It's the same with other EU countries, NATO article 5 has been triggered once, after 911. We came to help and lost many soldiers in Afghanistan etc. Now Russia is a major thread to Europe and the US is actively helping Russia.
I used to get into arguments about the "cowards" thing. Like yeah, they forfeit a time or two and lost a few fights. So have most countries, whether they let you know about it or not.
They have also been a global super power for at least as long as America has existed, or longer, depending on what you consider to be a super power. So yeah, they brushed up against a couple of rough patches in that time lol
I would argue America wouldn't exist without Frances aid, at least not in the form that it does now. Whether that was different founding fathers because of lives lost or still being an English colony one can only guess
I can tell you that the attitude in Poland is along the lines of "we had a defensive pact, but when we actually got attacked, France just refused to come and help, then promptly surrendered".
People need to remember that when France came to honor their pact to help Serbia, we all got WWI and Petain wasn't too keen on doing that again.
Not defending his decision because I don't think there is anything much more shameful than abandoning an ally being attacked, but it's important to maybe understand context.
Those folks have been militaristic badasses through history, from sacking Rome, to Jeanne d'Arc, to Napoleon, to the modern French Foreign Legion. But they make one tactical error with the Maginot Line, and everybody calls them "cowards," SMH.
To be fair, since we're talking about their historical militarism, we can definitively blame the French for being the reason English is so hard to learn and is an inconsistent, bad language all-around. Never forget 1066. Also, before we get the circlejerk going, let's remember that the French government plays dirty just like everyone else, like their insanely unethical nuclear testing in the pacific and their later state-directed terrorism against new Zealand in an attempt to continue said nuclear malfeasance.
ETA: (To be clear, as an american, I'd much rather be French right about now, but we need to be realistic. All humans are crappy in large groups when given unchecked power. I just want to be clear we should be hailing the French people, not the French government)
Yup, that's what it is all about. Divide and conquer. The consolidation of capitalism is happening globally. We are more than them. The only way for them to keep their stolen riches, is to put a wedge between everyone. Imho there is nothing more ridiculous and self harming than nationalism, classism and all of the other -isms.
On the other hand, in my admittedly short visit there, it seemed like the public sector was broken there. You have to summon a magical spirit to find out what day of the month the post office pretends to be open. You have to be currently on fire for the fire department to consider showing up to an emergency... Beautiful country, excellent food, but, I've never seen such a dysfunctional "developed" country. If I was a citizen I'd be pretty pissed all the time as well.
There are still people here who were there for the Resistance.
That's the mentality you guys need to start adopting, because clearly the nice way hasn't worked so far.