descendent of vikings.
 
AJUMP23 said:
I am watching some old English shows like Sharpe's Rifles, and Hornblower and can think of a lot of shows where the British kill the French all the time. I was wondering if they make as many shows about French military conquest over the Brits. DO they focus on Killing the Germans, or killing each other in the revolution.

Just a general curiosity.
Click to expand...
When has France won a war against Britain?
 
Clear said:
"English exceptionalism", excuse me!

Of all the nations in the UK the English ironically enough are the least nationalistic.
Click to expand...

I think he meant British* exceptionalism.(I too often get them confused, I blame the overwhelming dominance of English culture in the UK over others Nations)
The English may play nice towards other UK nations but it ain't toward Europe.

There is very much the case that the UK feel very different toward itself than other Nations of Europe do.
 
20cent said:
They are a tiny country that was surrounded by German and their allies in the whole continent during WW2, which was the only war they "surrendered" to, in order to save their people from bombings that would have led to an ineluctable loss. In the other hand, the last war your country won was WW2 which you couldn't have without the Russians. Since then, despite your army size, budget and technology, you go home crying war after war; remember Korea, Vietnam, Kuweit, etc etc etc... 💩

Cheese eater 😘
Click to expand...

Actually British and American ships kept the Russian supply lines open to allow them to move. QED.
 
Ballthyrm said:
There is very much the case that the UK feel very different toward itself than other Nations of Europe do.
Click to expand...

Well not surprising giving so many European nations are still rocking flags imposed upon them by Napoleon!
Not to mention being the only nation neither subjugated nor collaborative with the Nazi's.

So yeah, falling under Franco/German hegemony is something we've historically avoided, and why getting out of the EU is a generally populist stance regardless of political affiliation. In a European superstate the reigns of power would always be out of reach for the UK because ultimately its always going to be fought with Franco-German interests at heart.

Its never been about Nationalism per se, its about (not) intrgrating with a political machine that mainly serves the ends of the Continental powers.
 
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