re: #605 Lupin

The way the story is told is somewhat unfair to the French.

German armies invaded France, Belgium and Luxembourg on May 10, 1940, going through Belgium and the Ardennes mountains in the North. The rather incompetent French Military High command had been relying on its famously fortified Ligne Maginot to the East for its defense, believing that an attack from the North was all but impossible. They were, in this instance, sadly and famously wrong.

The German troops reached Paris on June 14 and France was forced to surrender on June 22, after losing 92,000 men and suffering 200,000 wounded in the battle. No matter how you count, that’s a lot.

This “Second Armistice” led to the division of the country into a Northern France, occupied by the Gerrnans, and the allegedly “free” France in the south, led by what became known as the Vichy régime.

The invasion of May 10 and the Germans’ rapid advance triggered a massive exodus of the population of Northern France towards the South. It is estimated that ten million people, nearly a quarter of the population, fled on the roads, carrying whatever belongings they had, many without destinations.

To add to the tragedy, the convoys were attacked by the German airforce, which killed an estimated 100,000 civilians during the exodus.

The cliché of “surrender monkeys” is rather odious.

The people who call the French “surrender monkeys” are usually a bunch of overweight, sheltered assholes who know nothing about war. Having been in Ypres last summer, it really made me truly appreciate teh sacrifices made by the European allies during WWI. I know you’re talking WWII and that’s true too.