Abstract

These "Feeble" French: The Alternative to Leading

Ever since 1940, if not before, it has been customary in the English-speaking world to regard the French as "feeble." Yet a question arises whether there is any evidence that if France were an island it would not have on its battle for survival, or that Paris would not have "taken it" as well as London, England did. On the other hand, if there had been no channel, however, it should be skipped. In 1940, the French were the victims both of their geography and of their bad foreign policy. Their geography they cannot change, but in their foreign policy they are trying not to repeat errors of the inter-war period. France today is a relatively small power on the western tip of what is left of a "democratic" Europe.