How France’s Atomic Cavalry would Fight Nuclear War

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Chapters:
0:00 - The Nuclear Problem
0:44 - Champagne Maneuvers (1950)
1:57 - Javelot Brigade
6:08 - 7th Rapid Mechanized Division
8:06 - Eclair Maneuvers (1955)
10:22 - Cordon Bleu Exercise (1955)
12:13 - Algerian War
13:09 - Legacy & Follow-up Divisions
Sources:
[1] Wilson, J. "Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades". Chapter X: The Search for Atomic Age Division. U.S. Army Center of Military History.
[2] Le Monde (4 Sep 1950). "LES MANŒUVRES DE CHAMPAGNE se sont terminées par une grande bataille aéroterrestre". Le Monde.
[3] Dulith, R. (10 Dec 1953). "'La stratégie doit être fondée sur l'emploi simultané des armes classiques et des armes nucléaires' DÉCLARE M. RENÉ PLEVEN". Le Monde.
[4] Varoqui, R. (28 Sep 1954). "Manoeuvres "Javelot" dans le Bade-Würtemberg"
[5] Débats parlementaires. Council of the Republic - 1 August 1955 Sitting (Full Report). Journal officiel de la république française, p. 2043
[6] Marey, Georges (1954). "À la recherche d'une formule pour l'ère atomique : les enseignements de la manœuvre 'Javelot'". Revue Militaire Suisse, p. 540-547.
[7] Planchais, J. (5 Oct 1954). "LA BRIGADE JAVELOT unité de l'âge atomique peut être le point de départ d'un renouveau militaire français". Le Monde
[8] afvdb.50megs.com/
[9] Muracciole, J. (2023). Préface. Dans : , François Huet, chef militaire du Vercors: Une vie d’officier au service de la France (pp. 4-6). FONTAINE: Presses universitaires de Grenoble.
[10] J.P. (29 March 1955). "LE MATÉRIEL MILITAIRE FRANÇAIS A ÉTÉ PRÉSENTÉ A SATORY A LA PRESSE ET AUX OFFICIERS DE RÉSERVE". Le Monde.
[11] Balazuc, J. (2015). "Guerre d'Algérie: Une chronologie mensuelle Mai 1954 - décembre 1962". L'Harmattan.
[12] Perret-Gentil, J. (1955). "L'exercice 'Éclair' (du 18 au 24.9.55) : les manœuvres expérimentales françaises." Revue Militaire Suisse. p. 570-579
[13] "Les actualités militaires françaises en Allemagne". Film. 6 Oct 1955.
[14] "Resume of Exercise Cordon Bleu" in "MC 43/3 : Report by the Standing Group to the North Atlantic Military Committee on NATO Exercises, 1955" (28 May 1956)
[15] Carter, D. (2014. "Forging the Shield: The U.S. Army in Europem 1951-1962". Chapter 6: 1955: A Year of Transition. U.S. Army Center of Military History. p. 214
[16] Le Monde (16 April 1956). "La 7e D.M.R, défile à Alger". Le Monde.
[17] Le Monde (20 March 1956). "L'UNIFICATION DU COMMANDEMENT". Le Monde.
[18] Panchais, J. (30 March 1956). "1 100 hommes de la 7e D.M.R. venus d'Allemagne ont quitté Marseille pour Alger". Le Monde.
[19] Mehtidis, Alexis. "Notes on the French Army formations and units in Algeria, 1956-1964"
[20] McGrath, J. (2004). "The Brigade: A History, Its Organization and Employment in the US Army". Chapter 6: The Early Modern Brigade, 1958-1972. Combat Studies Institute Press, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
[21] Table of Organization & Equipment Nr. 55-78D. "Armored Carrier Company, Infantry Division Transportation Battalion. 1 February 1960.
[22] Jackson, P. (2005). "French Ground Force Organization and Counterrevolutionary Warfare 1945 - 1962". Chapter 3: Organizational development during the war in Algeria. p. 80.
[23] de Loës (1960). "La réforme des structures divisionnaires". Revue Militaire Suisse.
[24] Jackson, P. (2005). "French Ground Force Organization and Counterrevolutionary Warfare 1945 - 1962". Chapter 3: Organizational development during the war in Algeria. p. 78.
[25] Grosjean & Balazuc (2017). "HISTOIRE : Décembre 1960, Bataille du djebel Beni-Smir". legionetrangere.dr
[26] Gentil-Perret, J. (1970). "La division mécanisée française : type 1967". Revue Militaire Suisse. p. 426-437
[27] de Lajudie, C. (2019). "Heurs et malheurs des régiments interarmes" in "L’interarmes ou la combinaison des armes". Revue de tactique générale. p. 40.
[28] Aïcardi, C. "Les Divisions 1977". cavaliers.blindes.free.fr
[29] Francou, J. (1978). "Rapport d'information fait au nom de la Commission des finances, du Contrôle budgétaire et et des Comptes économiques de la National (1) à la suite de la mission effectuée du 21 au 23 mars 1978 auprès des Forces françaises en Allemagne". French Senate Report No. 443

[@BattleOrder]

Go to ground.news/battleorder to broaden your understanding of the world. Use my link to get 40% off the unlimited access Ground News Vantage plan.

[@davisdelp8131]

Nice video good job

[@anon2034]

Battle Order can you please show us the battle order and operation of the Russian "Assault Detachment concept" or "Storm - Z". Is is the same as the one used by Wagner in Bahmut? I read a lot of it on the Internet, but no one showed what exactly this is and I find it very confusing. I trust you that you can explain it to noobs like me.

[@BattleOrder]

@@anon2034 I have a video from last year that explains what the assault detachments are: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6qUfmN-eJmspNU

[@anon2034]

@@BattleOrder Thank!

[@latenerd2441]

This video is excessively long and superfluous. France would surrender.

[@00Athus1]

Bro the 50s was just a big ass"fuck it, nuke the bitch" button....the early to mid cold war was wild AF, we need more videos on this era.

[@Real_Claudy_Focan]

French used to have a very tought tactical nuke doctrine. Rest of "big ones" have a more strategical tought about these..

[@blackops555]

Getting invaded twice before the halfway point of the century definitely colors your perspective on using the funni button to prevent that from happening again.

[@_17_55_]

@@blackops555French superfunni to fight German normalfunni

[@davidlefranc6240]

@@blackops555 Especialy no more outdated Petain allowed!

[@brekgar89]

bravo to the French scientist on figuring it out on their own

[@asdsdjfasdjxajiosdqw8791]

"Éclair manoeuvrers" is what I will call my breakfast from now on.

[@jean-bastienjoly5962]

"It will start at 0730 ,and end at 0735, following the total anihilation of the 12 elements from the ennemy force."

[@greg_mca]

And then 12 hours later comes the cordon bleu exercise

[@quentin6893]

​@@greg_mca😂😂😂

[@gtsoul2]

And rename "making pincer manœuvrer" by "forming the croissant".

[@Balrog2005]

Éclair means lightning, I imagine you are making a reference to the pastry with the same name. It's because of the usualy light color of the frosting and the fact that you can eat that thing very quickly putting all in your mouth.

[@archiegeorge3969]

France seemed to recognize that they needed combined arms at lower levels than the US. Did you come across any documents about how they made that decision?

[@varek9019]

maybe budget

[@murphy7801]

Eh France has done alot of combat in Africa. Where the size and lack infrastructure has always forced more independence and logistics low overheads.

[@Real_Claudy_Focan]

They also studied deeply the finnish "Motti Tactic" and their plan was to turn every significant city beside Paris as some sort of FOB to strikes flanks of invading columns Look up for Motti tactics, what they did was very similar ! (you might even found some french papers on that)

[@ommsterlitz1805]

It's the opposite France focus higher technology weapons than the US but in much fewer numbers

[@IvanRoi_]

The fact that we endured a Blitzkrieg on our own soil may have played a role in the adoption of this doctrine

[@borismedovar9968]

I love everything French Cold War

[@rick7424]

That thumbnail is spectacular!

[@dorgeshuun]

- We need to make cillian Murphy french. - Give him a képi. - Not french enough. - Give him a moustache. - parfait !

[@rienneant7607]

But wait, it was altered! The handlebar moustache seems to be gone. Mordious!🤬

[@dorgeshuun]

@@rienneant7607 as well as cillian murphy

[@dorgeshuun]

Damn, this video changes thumbnails faster than France changes constitutions.

[@rienneant7607]

@@dorgeshuun Now we know the effects of low-yield tactical nuclear warfare.

[@diestormlie]

I think there's an interesting parallel to be made here between the Javelot/Pentatomic concepts and what we're currently seeing in Ukraine, in that they're both wrestling with the same tension between force concentration and force vulnerability. Sure, in the case of Ukraine the threat is Drones, so many Drones rather than Nukes, but the solution still seems ro be somewhat the same: Ensure that forces are mobile and manoeuvreable enough that they can rapidly concentrate and disperse as required.

[@WhiteStar762]

well put

[@lagrangewei]

small organic unit simply doesn't work. Ukraine and Russia quickly rearrange their force back to divisions. the issue is it is unlikely for the force to not suffer attrition lost, be it to mud or wear and tear, if you have just enough unit to do the mission, you are basically screwed if any of your subunit loses a platform. if the commander can call other unit in, he can keep his core mission going. it not like a division is concentated at a single spot for nuke to hit anyway. it is far more valuable to hit the supply depot than unit HQ, it doesn't matter how big or small your unit is, if their supplies are gone, they are no longer able to continue. trying to "take less lost" and lose your "ability to complete your mission" is ultimately a pointless and stupid idea. the primarily goal of organisation is not to minimise lost, but to complete it mission.

[@WhiteStar762]

@@lagrangewei One of the main problems with the BTG's was the lack of enough organic infantry, the French javalin unit had zero infantry. Which blows my mind. Although they prob figured driving around and irradiated wasteland wont have much need for infantry.

[@sylvananas7923]

During the cold war Stalin himself had given orders that if combat was to break out between the Warsaw Pact and NATO that the Soviet Union was to avoid France at all cost, he saw France as the one danger able to tip the balance

[@rienneant7607]

More like a "sliced salami" tactic than a true reluctance to engage the French army, IMHO. After all, in the early 1950s, defending France's former arch-enemy against France's former allies would not have been an easy decision to swallow for the public opinion, NATO or not. So eliminating NATO one country at a time by not going after everybody all at once would have been (and still is) a valid political strategy.

[@aaronhalminen1838]

Love the way you include excercises in the video. Keep up the great work!

[@gnarkgnarkgnarkgnark1933]

It's crasy how you can still feel the effect of the Javelot model to our concept of "fulgurance" or like the whole moto of the land forces : "Souple, félin, manoeuvrier". It's fun to see a structure of forces thought over a german campaign being adapted to counter-rebelion and then becoming a central tenet of how the french army thinks they have to fight now.

[@TheFrenchscot]

You are right! But the Germans inspired their Blitzkrieg from Napoléon, who, around the corps system, introduced the concept of Guerre Éclair. We are just goign back to the fundamentals!

[@hightpha9588]

Actually the blitzgrig as the german saw it was innovated by sir basil liddle hart.

[@TheFrenchscot]

@@hightpha9588 Innovated by an historian who was born 100 years after Napoléon was applying it on the field? The corps system was built by him to sustain this tactic of "guerre éclair" and it's still taught in every military school in the World. The Germans, or should i say Prussia, took inspiration from Napoléon for the 1st time in the war of 1870. Successfully. They tried to do it again in 1914 and almost suceeded. By 1940, it was nothing new. The only innovation resided in the use of tanks as mobile cavalry units (hence tank units are now "cavalry"), while the French were still using it as infantry support, following the doctrine initiated, with success, in 1917. De Gaulle wanted to apply this German way, even putting forward that the concept of "guerre éclair" was a french one and would have a key role in the war to come... But his opinion got rejected as he was only a colonel and WW1 generals were still ruling the high command. Basil H. Liddell Hart was one of the historian to point this and to underline the role of tanks in the 2 world wars.

[@gnarkgnarkgnarkgnark1933]

@@TheFrenchscot If I may, Napoleon was no theorician. When you say guerre éclairE, are you referring to what Jomini or Clausewitz wrote ? Because I don't recall any mention of it.

[@TheFrenchscot]

@@gnarkgnarkgnarkgnark1933 1/. Napoléon was both a theorician and applied his tactics. He didn't have time to write books whike he was fightong coalitions, even if he wrote a mathematic treatise whike crossing the Alps on his way to Austria (and many letters all along his life that show his deep human side, contrary to what the Brits wanted to show of him). 2/. It's "guerre éclair" (lightning/thunder), not "éclaire" (=to light on). 3/you don't need to write something in order to invent it. Clausewitz has nothing to do with the blitzkrieg. He was just inspiring himself from Napoléon while describing his manoeuvers. Let le be clear : Napoléon applied for the 1st time concept of Guerre Éclair, he even created the corps system to sustain it. It was then copied by the Prussians and Germans who, in the 30s, along with De Gaulle in 1935 in "Au fil de l'épée", theorized it with tanks acting as mobile hammers to pierce through lines and encircle (le marteau et l'enclume of de Gaulle). When Guderian used it, the Blitzkrieg was almost 150 years old in its use. In fact, Napoléon inspired himself fron ancient tacticians too if we want to be more precise.

[@darkness1293]

You know Battle Order I'm curious if you were going to create your own army or unit what would it look like? Era, type, doctrine, etc all free to pick. Hell you could collab with Templin Institute again

[@andrewwiggins9262]

I’ve been wondering the same thing

[@hubris_ssb]

This would be a based video

[@theromanorder]

Would depend on his goals, resorces and situation

[@ChilliMumOfChaos]

I'm going to make fan art of this

[@Real_Claudy_Focan]

A very important thing to note is that the creation of this Brigade was also done to appease the very complicated internal politics within the Army. Navy was the first to be "nuclearized" along the Air Force. The Army wasnt deemed "politically safe" enough to be given nuclear weapons (no joke) Apparently some very high ranked bitched enough to politicians to get their nukes too but only and only IF the Army was somehow "purged" from any former communist leaning officers ! All this info can be found in a 4 episodes documentary about the french nuclear program (in french only), so i roughly resumed here for you folks ! Nowadays, Army lost their mobile nukes after losing their static ones from Albion platteau. French nuclear "triad" isnt really a "triad" anymore. It's more of a combination of SNLE (SLBM) and supersonic cruise missiles "ASMP-A's" (and soon, -NG)

[@barmybarmecide5390]

I mean, the OAS was a thing, it's not like those fears were entirely misplaced

[@orchidahussuhadihcro9862]

@@barmybarmecide5390 oas was not communist though. at the time communist influence was a real thing in the french civil society

[@johnwotek3816]

@@orchidahussuhadihcro9862 Yup, the Indochina war is a good exemple of that, with commies blocking the port in France responsible for the logistic for Indochina, or young officer with communist affiliation deserting and delivering weapon to the FLN and ALN during the Algerian war.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

​@@orchidahussuhadihcro9862Do you really trust the Army after many of them (first of them was Petain) willingly surrender and collaborate with the Nazis, and the reason they are amenable to the Nazis is that they hate Dreyfus and consider him a traitorous Jew, and double down on their antisemitism because Dreyfus was innocent all along despite the two convictions? Remember the time they tried to do a coup just because they don't like De Gaulle giving up Algeria?

[@BillionsWillDie]

@@theotherohlourdespadua1131 Wtf I love the French army now

[@rienneant7607]

As always, an excellent and instructive video! From what I can gather, the emphasis on manoeuver remained a characteristic of French doctrine throughout the Cold War.

[@alexandredevert4935]

The "anti-tank grunts in a unimog" was the precursor to "grunts in a Toyota Hilux" concept. The later did a rampage against Lybian tanks in the 80's

[@rienneant7607]

Ah yes, Chad's "technicals". takes us waaaaaay back, during the Manta and Epervier operations.

[@mearalain3006]

Très bien. Continuez votre effort.

[@theoneandonlysoslappy]

An absolutely fascinating period. Tactical nukes and mass parachute drops.

[@sasha1mama]

To Javelot units: Jagatai Khan called. He says he likes your moxie.

[@admiraltiberius1989]

France having nuclear weapons is absolutely fascinating when you consider the bi polar nature of their post WW2 mindset and politics.

[@leonidasthermopylae3378]

Bi polar ? Can you elaborate ? Because when you know France and their international you can see that the French have a very logical approach when it comes to strategy.

[@alexeysaphonov232]

Well bipolar nature is sort of oversimplification. In Ost block you had USSR (Stalin) and China (Mao) and Jugoslavia (Tito), later you had cases for Czechoslovak republic and Hungeria, later Albania (prefered Mao to Stalin) and Romania (which took Western money) and then you see that even sovjet republics (not Ost block) want out. In the West Block France is maybe the most visible case (established, left and re-entered NATO), but Turkey/Greece are also an interesting case. UK and Ireland.

[@leonidasthermopylae3378]

@@alexeysaphonov232 sorry but you are wrong. France actually never left NATO. They just left the integrated command as France decided to have its own independent nuclear deterrence which is different. But since its inception France has always remained within nato.

[@Balrog2005]

Bi polar, you mean independent ?

[@alexeysaphonov232]

@@leonidasthermopylae3378 nevertheless when we are talking about two poles we must understand that there were a lot of powers which could act rather independently.

[@johnenembe1025]

Amx-13 my beloved

[@ComfortsSpecter]

You’ll Get a Stable Thumbnail Eventually Keep Trying Adorable Work Great Effort Incredible History

[@wcm8909]

That thumb nail 😂😂😂

[@elwin7964]

France had some kinf of very old cult for fast and furious doctrine - leading to great successes or huge defeat.

[@JeremyPoulain-gp1ly]

French High Command : so the Americans want to do some training maneuvers this year, let's ask them how to name this operation. American staff : "Cordon Bleu" French High Command : Sacrebleu ! ☠

[@aldgate]

Just a question I've had for a while, how do these military simulations between nations work? I mean how do they simulate battle without actually shooting people?

[@horseman2777]

At this time, two friendly units pretend to be hostile and maneuver against each other. Casualties are simulated by judges, who decide which units are “killed” when units are pretending to fight, based on how each unit maneuvers Nowadays we use laser tag instead of judges

[@aldgate]

@@horseman2777 Thank you, that actually makes a lot of sense.

[@JeffEbe-te2xs]

Still,use umpires

[@kapkapi]

Atomic cavalry is such a cool statement

[@KenshiroPlayDotA]

8:21 : Being stationed in Ravensburg leaves people puzzled. 10:28 : 7DMR went ham with this exercise !

[@florinivan6907]

Of course how well would these ideas have fared in an actual nuke war is debateable. They may have had some use if only a few nukes got used but any widespread use would see the collapse of civilian infrastructure and by extension drag the military down with it. The truth is even a limited use would overwhelm emergency services. Some countries cannot survive even one nuke like Belgium. They simply lack the personell. But its a nice discussion.

[@JeffEbe-te2xs]

Considering roads and railroads go to cities

[@rc59191]

I got a game that goes into depth about this called Cuban Missile Crisis.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

Im disapointed about the lack of guys riding mutated horses through radioactive wastelands😂

[@RT-rx2sj]

You know, I’m just going to point out that Meth was legal in most places in the fifties. Do with that as you will.

[@GreenGi]

La manœuvre cordon bleu ! J'adore

[@kiankier7330]

BattleOrder, I get an idea for a video: Look at the order of battle of the Royal Danish army during the interwar period to answer how the Danes would fight ww2 (if our Government at the time don't suck)

[@Ivan-vn1pd]

hey since there is probably a big crossover, could you do these on the divisions of WARNO

[@dorgeshuun]

Damn, this video changes thumbnails faster than France changes constitutions.

[@rienneant7607]

Almost there, but hey, we tend to move slower. This is a Javelot thumbnail on steroids.

[@saturnv2419]

"Told you, Market Garden would have worked if Montgomery had just drive faster!" ---------Every British people after watching this video.

[@trayvondcrawford8186]

Does anyone know the background music 🎶? It's catchy.😊

[@hhhhhhhhh1071]

I like how their cities are also food names so when they name their exercises by city names it sounds hilarious

[@robertnebot9863]

France does such interesting things

[@Sprejzastaklo]

These nuclear war brigades are interesting wish we can see what russians had

[@Co3_off]

"and had way more speeeeed"

[@khalidmohak6708]

Great thumbnail 😂

[@WhiteStar762]

This reminds me of a scaled up Russian BTG

[@secretbaguette]

Here because I remember when the thumbnail had Oppenheimer in it.

[@JeffEbe-te2xs]

Didn’t the French soldier on your picture use to have a mustache?

[@hydromaestro1298]

the logic of thinking seems to be something that at least understands that once the nono toys get handed out the normal ways of warfare become meaningless, considering the implications of a war where governments decide that mushroom farming is something that they want to share with all their problems

[@rienneant7607]

Pretty much. IIRC at some point there were some theoricians proposing that there should be no conventional warfare or nuclear escalation options, and that France's doctrine in case of a war threatening her territory should be to use the entire nuclear triad. I can understand the reasoning (maximum deterrence value) but of course that's painting yourself in a nuclear corner where you HAVE to go full nuclear nutjob or throw in the towel.

[@flip849]

What at gun is this? 12:14

[@BattleOrder]

LRAC-50 73mm

[@GroundGame.]

*One word, just one word: Nuclear S-Cargo en Baguettes*

[@TitouFromMars]

11:22 NATO HQ wanted to troll the Brits or what?

[@Bhoenix]

>chuckPOSINT now who could this refer to lmao

[@JcDent]

Love how militaries go "you know what? Fuck brigades, we regimenting up in here" and other weird changes. Double points if it gets rolled back ten years down the line.

[@Abject_Denial]

Countryball!

[@aloof_cardinal]

France during nuclear war: *gotta go fast*

[@rienneant7607]

Hey no time to lose, these isotopes wait for no man!

[@user-wg3wj6ur9z]

Battle for Algiers great movie.

[@kevinvigue]

Colibri

[@DeathSocrates]

Is this similar to US's Pantomic Army?

[@boosterh1113]

Different solution to the same problem. Problem: How do conventional forces fight on a battlefield where nuclear weapons can be used? American Answer (Pentomic Division): A giant blob of infantry, designed to dig in over such wide area that even if you nuked part of it, enough would be left intact to still be a respectable fighting force. Logistics and reinforcement for this giant blob were to be handled by vast quantities of army aviation, and centralized transport units that could be sent where needed (neither of which were actually available in the requisite quantities). French Answer (Javelot Division): A light, fast Cavalry unit, designed to spread far enough apart that they don't present enough a of a target in one spot to be worth nuking, but which can be rapidly concentrated for a strike when needed. Speed and range were prioritized over protection and mass, so logistics was less of a concern, but they relied on initiative and surprise to engage heavier units, because they would likely not be powerful or resilient enough to fight an infantry or armoured division head on.

[@DeathSocrates]

@@boosterh1113 You seem pretty informed on the subject. Where can I learn more?

[@nathanbot5373]

Suboptimal nuke strikes again

[@darksars3622]

Skip da ad 3:55

[@m1ghtyboar]

Thx for nuking my Hometown in the intro 😅

[@strykenine7902]

That is a cursed thumbnail.

[@VieneLea]

Guys at r/noncredibledefense are going to love this!

[@poltorakmdracing4595]

Baguettes will be launched

[@SawThumbz]

I take it Oppenheimer with a Kepi offended some KZbin nonsense algorithm, LOL

[@Miamithesergal]

Je suis devenu la mort, destructeur des mondes.

[@luckyFrenchy]

French army in the 60´s is so sexy, AMX 13 have an awful looks

[@star_scream9349]

Reminder that France had conducted nuclear tests on Algerian soil with Algerian individuals spread out at different distances from ground zero to observe the effects.

[@grine6966]

"Algerian individuals spread out at different distances from ground zero to observe the effects"? I know that France did a lot of nuclear test (17 in total underground&aboveground) and an estimation of at least 30.000 (estimated by algeria news agency) algerians developping sickness due to this. But if I haven't been able to find anything about that second part of your comment, can you tell me more?

[@hightpha9588]

Actually this was prooved to be false. The famous pictures where manequins. Even after the war all historian agree on this cause the unclassifed documents show to all opération with no civilians

[@OtherlingQueen]

Can we all just sit back one moment and appreciate how western armies were literally stopped from causing nuclear devastation upon the world some 70 years ago? Back then this was normal.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

You can thank Truman for that. He put his foot down when Macarthur wanted to nuke the Yalu River and Manchuria back in 1951. Yes, it's a tactically sound idea but that just set a precedent for the Soviets to do the same thing, or worse see the Cuban Missile Crisis escalate...

[@davisdelp8131]

FRENCH

[@pyeitme508]

Hon hon hon that goes the microwave baguette 🥖😂

[@halflifeapc8777]

Sounds like they might need these again if they try to intervene in the Special Military Operation in Ukraine

[@adrien5834]

Dude. French nukes work, unlike Soviet relics. Could you even launch without them blowing up your face? I'm pretty sure you guys lost the manuals anyway.

[@halflifeapc8777]

@@adrien5834 why don’t you give it a chance then Frenchie. What are you afraid? Will the free Frenchmen please stand up for poor little Fascist Ukraine? Petain is rolling in his grave at the cowardice of France for sitting this war out

[@scaucymancannotdiebaby7034]

​@@halflifeapc8777 😂😂😂 vatnik

[@rienneant7607]

@@halflifeapc8777 You're... mixing everything up. And to think there was a time, not so long ago, when Rah Rah Russia fanbois were actually smarter than Rah Rah USA ones... Sad.

[@JenAiMarreDeSaucisse]

@@halflifeapc8777 you don't know shit about our history apparently. that would have been De Gaulle, and even then the situation is wildly different now than it was during WW2 or the 60s. Also yeah, Petain was the one to surrender to the germans.

[@theMooly]

0:45 "When France army was remade in America image".... Do you realise US Army in ww2 was made on France image .. How could we make our army on your image if you already did on us... Why historical facts in America are so far from the truth, I try my hardest to watch youtube videos featuring french content, but these type of things polluting the subject, assuming france is a sub country with seemingly no heritage or legacy. Is a total no.

[@BattleOrder]

French Army force structure literally adopted American ones when it was rebuilt by the US prior to 1944, and they used American equipment. Those structures, particularly in armored divisions, were quite different from what the French were doing in 1940. The developments in the mid-to-late-1950s replaced this. French historians acknowledge this.

[@canicheenrage]

​@@BattleOrder To my knowledge, mostly, and by far, true. Units like the 2e DB, reequiped with american equipment, *and* integrated directly into an american army, would directly switch to a US structure. Other units, like some colonial infantry units, would switch or keep a french organisation; And depending on the circumstances, the switch could be reversed ( like the near complete demechanisation at Monte Cassino, the mass purchase of mules, to assault the crests, instead of the sterile and too costly coslty anglo-us assault with mechanised infantry in the valley of the last 9 months). But on the whole, the french forces were adopting a US organisation as their troops were reequipped.

[@jerrymiller9039]

The French army collapsed at the start of the war so no that is not what the US Army was based on

[@theMooly]

@@BattleOrder Sources ? Because we do not. There is a massive difference between integration in army, and general doctrine, we did not "copy" or "do like American" we have our own doctrine and division organisation. In fact Shermans and most of ww2 vehicles are from French design, if you want to go that way . . . Please source your claim that "French historians" are saying so. Because (I doubt adding other channel link here is allowed?) I can link you at bare minimum 4 different researchers and historians who scientifically explain the opposite, with respect sir.

[@xusmico187]

french army...

[@leonidasthermopylae3378]

The French army been fighting for 1500 years and has the highest number of military victories. More than the Brits. I am not even talking about the us army.

[@tibsky1396]

Of course, there was a period of decadence during WW2, but that doesn't change the fact that it has always been a Huge Military Powerhouse of Europe for centuries. Whether the Frankish or Crusading periods, High Middle Ages, Renaissance, Absolutism Ages, Revolutionnary, Napoleonic or Industrial periods, etc...

[@redwithblackstripes]

...defined what warfare is since the 8th century

[@hyrikul602]

When your knowledge on history is limited at hollywood movie about WW2 and internet meme, it's easy to pass for a stupid person by saying things like that.

[@rienneant7607]

Yes, it is indeed. Kudos for getting it right, I guess, though the video's title kinda gave the game away.

[@avb4805]

💪😉

[@user-ni9zb4mk7f]

French would surrender.

[@hightpha9588]

Learn history pls. Over 1000+ victory and most succesfull military ever