France was widely considered to possess the greatest army in Europe both in 1914 and 1940. Each time the reality was not quite as grand.
What could France have done differently in each war to not find itself so beleaguered?
What does Veeky Forums think of the French Army?
Annexed belgium
>WW1
They could have not used Napoleonic era battle tactics.
>WW2
They could have had a government and officer corps that wasn’t infested with Nazi sympathizers.
LE NABOLEONIG TAGDIGZ AND UNIWORMZ XDDDDDDDD
>be France
>lose
lel
The entire argument about muh army on paper is fucking pointless, did France suck dick early war both times? Yes, they did. Did they recover from it? Yes they did, enough to prove to supposed superior Germans thought of the French as the best fighters and Frenchies were the last units to defend the Fuhrerbunker
>France was widely considered to possess the greatest army in Europe both in 1914 and 1940.
Hmmm no sweety
In 1914, everyone was aware the Germans were the top dogs
In 1940 however, France was indeed believed to have the best army in Europe, mainly because they were the leading power of the winning side in the last war
There are countless papers in the British archives recognizing Russia has having the best army followed by Germany. France had serious problems with numbers and they passed the 3 year law because they were worried. At the same time the radical party was trying its best to undermine the military at every turn.
The same in AH except with the Hungarians. The army that was there was good for France but the political support it needed did not exist.
Did something changed except for men serving for 3 years instead of 2? I wonder if it had any impact since i realy dont think that pre-ww1 conscription training could prepare you for something.
>There are countless papers in the British archives recognizing Russia has having the best army followed by Germany.
Sounds interesting, I thought the Germans were worried more about the size of Russia's army rather than them being the best, can I get sources on those archives?
Wow you really showed him
Not being strongly divided. Not inventing 1000 versions of everything and buying ten but inventing one or two and buying tens of thousand.
in WWI they were just outnumbered by the Germans. there was an enormous population boom of Germans in the 19th century. plus the Prussians learned a lot from the Napoleonic Wars and used it to beat France, while France didn't learn so much from their loss against Prussia. the Prussian General Staff etc
in WWII France could have crushed Germany while they were in Poland but didn't because...? wanted to avoid a war maybe. didn't care about Poland all that much. then they were severely outflanked in the north, and Italy joined the war. maybe they could have salvaged it, but it would have been so bloody, it wasn't worth it. most of the Western Front had just been fought on their best land, millions of Frenchmen died, war didn't look so attractive anymore.
it's amazing that Americans will shit on the French for surrendering in WWII when the Germans surrendered in WWI without even being invaded. sure they were collapsing internally, but still.
>There are countless papers in the British archives recognizing Russia has having the best army followed by Germany.
Maybe on paper. In terms of actual fighting, the Russian army seriously under-performed during WW1. They were poorly equipped, and poorly led. And worst of all, they were disloyal, which is the worst thing that an army could ever be.
>Nazi
>not socialists
>They could have not used Napoleonic era battle tactics.
The tactics had more to do with a guy named Louis Loyzeau de Grandmaison.
>Louis Loyzeau de Grandmaison (1861-1915) was studying there at that time, and he quickly became a follower of these ideas. And within a few years, his belief in l'offensive à l'outrance had grown far beyond what Foch had taught. France’s officer corps were tired of being told that the best their country could hope for was to defend itself against Germany’s far stronger army. They embraced Grandmaison’s doctrine, eager to hear that generals should conquer, not merely defend.
>In January 1911, Grandmaison was a Lieutenant Colonel in the army headquarters’ Operations Bureau. That year, he gave two lectures on the cult of the offensive, where he was scornful of France’s military doctrine in the Franco-Prussian War, and laid out a new approach. These lectures would be incredibly influential, especially to the generals listening in the audience. France must practise aggression without restraint, he said – with no limits, nothing held back.
Listen
HALTE LA
>countless papers in the British archives recognizing Russia has having the best army
Even ones from after the Russo-Japanese War?
Funnily enough, no one reached the conclusion after the russo-japanese war that the russian army was fundamentally broken, even though it seriously was. Germany discovered it only by accident.
>no one reached the conclusion after the russo-japanese war that the russian army was fundamentally broken
That seems very......odd.
Well hey, we won't know of the dumb doctrinal failures of our own armies, if there are, until a century from now, at which point posterity will probably laugh at us for not seeing so sooner.
>There are countless papers in the British archives recognizing Russia has having the best army
So the bongs have always been mentally retarded?
Annexed Wallonia
FTFY
He saved millions...
To ship millions of Jews to concentration camps.
In 1914, not to nearly forego heavy artillery entirely. 75s are good and all, but fall short when it comes to plunging fire and dealing with fortifications.
Not to be too reliant on Grandmaison's belief of l'offensive à outrance. Less conspicuous uniforms earlier on could've been helpful as well.
Later on, not reducing the garrison size at Verdun. And perhaps making better magazines for the Chauchat. I know the holes were there for the assistant gunner to aid with topping up, but even discounting those the magazines themselves had very poor QC and were easily warped. Still an effective machine rifle to mass produce in a time of great need, but could really have used better QC.
Ils n'ont pas passé
>WWI
french army was fine
>WWII
toughen the ardennes even though it was very unlikely the germans would manage to bring tanks in the woods. Yet they did.
"THROUGH THE ARDENNES, PERHAPS?"