dobidou
121247
4724
106
I just wanted to honor these guys. 900 French soldiers were killed everyday during WWI. Today we remember them.
Nov 11, 2016 5:33 PM
dobidou
121247
4724
106
I just wanted to honor these guys. 900 French soldiers were killed everyday during WWI. Today we remember them.
CoderWithoutCaffeine
@op I was USNavy in 2007 we did a France Vets ceremony in our ship DDG 75. It was heart breaking to see them remember the war. I salute them
Vanbytheriver
Anyone who knows anything about history should have nothing but respect for the French military tradition. +1
KaiserHippoC
I have but one upvote to give, but you shall have it.
ItsNotEasyBeing
Looking at those faces, and down at that torn flag, and back at those faces... I get some serious feels.
derekjohn
As a Brit. attended the11/11 ceremony in my local village, in France. As many Brits as French, very poignant.
StarfighterKarateBastard
I'm totally not Anglo Saxon but +1 for the French boys from WWI
Matlef
On a tous des papys qui ont finis en charpie pour assouvir la soif de pouvoir de chefs d'état. C'est triste car ça continue encore.. ????
EelBowelProbing
Mes amis! Mes amis! Je suis français! Merci de nous avoir apprécié pendant cette journée!
EelBowelProbing
On vous remercie aussi pour nous avoirs sauvé pendant la grande guerre contre les Allemands!
BonapartesGuard
Il faus pas oblie la resistance et les efforts de Le'clec et De Gaulle non plus!
ThisIsMeBis
Merci, vive nos poilus.
BonapartesGuard
"La Garde Meurt, elle ne se rendre pas!" (The guard dies, it does not surrender) -Pierre Cambronne, battle of Waterloo
Hytnex
"tuez les tous dieu reconnaitra les siens"
Hytnex
yeah some badass in french history
TweakerTheBarbarian
Just finished Dan Carlin's monster 24 hour long podcast on WWI. Huge respect for the French troops who bore the bunt of that horrible war.
Th3D00M
Allons enfants de la patrie...
Houkkitsu
Notre hymne est plutôt brutal comparé à ceux des autres pays :/
EelBowelProbing
Le jour de gloire essssssst arrivé!
PaulJ75
Contre nous de la tyrannie...
andthenitfinallyhappenedtobetrue
Le jour de gloire est arrivéééé
LoneWanderer101
Despite the jokes, most of us know the incredible sacrifices the French soldiers made. Rest in peace
LoneWanderer101
I started out my comment with the same phrase as someone else. Whoops
edzo1121
Something about the torn flag being held up. The sacrifice being laid before you. Very powerful picture, and regret the loss.
Squaba13
As an American I have mad respect France. During WWII they surrendered to save the lives of their citizens and then resisted at every turn.
hillslikewhiteelephants
France in the Great War lost more troops than the US has lost in all of its wars combined, As an American, I don't forget.
grishnakah
Lots of Germans died too. And Austrians. And Hungarians. And Italians. And Russians. And British. And Australians. And Ottomans. Just sayin'
NorthKoreabestKorea
The French were the best warriors in Europe until Germany banded together and became their kryptonite.
IspeakFrench
I like seeing l bit of love for the French amidst all the jokes. If there's one thing the French are not, it's cowards.
jinkies
Vive La France
AlrightKeepYourSecrets
Vive Quebec Libre
ShevyChase
Mon dieu. RIP mes amies.
Rosenroth
Allez les poilus!
BlackLabsAreBest
An Englishman here and I've got nothing but respect for the French and their martial history.
dobidou
Thank you !
Joshkidd
Also being a brit we have beamy you before ha ❤️
Joshkidd
Beat
themilkmancometh
Same here, especially at Dunkirk in WWII they held the line when we needed them the most, their forefathers would be proud of them that day
AutoFox
Free French squadrons in the Battle of Britain and later the bombing raids on Germany were nothing to sneeze at either.
themilkmancometh
No that's true but in my eyes Dunkirk was their finest hour
DishCrazy
A toast to the French soldier.
cononinator
may they surrender in peace
QuixoticGoingDjinn
Mmm, French toast
DefinetlyNotARussianSpy
FRENCH TOAST!
garcia367
This comment is strong
Houkkitsu
La France a subit le plus de degats honnetement. Tous les combats sont arrives chez les pauvres p'tits paysans
millanbel
C'est rare de voir un commentaire en français sur ce site ! D'habitude nous nous cachons derrière des commentaires en anglais !
Houkkitsu
On se fait victimiser avec les "honhon baguette"!
millanbel
Haha "omelette du fromage" - mais franchement je trouve ça très drôle quand ils le font
Houkkitsu
pareil! Leurs fautes me font penser a des petits pas maladroits
BonapartesGuard
As someone who speaks and reads but blows at writing agreed. C'est bien d'avoir un peu de respecte aussi!
Raguleader
"Lafayette, we are here!"
dobidou
Youll note that one soldier on the right as an American flag with him :)
Raguleader
But seriously, quite a few Americans served in the French armed forces during WWI before the US entered the war.
GeorgeGeef
And black American regiments were often placed under French command.
justbelowme
Feench foreign legion?
Raguleader
Probably, others joined the army. There was also the Lafayette Escadrille, a fighter squadron of American volunteers.
Raguleader
Hard to tell from this perspective, it almost looks like the flag is mounted as a bayonet on one of the rifles.
whatexactlyisthefunctionofarubberduck
1/2 My Mum is German. Says German soldiers should be remembered too. WW1 there was no real right or wrong (I think) and WW2, many soldiers
whatexactlyisthefunctionofarubberduck
2/3 were ordinary people who had to fight and didn't know they were doing it for a wrong cause. (obvs invading countries was wrong,
whatexactlyisthefunctionofarubberduck
3/3 but many were conscripted).
derekjohn
Yes there was, the Germans declared war and attacked their neighbours, not vice versa.
AlrightKeepYourSecrets
There was mutual tension on both sides, and Austria dragged Germany into the war after being provoked. Fuck off.
derekjohn
That's not how most historians see it. Germany mobilised while most other countries were on holiday.
JesusIsComingLookBusy
I like to think that Remembrance Day is for ALL the lost soldiers from all wars, war is started by governments/religion, not by soldiers
HighFunctioningSociopath221B
I'm with you. I teach English; Johnny Got His Gun and All Quiet on the Western Front are part of my curriculum for that precise reason.
questionableanswers
I appreciate your ideals, but I don't think that would work out if I were to post pictures of my grandfathers. Kriegsmarine and Wehrmacht.
JesusIsComingLookBusy
I often wonder how aware the German soldiers were of being the baddies
questionableanswers
Even mentioning it them before made some people on here call me a nazi and whatnot.
AGoodFisting
I'm sorry that anyone has the gall to call you that, that's fucking stupid. I would love to hear about your grandfather's.
JesusIsComingLookBusy
I've lived in Germany and currently work their most of the year, the degree of guilt the population still feel is palpable.
fiveclovers
Despite the jokes, I hear the French were pretty badass
dandydust
There were so many badasses there that hundreds of live rounds are still being found today https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_harvest
Theunimaginativeone
They really did hold their own and especially during the later years were way more effective then the British the colonial armies
Carefuler
Very. U.S. of A. wouldn't have come into existence without their help.
MonsieurLeMoustache
VIVE LA FRANCE
DaJoW
"Their business is war, and they do their business." - Rudyard Kipling
JohnnyTitelips
Posting here because I know if I reply to the image it'll get buried, relatively very little of the world and this website is Anglo Saxon.
uebermacht
you think french jokes weren't badass?
TheBigM
Read. The French were bad ass.
ThaneofGlamis
I served with the French in Afghanistan. They are STILL badass.
Raguleader
Their battlefield cred is still pretty solid. They were one of our biggest allies in Afghanistan along with the Brits.
Draygen
Jokes come from their early (official) surrender in WW2. People ignore the impact the French Resistance had during the war.
PaulTomblin
And they only sucked in WW2 because WW1 had bled the life out of them.
IspeakFrench
The French resistance were crazy! Balls and ovaries of steel!
Draygen
No doubt. Just check out Charles de Gaulle. Guy was a beast!
DrHenryJonesJr
I've always wished there were photos of 6'5" de Gaulle standing next to 5'3" Stalin. They'd be spectacular
HesusChristos
The Normans were the most badass French people in history.
tchetchechad
Norman's weren't french
datUkrainian
Still are imo
Deathfrombelow
There wouldn't be a US, or Canada for that matter, if it weren't for the French.
MyDragonHeartedSpirit
Exactly. They came to our aid during the American Revolution. One of their top generals helped set up our army.
Jables610
I think you're think of the Prussian, Baron von Steuben
MyDragonHeartedSpirit
The Marquis de Lafayatte is whom I was referring to.
MyDragonHeartedSpirit
Actually, after a little digging, we're both right! "Steuben also worked with Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette to create 1/2
MyDragonHeartedSpirit
a training manual for the Continental Army." http://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/baron-von-steuben/
MZappano
They spit in your general direction
Talmorean
Most of our military terms come from the French Army. Army, Batallion, Infantry, Reconnaissance etc...
TheAlviss
Platoon is canadian. So we have that going for us
dayglo98
Mayday, vanguard
haroldmann
Bayonet
illinus
To be fair, a huge portion of the English lexicon is of French origin. Across many subjects.
HeyGuysAmIRelevantYet
They legit were.
avaricemusic
Yeah they still are. Pretty fierce
AreaMan24
They legit are. Modern French forces get in and mix it up pretty hardcore. There was a post here a while back on it. Wish I'd saved it.
Sc00ba5teeve
The only reason the French are derided in the US is because they opposed the Iraq war.
sunnydelinquent
Even though without them we wouldn't have a country
dudeondudeaction
That and the fact that the Germans seemingly rolled into France during world war 2 with little opposition.
jasta6
That wasn't the only occasion.
dudeondudeaction
I'm hard pressed to think of another.
ElRadis
The 1871 war against Prussia. The French were trounced, mostly by following outdated doctrine, against superior Prussian strategy
JohnJacobJingleHeimerSmitt
I think it's more we've never "lost" a war or been conquered/invaded so it's a stupid American pride or gloating thing about war
losmilzo
Vietnam ?
cocksparkle
"Police action"
TheDivineUsersub
Yeah, but most Americans make a point to forget that little failure when cracking jokes. I always like to remind them how they nearly lost -
TheDivineUsersub
- the advance against Germany in WWII until Hitler made the retarded decision of fucking with Russia.
madetheaccountjustforyou
We talked shit about the French LOOOOOONG before the Iraq war. Fucking children think relevant stuff only happens in their lifetime.
behrditz
no it isnt. It started from ww2. French jokes are way older than the 9/11 era.
Raguleader
Our feelings towards the French have been on a love/hate sine wave since the French and Indian War.
Shickydakubofick
I mean weren't they using horses vs German tanks and machine guns at the start of WWI? I may be wrong about it, but that would take balls.
Shickydakubofick
Thanks for clearing it up for me guys, I can always count on imgurians to know about stuff like this.
cocksparkle
While don't know about that subject, imagine the first people to witness a flamethrower or tank used on them with no idea what it was. Jesus
RexPalpatine
Tanks weren't used before the battle of the Somme actually, and the were used by the Brits, not the Germans
TheRuleOfFools
That was the Poles at the start of WW2
Poligrizolph
You're probably thinking of the Poles in WWII, and the aforementioned charge never actually happened. That story was Nazi propaganda.
Honami88
Both sides still had cavalry at the start of WWI, but generally fell out of use due to the static nature of trench warfare. P1
Honami88
The story was actually from WWII. Polish uhlans charged against a group of German infantries and succeeded before the German tanks arrivedP2
ThaneofGlamis
They were still wearing Napoleonic armor in 1914.
kageboshi
Prior to WWII their martial history is pretty crazy.
SomeOneYouMayKnowOrNot
Nearly 800 years of war with Britain. And plenty of wars with other countries as well.
MyLifeisaComplicatedDrinkingGame
I mean, dude, Napoleon? Napoleon wasn't a pushover, and neither was his army.
WrathOfKanye
Appropriate. https://youtu.be/CApiU7kvgB8
JimBexleySpeedisaliveandwellontheshoresofFiji
Even in WW2 once they got their shit together they were pretty damn awesome.
ByronicFool
Even during WW2 there was the whole resistance thing.
OdinMcGuirk
They mastered trench warfare. To bad the next war wasnt the same.. but them losing paris in 4 days wast because of weakness, it was politics
QuadrilateralEnix
Let's not forget we wouldn't've won our independence without their help.
SenpaiDrumpf
More French around Yorktown (naval + land) than American forces. "Battle of the Chesapeake" made evacuation of Cornwallis impossible.
nothebees
Their marital history even more so.
lurkolas
The ONLY reason they capitulated was because they were trying to save lives. They weren't quite ready for the Germans. They weren't cowards.
Jicks
They held strong along the Maginot Line, the Germans just went north of their forts. Couldn't move that many men that fast, had to surrender
DankPelican
the french were arrogant in thinking the maginot line would stop the germans panzers, who just detoured through a forest instead. Genuises
THEREAINTNOWEEPININTHISHOME
The express goal was to force them to invade from the north while using the Maginot as a staging point for offensives into Germany (1)
THEREAINTNOWEEPININTHISHOME
which they did early in the war. The problem was that Belgium was non-compliant in building defenses because they wanted to be neutral. (2)
bryanew710
Between July and December 1916, the Anglo-French force lost 947,000 men dead. That is 300,000+ more than the US military has lost EVER.
Dollboy1
Americans always turn up at the last minute?
SanSilv
Good job United States?
keyserv
It's absurd how many lives were lost in general in that war. Just absurd.
bryanew710
It was a perfect storm of new hardware and old-school military views. Industrial Revolution meets semi-feudal militaries and Nationalism.
bryanew710
That fact is mind-boggling.
gdat
I think like 10,000 died on the last day of the war. Even when everyone knew it was ending at 11 am. That is an incredible waste of life.
myglassesarebiggerthanyours
That's crazy. Any theories on where they went?
Dollboy1
I thought it was funny
TheGhostofElizabethShue
Burn in hell. +1
bryanew710
If that's a joke, it's honestly in bad taste. I'm talking about people who died in battle.
CrazyCatLad
This is grimgur.
JamesDigby
it was literally a century ago dude
Pauli86
If they're still lost now we are not going to find them
CrazySpaceMonkey
If anyone is interested in ww1 go check out The Great War channel on YouTube, they do week by week episodes on ww1.
CrazySpaceMonkey
And you can get a better understanding about the horror that was ww1. And it's 100 years ago the war took place, so that's pretty neat.
themilkmancometh
Legit one of the best things I've ever seen on YouTube
bryanew710
Dan Carlin's Hard Core History "Blueprint for Apocolypse" was also pretty awesome.
BlackTT600
I'm not trying to take away from the importance of your first statement. But the second half is completely false.
CaptainAvatar
The VA says he's right. I would say that's a definitive source. http://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf
BlackTT600
http://www.civilwar.org/education/civil-war-casualties.html?referrer=android-app://com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox
CaptainAvatar
"Deaths at War" is not the same thing as "Battle Deaths"
BlackTT600
True. But the original comment said "US military deaths EVER." That is false.
bryanew710
At least according to Wikipedia (I need to vet that), total US military deaths are about 650,000 in foreign and domestic conflicts.
BlackTT600
http://www.civilwar.org/education/civil-war-casualties.html?referrer=android-app://com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox
[deleted]
[deleted]
Voidkom
Barely over 500k.
sunnydelinquent
More like 650,000...
InFin0819
It is amazing how much better we are at not dieing. Just kidding war sucks.
bryanew710
It does.
Talmorean
US total war deaths (Combat and other) 1775-Present is 1,354,664+. Combat only is: 666,440+
Broman1099
What are the other casualties?
Talmorean
Disease, infection, accidents. Not sure if dying from wounds sustained in battle counts as combat or other though.
sgtkirill
Depending on the era it can be mixed.
Talmorean
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war
LionHeart31337
Wow! That is crazy. I never knew that. Thank you for sharing that info.
ayjayn
620,000 of them were at the harrowing battle of the somme
Talmorean
The Somme and Verdun were just massive meat grinder clusterfucks. Both Sides.
ayjayn
It's a fucking meat grinder. People go in one end, and meat comes out the other. All we do is turn the handle.
Dreigiau
Doing a little bit of research, the battle of the Somme (the main conflict at the time) had a total of ~620k british/french deaths and 1/x
BlackTT600
I did some research on this too and couldn't find his 900k fatalities. And that is blanket not just battlefield deaths from what I found.
Dreigiau
2/x ~465k german deaths. I didn't find a more general number that included deaths from general skirmishing on other fronts, but that should
Dreigiau
3/x be the vast majority. Of the 620, only 200k were french. As for US military deaths, the US Civil war alone exceeded that number,
Dreigiau
4/5 reaching up to 750k if you don't include US civilian deaths. References in 5/5:
Dreigiau
5/5 http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/battle-of-the-somme for the French losses. US civil war reference in 6/5 because long link
SovietOnion
'EVER' is not true. The US lost ~400,000 in WW2, but if you add up the civil war and various other conflicts it beats that number.
bryanew710
I'm talking strictly military losses.
SovietOnion
So it's not fact. Not trying to take anything from the French, but yeah.
SovietOnion
Correct. Civil War loses were close to half a million IIRC. WW2 loses were around 400,000+. Korea/vietnam combined to another 140-160,000.
bryanew710
All I'm saying is that if that fact doesn't stagger you at least a little, it should.
bryanew710
Point is, what the US military lost in a few *decades* the Anglo-French lost in a few MONTHS of one year in one war.
SovietOnion
Oh yeah, don't get me wrong. That is humbling and terrifying. I'm just anal with my statistics.