deactivated63bf4537b 
All the French surrender jokes are just uncomfortable Anglo coping mechanism with the fact that Nazi Germany nearly took over Europe.
In 1935, everyone in the world, including Germany believed France had the most powerful army in Europe. France has 1000 years of war experience. It was the largest state in Europe in Medieval era and several times in the 1600s, 1700s, and Napoleonic wars, it was fighting against multi-nation coalitions and still won. By 1930s, France was completely demoralized, politically fragmented and unable to fight another war.
The only thing that saved England from the same results as France is
a) The ocean served as a protect obstacle to German invasion
b) The Germans wasted their time with worthless V-2 rockets when they could have built 1000 Luftwaffe airplanes for the same amount of time, effort and money and blot out the sun over the British Isles. Even just naval ships and submarines would have worked more effectively.
c) The Germans attacked the Soviet Union
They even tried to present their losses as victories, like the Battle of Dunkirk where the Germans halted their advance and the British successfully ran away. At the time, the[British politicians were literally discussing a conditional surrender to Germany](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2650832/Lord-Halifax-tried-to-negotiate-peace-with-the-Nazis.html)
So, I don't find the French surrender jokes funny, because they seem hypocritical and a way to deflect from [Britain's](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoney_War) poor [performance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dunkirk) during the [war](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Singapore).
In 1935, everyone in the world, including Germany believed France had the most powerful army in Europe. France has 1000 years of war experience. It was the largest state in Europe in Medieval era and several times in the 1600s, 1700s, and Napoleonic wars, it was fighting against multi-nation coalitions and still won. By 1930s, France was completely demoralized, politically fragmented and unable to fight another war.
The only thing that saved England from the same results as France is
a) The ocean served as a protect obstacle to German invasion
b) The Germans wasted their time with worthless V-2 rockets when they could have built 1000 Luftwaffe airplanes for the same amount of time, effort and money and blot out the sun over the British Isles. Even just naval ships and submarines would have worked more effectively.
c) The Germans attacked the Soviet Union
They even tried to present their losses as victories, like the Battle of Dunkirk where the Germans halted their advance and the British successfully ran away. At the time, the
So, I don't find the French surrender jokes funny, because they seem hypocritical and a way to deflect from [Britain's