The French Resistance - was it of any use to anyone?

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Who organised the French Resistance? Did it ever do much?
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I had planned to say a lot more, but this should be long enough. In take one, which I had to ditch because my sound recorder packed in half-way through it (but I didn't notice, so carried on), I talked quite a bit about Wing Commander F.F.E. Yeo-Thomas AKA 'The White Rabbit' who did a lot of organising the French Resistance, and I was also planning to talk about 'R.A.F. blackmail sabotage' but perhaps that will come out in another video another day. Probably not, though. Never mind - sixteen minutes should be long enough for anyone.
Many of the figures I quote were fresh in my mind because I had just read them in "Dadland" by Keggie Carew. Another influential book on this video was "The White Rabbit" about Wing Commander FFE Yeo-Thomas.
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[@Geothesponge111]

"French People's Resistance? Fuck off! We're the People's Resistance of France!"

[@scottlazaric]

SPLITTERS!!!

[@wyattroncin941]

Geo Da Sponge this is exactly the petty bullshit that the british had to deal with.

[@guycxz]

Since it's the internet, should the suicide squad drink bleach?

[@thomasdupont7186]

""French People's Resistance? Fuck off! We're the People's Resistance of France!"' who's "we" ? And who did you resist against lately ? leafyishere ?

[@mauro12mdp]

monty python? haha

[@fossy4321]

I read somewhere that the most successful French resistance fighter was an old man who worked as a night watchman in a railway yard, all he did was swap destination plates on freight wagons which caused widespread chaos!

[@dougshiner9180]

Magnifique!!

[@pravkdey]

🤌mmm Perfecto. Troll those Nazis old fella!

[@voodooprince5561]

I imagine this was an especially poignant strategy considering the psychology of the German

[@iriscollins7583]

Love him.

[@bickyboo7789]

Lmao that's awesome

[@cadiencanaille4387]

No sane person in France thinks that the French liberated France by themselves. They are very grateful for the sacrifices made by their allies

[@dewittbourchier7169]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Resistance#1944:_The_height_of_the_Resistance

[@garethbeare7319]

Couldn't handle a small arm, well, to save their fucking life.

[@gothicspoon]

This. Our history classes make it very clear that France was basically a massive pushover at the time. I've never met anyone who actually thought the Resistance liberated our country.

[@zed1207]

I've heard it from some far-right Gaullists.

[@simonbarabash2151]

But how many sane people do you find in France?

[@gabrielboi3465]

To quote an Italian monarchist partisan: “We do talk with the communists, with a pistol pointed at them under the table but we do talk.”

[@baliksupper6043]

Stop quoting Italian monarchists ,they’re dickheads.

[@MIMALECKIPL]

@@baliksupper6043 Communists were even worse. Be happy you didn't have to live in communism.

[@MIMALECKIPL]

@Noah Only if it's absolute monarchy.

[@nni9310]

Where did you come across that anecdote? Dove hai trovato quell'aneddotto?

[@wendel5868]

@Noah If you are the monarchist, sure.

[@DANINJAPIGEON]

doesn't matter France was going for the culture victory anyways.

[@anttioikarinen2960]

wont get much tourism after bismarck has razed all your cities tho.

[@MrEvanfriend]

Yeah, those berets, striped shirts, and twirly mustaches prove that you lost that one YEARS ago. Italian food is better than French food, and beer is better than wine.

[@rorke6092]

well they failed. Paris is a shithole

[@DANINJAPIGEON]

it okay because Bismark went for autocracy, also a lot of unhappiness from annexed cities, so u just have to have culture influence over them and wait for a ton of barbarians to spawn in their empire.

[@Xylos144]

And now they have McDonalds in-country.

[@TheArmored123]

''with the help of the armies of...'' oh well at least hes gonna give the allies some credit ''...france'' oh....oh no...

[@cya2206]

Maybe because he was french president and chief of Free France..

[@cya2206]

Jean Moulin got his own street and he was in France, killed by the Gestapo/milice.

[@leforestierdamien877]

well he said that to prevent a us occupation like in germany, as, if you don't know it, french regular government was diriged by petain, and was allied with the nazi... so yeah he said that on purpose.

[@matthewelliot5696]

le forestier damien that only happend bc of Russian occupation

[@benoitbvg2888]

He could've mentioned the allies, but De Gaulle was only speaking of Paris in that speech. Allies just wanted to go around Paris, it was the French who disobeyed and went into Paris to help the Resistance who had taken arms a bit prematurely.

[@TheMightyNaryar]

As a Frenchman, I can say never underestimate the quarrelsomeness of another Frenchman. Especially against other Frenchmen. *looks at political climate in France*

[@humansvd3269]

I heard a lot of Frenchmen accused other Frenchmen as collaborators in order to settle grudges that existed before the war.

[@TheMightyNaryar]

@@humansvd3269 Yes, that happened. But to be honest... I'm pretty sure that would happen in any country.

[@shuaguin5446]

@@humansvd3269 Even more who denouced people to the German as communist or jewish for land, monatary gain or revenge. When i was teenage my teacher took me to a reading of a few of those "denonciation letters". Truly nausating. (also made all the 4th grade class meet a Dachau survivor). False denonciation for personal gain. It is a classic in time of civil war, repression or occupation.

[@jiversteve]

Take a close look at UK politics today, a divided union and full expectation of the final fracture of the commonwealth.

[@jiversteve]

Flora Buttee Proper democracy relies on an opposition, otherwise you have a dictatorship or a fascist state. Which are you advocating?

[@lomax343]

2016: "Count yourself lucky, the first take lasted twenty-three minutes. Four years later, that would count as a very short Lindy video.

[@GoErikTheRed]

I always find it cute to look back at the days when Lindy felt he needed to keep these short

[@philosophymythsandlegends3153]

I know right. I'd feel robbed if he posted a 20 min video these days haha

[@capcompass9298]

@@philosophymythsandlegends3153 8 minutes of Lost History. C'est terrible.

[@davidelliott5843]

Lindybeige the master of the single take complete with side tracks and keeping it all interesting.

[@Ammo08]

Supposedly Sir Winston Churchill said, "Every French prostitute that gave a German soldier the clap said she was in the Resistance."

[@GeorgHaeder]

Which most possibly did take more german soldiers out of action than the French Army and the Resistance all together.

[@GFSLombardo]

Churchill did not like anybody; including most of the British people. He is deservedly the ALL TIME GO-TO- GUY whenever a snappy, snarky quote is needed about anyone or anything. Kind of like the Bible and the lyrics of the songs of the Beatles and Bob Dylan. Just sayin'...

[@iliakorvigo7341]

Gary L I guess, it makes him the most British man possible.

[@DawnOfTheDead991]

The people on the UK Channel Islands taken by the Germans weren't noted for their heroic resistance either.

[@rien2000]

Si même les français se mettent à taper sur nos resistants en soutenant ces cons d'anglais biaisés... On se demande pourquoi la France va si mal, moi je sais.

[@maxwallstrom3170]

Just take away the word ”resistance” from the title and you have the most British/Lindybeige title ever

[@718Gilbert]

With Lloyd starting the video "..... No.... No...

[@ommsterlitz1805]

General Patton cabled General Koenig, the French commander of the TF1, that the spectacular advance of his (Patton's) army across France would have been impossible without the fighting aid of the FFF . . General Patch estimated that from the time of the Mediterranean landings to the arrival of our troops at. Dijon, the help given to our operations by the FYI was equivalent, to four full divisions. The Maquis who defended the Massif Central, in the south-central part of France, had two Nazi divisions stymied they kept those two divisions from fighting against us. The magnificent fight the Free French put up at Bir Hakeim, in the Libyan campaign, will he long remembered in the annals of heroism. Perhaps some of us don't like to pass out bouquets to anyone but ourselves . Perhaps we have short memories .

[@kxkxkxkx]

Honestly I just came here for the most anti-French perspective there could be on the French resistance... Was not disappointed💯 / I think Lloyd likes the French even less than the Germans lol 😂

[@TheMrWalterEgo]

The resistance sheltered my grandfather's brother (Downed Lancaster pilot) for over a year before DDay happened. They did so at great peril to themselves and their loved ones. For that and the memories he had a chance to share with my father and myself, I am eternally grateful.

[@notreallydavid]

Thanks for sharing this. I haven't words that are up to the task of expressing my admiration for your grandfather's brother, and those who sheltered him. Very best wishes, T.

[@Tele999zzz]

so you wouldn't be alive maybe?

[@umarabdullah5510]

That's a cool story.

[@TravelsWithATwist]

@@umarabdullah5510 cool, but fake

[@TukozAki]

Lindybeige: « What do you think, these people were British agents operating under French disguise. »

[@andrewclayton4181]

Where the French resistance were really useful was: 1. Supplying intelligence about German movements and operations. Particularly the coastal defences and the V weapon sites. 2. Helping evaders and ex Pow's get to Spain.

[@lindsayheyes925]

The rat-lines were separate organisations to the Resistance and not run by SOE. They were run by MI9 for the RAF and by Naval Intelligence for the Royal Navy. MRD Foot wrote an excellent book on the subject, but without the benefit of TNA documents which have since been released. It turns out that the assistance given to downed allied airmen involved a vast number of families in many occupied countries. It was highly organised on the basis that aircrew were of immense value. It started with training and equipping them for escape and evasion, preparing for structured escape coordination in PoW camps, and setting up cellular rat-lines based on safe-houses run by local volunteers who risked their lives for allied airmen and soldiers. It was enormously successful. The post-war meeting rooms of the RAF Escaping Society were at the former Duke of York's HQ on the Queen's Road in Chelsea, part of what is now The Saatchi Gallery. One for Lindybeige then... MI9, but not just the French bit.

[@mamavswild]

Ok. I’ll give them that. Not much else rhoughh

[@lindsayheyes925]

@@mamavswild That's a tad begrudging. I was lucky to be invited to a private lecture on this subject in 2019 which was based on new research. It turns out that published histories have entirely underestimated the sheer volume of ordinary people - mainly women - involved in the rescue of downed pilots and escapees throughout occupied Europe because they did so in secret and did not claim credit for their actions in the period after the war. This was at the greatest possible risk to their lives and the lives of their families. A lot of research is still to be done now that National Archives on the subject are open to professional historians - the outstanding work of M.R.D. Foot on MI9 could hardly grasp the scale of it, although the first-hand accounts that he used did result in a very impressive account. The free peoples of Europe all owe a huge debt to these wonderful people, and their effort should never be casually diminished - these were civilians, after all. They were amazing, and it is difficult to imagine that people would be so willing to take up such a challenge today. When the books come out over the next few years, they will be well worth reading.

[@DanAndHoe]

@@lindsayheyes925 My grandfather was in a resistance cell in the Netherlands and they mainly saved downed pilots and, after Operation Market Garden, British troops stuck behind enemy lines. He was part of an incredibly large network, and many people of the network were hardly aware who was in another group. I'm sure it was no different in other occupied countries. In recent years multiple books were written on my grandfather's cell and their activities in their area, including stories from pilots they helped. It is so interesting to read!

[@lindsayheyes925]

@@DanAndHoe I am full of admiration for people like him. Long may they be remembered.

[@89Keith]

britain: "stop! you need to work together and fight our common enemy" French resistance: "the judean peoples front?!?"

[@mandowarrior123]

@Le Dernier Gaulois france definitely stayed and fought with it's friend Czechoslovakia.

[@ahmedtauseef8196]

Pfffff... Had they fought the outcome wouldn't have changed much rather than the french surrendering surprisingly earlier than they did IRL

[@frankstein7631]

Judea.

[@frankstein7631]

Judean.

[@HATEgoo-gle]

And fight for his RIGHT to have babies!

[@gokce9521]

lindybeige?France?WW2? oh boy

[@oz_jones]

Hold on your brodies, lads, shit is about to get intense.

[@adamfrisk956]

Stuffing intensifies.

[@impersonal6959]

"There's a shitstorm coming Ned. I don't know when; I don't know how... But it's coming."

[@egrif]

[Popcorn popping intensifies]

[@sirpig8899]

Those were the days!

[@eleveneleven572]

In the French Resistance Museum near to where I live, St Marcel, theres a brilliant French poster. Its a cartoon big German soldier with a pigs face. Underneath it says:- Born in Germany Raised in Poland Fattened in France Slaughtered by the English

[@tytanowyjanusz9984]

Eaten by the Americans?

[@FulkNerraIII]

@@tytanowyjanusz9984 Hey now we might be overweight, but we draw the line at eating dead German.

[@breadthatsred5815]

@@tytanowyjanusz9984 well, yes, but actually no. The probably Soviets did that

[@pphajas]

Dehumanising the enemy... prepaing soldiers to commit war crimes... vae victis

[@philperry4699]

@@FulkNerraIII Hmmm. Pork chops! -- Homer S.

[@pval5601]

The "resistance Myth" as described by LindyBeige, ( the notion that the French massively supported it from the start) has been "debunked" in France for quite a long time now. It was probably necessary in the years immediately following the war for many reasons, but less than 30 years after the end of the war it was already viewed as modern mythology. As early as the 80s schoolchildren were taught a much more accurate view of the Occupation years. The fact that France and the French were deeply divided, with a Vichy government fostering the idea that France was and should remain out of the war, that an accommodation could be reached with the Germans (whose occupying forces took care of not alienating the French population) . The organized rationing of basic necessities was also a major factor. Nazi Germany was demanding and got huge amount of food and raw material from France . So France lived on really low food rations for years. So the whole population was focused on getting by, more interested in survival than anything else. And as LindyBeige said a LOT of people were sent to Germany to work ! there were 3 millions actually, mostly men of fighting age. When you add the 400.000 casualty of the war. It 's a LOT of manpower lost As a result a very small percentage of the population took an active role. And those split in two , some supporting the Germans ( there were of course some Frenchmen who were genuinely attracted to Fascism like in whole rest of Europe) Some supporting the Allies. So yes, French Resistance was limited in scope, but still it managed to give significant help to the Allies particularly during the Normandy invasion in 1944. After the war Eisenhower evaluated its effect as the equivalent of 15 combat divisions. A LOT more Allies troops would have died in Normandy had the resistance not hindered the Germans reaction movements ( sabotage of communication lines, blown brigdes and railways, etc.) Finally the role of British intelligence in organizing the Resistance still not welll known in France, but people interested in history usually do.

[@Weirdude777]

should the French had used flaming- bulleted, katana- bayonet, threaded-pommel brens, they would have ended the Germans rightly by 1940.

[@garliconionshallot]

lmao this made my day

[@cpob2013]

knowing the french the still would have surrendered

[@user-yf4jx6te2b]

Weirdude777 no no. they would have ended it rightly

[@maphone3500]

Weirdude777 you forgot to mention studded armour

[@user-yf4jx6te2b]

Weirdude777 so, if we all can agree, if the French had used flame-bulleted, katana-bayoneted, threaded-pommelled bren guns while wearing studded leather, they would have ended the Germans rightly in 1940?

[@Olebull93]

"Listen very carefully, I shall say zis only once"

[@thedativecase9733]

Ah Rene ! What a hero !!

[@andrewharper1609]

Allo, allo.!

[@hypnocilicdreams]

my dicky tickur

[@buggs9950]

"What is a dumpy girl like you doing in a lovely place like zis?"

[@olliefoxx7165]

"Ver iz ze painting of ze Madonna wit ze big boobies?"

[@neiltappenden1008]

My aunt was asked to join the resistance because she owned a cafe , she later became more active and would carry radios to the different safe houses. She was awarded the croix de guerre at the end off the war. She always slept with a shotgun under her bed even after ww2. Great woman total badass.

[@pravkdey]

BAMF

[@pravkdey]

Does your family still operate the cafe?

[@sonnysantana5454]

your aunt sounds like a great lady and im sure that many give her mad love and big respect

[@patriciapalmer1377]

Ike & Bradley hated DeGaulle so much, he was deliberately kept out of the loop, and invited to fake strategy meetings, where he postured, blustered and gave THEM directives, all of which were ignored.

[@chaosvolt]

Lindy resisted his British ugre to mock the French about as well as the French resisted the Germans. :V

[@adamkrausemail]

LOOLLOLOLOOOOLOOLOOOLLLLLOOOOLOOOLOOLOLOLLOL

[@VainerCactus0]

It is a compulsion:)

[@highestqualitypigiron]

yeah, lindy pretty much pulled another ww2 on them

[@chaosvolt]

It was a valiant and well-intentioned, but ultimately futile, disorganized, and in some ways self-destructive effort. And by that, I mean Lindy's struggle against his own British-ness. o3o

[@neilwilson5785]

I am a British ugre and will torll you!! Urrgghhh

[@EtzEchad]

Say what you want about the French, but they were always there when they needed us.

[@thefrosty1925]

David Messer Yep! Just like when they were there, making use up our resources fighting them resulting in us losing the colonies because we couldn't send enough resources over there. Yeahhhh, the French sure have always been there for us!

[@Erduk]

lol...

[@Musabre]

Yikes. I feel awfully embarrassed for you.

[@elcativoful]

lol

[@joshanator21]

And the subsequently surrendering shortly after in world war 2 also them having little effect on world war 1 and yeah, the time they fucked us with America... Go France!

[@canopus101]

Militarily the French resistance was of dubious value. That said, there are many allied pilots and soldiers who owe their freedom - sometimes their lives - to brave French men, women and even children. These people sheltered these military fugitives, very often arranging an escape route to friendly countries, and risked torture and death whilst doing so. I take my hat off in respect to these brave civilians.

[@enoughofyourkoicarp]

Lloyd: "Not enough bushes, not enough hills and too many people in France" *pause* Me: "I know that pause, that's a pause that says 'that last bit is still a problem to this day'." XD

[@danbernstein4694]

It it said that when Albert Speer was interviewed in prison and was asked about the effect of the French Resistance, he replied with the question "what French Resistance? "

[@drmodestoesq]

Albert Speer. Hmmmm...what did he say about his attendance at the Wansee Conference? He said he wasn't there. I don't know if I'd use Speer as an objective historian.

[@drmodestoesq]

@tvbop It turns out you're right. He wasn't an attendee of the Wansee conference. However, he wrote in his best selling autobiographies that he was not aware of the Holocaust. There is ample evidence, including his own statements that he was dissembling in his published denials.

[@druisteen]

They hasn't have one "French Resitance " but many ....2 or 3

[@Vatniks_are_clowns]

RIP

[@CaptainDangeax]

The French resistance had nothing to do in sabotaging german war effort, the mission of A. Speer. I'm sure Himmler would have answered something different.

[@Klemes67]

Railroad operating at 30% ? That's not sabotage, that's just how we like it here in France. Like this time I waited in a country side station and the train arrived... 17 fucking hours behind schedule. But hey, they gave us crisps and peanuts from the vending machine, so it's cool.

[@thefirstprimariscatosicari6870]

Klemes67 And I thinked here in Italy was all that bad in therm of public trasports

[@tohopes]

Why contain it.

[@RacconAndMT]

Well, or it might have been just some pretty damn good sabotage, if it lasted 70 years! Btw, you should try Hungary. It's exactly the same, but we don't have vending machines.

[@simhopp]

French railroad was working more efficiently during the Nazi occupation.

[@R.Ratkus]

obviously it would because nazis cared about mailing their troops to other countries didnt they, so they invested in it if it was worth it for them

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

"Allo' Allo', this is Nighthawk, come in London, over."

[@alfredfanshaw4786]

Listen very carefully I will always say this once

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

@@alfredfanshaw4786 it's actually "Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once."

[@thedativecase9733]

@HaB22 Allo Allo - so incredibly corny, yet so much funnier than 90per cent of today's comedy.

[@handpaper6871]

If you remember, the fractured nature of the resistance was alluded to in that series, the "Communist Resistance" (with a leader also infatuated with René) appeared from time to time.

[@olliefoxx7165]

@HaB22 lol. She was so hilarious. Wasn't her boyfriend the local undertaker?

[@mashbury]

Perhaps a review of the Vichy French collaboration might be in order..

[@mamavswild]

I would click on that so fast....they were a perfect ally of Germany and some of the most enthusiastic collaborators.

[@chuckschillingvideos]

@@mamavswild Not to mention their enthusiastic deportations of tens of thousands of Jews to the east for extermination. www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/genocide/jewish_deportation_01.shtml

[@theoriginaldylangreene]

Charles de Gaulle was one of those proper dickheads. He became angry at Churchill for not giving him any influence or power during the occupied years, but as Lloyd said, all the information we did give them ended up in German hands. He had nothing but believed he should be on the inside of Allied planning. Undeserved ego is an awful trait to have, and it transferred it's self to the post-war French population.

[@aquiteobesepig1439]

He had a sadistic cruel streak as well. Apparently he reduced Harold Macmillan to tears during the Common Market negotiations.

[@Kamfrenchie]

please source these claims would you ?

[@thomasdupont7186]

"all the information we did give them ended up in German hands." That's bullshit. And the french resistance did gave england important informations that helped winning the war. You should not believe everything you ear on internet kiddo.

[@theoriginaldylangreene]

Thomas Dupont He famously leaked over the radio that Operation Overload was "the real invasion" when British intelligence had gone to huge lengths to trick the Germans into believing that Normandy wasn't the landing site for the main D-day invasion. The guy couldn't keep his mouth shut.

[@thomasdupont7186]

Dylan Greene the operation "overload ?" You are a the "load" dude ;). There is these radio recordings on internet (but you don't speak french of course do you ?) it was codes. Because i assure you that there is no such recording of Degaulle giving infos to germans. By the way, the operation was a success and was indeed a surprise for germans. There was no likeage as you said... you're not very accurate in your statements, (like lindy regarding France) deal with it.

[@krzywygeneral]

Somehow Poland managed to organize underground country, have even own schooling system under much harsh occupation than France. How couldn't France do that?

[@druisteen]

Free France under General Charles de gaulle

[@ndalum75]

+VonVirus Poland was having its people be slowly genocided, France had relative peace and prosperity, with little deprivation all around. How many people are going to want to fight when the going is good? Not to mention the Polish resistance also had the assistance of Soviet partisans from 1941 on.

[@butspan7618]

@@ndalum75 not relay they fought each other as much as they corporate.

[@butspan7618]

@Doge Maverick the poles pissed of the Nazis so much that even thou the war was lost as they were pushed back to poland with low supplies they decided to flatten the polish capital.

[@tomekkruk6147]

@@ndalum75 That's bullshit! Soviet partisans were the attackers! Bandits worse than the germans in some cases. Some units of polish resistance were actively fighting them, as they were more of a threat to civilians in some areas than the germans (not saying that the germans were ok). Soviet Union and socialism in general killed more people than the germans! Read about just one episode of mady - the hunger in the Ukraine, or about the gulags. It puts the holocaust in a different perspective.

[@lloyd355]

Anyone reminded of the life of Brian? Britain: brothers, we should be fighting together! Cells of french resistance beating the shit out of each other: *We are!*

[@OcarinaSapphr-]

I get all your points about individual sabotage not seeming to matter all that much- but from what I’ve read & heard, there were really two kinds of resistance (just like there were two kinds of collaboration*); active & passive- yes, that damaged factory will _eventually_ be repaired, but- the time it’s out of commission is time it **isn’t** manufacturing - same with those labourers; the trick is to go slow enough to reduce productivity, but not slow enough to draw N A Z Y attention to/ endanger you... * There were also collaborators, & collaborationists - & the latter were perceived as something **very** different from the former. Life was not black & white in Occupied countries- & I was fascinated to learn just _some_ of the complexity- even reading stuff from those who were there - I can not even imagine *living* it...

[@maglorian]

To give de Gaulle's speech some credit, that speech was primarily used to break away the staines from the 'Free France' a.k.a. the Vichy regime. To say that the True France liberated itself was not so much a way to slack off their allies, but rather an attempt to give the French a bit of self-worth back after humiliation after humiliation. That's why it was important for him to at the very least make it appear that the 'true France' wholeheartedly resisted the Enemy and in the end liberated the heart of the nation: Paris. This is far from unique: in the Netherlands as well, a country notoriously cooperative (up to the point that even Jewish civil servants would continue to serve under the occupiers, for a while) it became a common tale that almost everybody was part of the Resistance movement, even though the actual amount of people actively resisting was indeed far smaller. Then remember that de Gaulle at the moment of the speech wasn't only a general but a politician as well, or at least had the ambition to do so, so he made himself the leader of the heroes of the 'true France' becoming a national hero in the process, there are far worse ways to start a political career. So, yeah... I understand why de Gaulle made a speech like that, and it wasn't because he was ungrateful, but rather to kickstart a new France and his career.

[@barrankobama4840]

Sure. Especially if you consider that Petain was the President regularly appointed by the Parliament before the fall of France, while De Gaulle was a man with no democratic legitimacy to power (yet) in desperate need of popular support.

[@deezynar]

Honesty is a far better policy. If the French people understood how badly their political and military leaders screwed them before and during the war they would have killed all of them, including that jerk de Gaulle.

[@thomasdupont7186]

Petain had actually control over less than half of France during Vichy... The rest was not occupied by Germany. It was called "la France libre" And lyon was the capital. "Especially if you consider that Petain was the President regularly appointed by the Parliament before the fall of France" What the.. ? That's totally inaccurate. He was a minister, and then lived in Franco's Spain until he was called in 1940 WHEN France lost military... I don't know where you found this info but come mon seriously...

[@elpsycongroo4341]

you have a mistakethe capital was the vichy city

[@UGTLDG]

Greece, had one of the most massive resistance movements in WW2. Probably smaller then the Yugoslavian one, but still massive. During occupation, Greece had ten times more casualties than during the war period! Whole vilages were obliterated as retaliation measures. Resistance was also organized by the British, and managed to operate more or less unchecked by the ocupation armies (yep, plural), keeping some regions completely outside of Axis control. Also never united, also ideologically splintered, also resulting in many factions fighting each other for regions and arms control, it eventually culminated in a bloody civil war right after the Country's liberation.

[@grizzlygrizzle]

The Filipinos also put up a very-effective resistance. By the time the U.S. forces landed, the Japanese had control of only 1/4 of the provinces in the Philippines.

[@Nikolas_A]

@Marry Christmas Wow! Just wow! That message is beyond racist. I don't know if there are Racist Championships but if there are, you got podium potential...

[@karlpoppins]

"Also never united, also ideologically splintered, also resulting in many factions fighting each other for regions and arms control [...]". That is not quite true. There was one force, the National Liberation Front (EAM), and a few minor ones. The post-WWII civil war was fought between EAM and the then reinstated Greek government, which had originally fled to Egypt. Long story short, EAM, run by the (illegal) communist party, protested that the British troops evacuate the country - but of course the reinstated Greek government wanted to get rid of the communists so they allowed the British to commit atrocities against unarmed protesters in Athens. After this incident, EAM - who where hunted down - decided to take arms against the state army but the latter, with the help of Americans and their napalms, quickly defeated the former. And, of course, after the communists were defeated, a 25-year reign of terror began, during which communists and their families where imprisoned and tortured/killed - quite an odd way to say thanks for five years of resistance against the Nazis. Yet I suspect an anti-communist would have a different story to say, which is why the topic of the Greek WWII resistance is not for public consumption and should be left to historians - at least those that do their best to resist their biases.

[@karlpoppins]

​@Marry Christmas France was a well-developped country at the time, while Greece had a few central hubs and then hundreds of small villages in which people lived in empoverished conditions. Also, a quick google would reveal that Greece suffered disproportionately high losses compared to its small population, particularly during the occupation. Yes, it was really that bad - far from a party. The resistance wasn't jovial, but dirty and brutal. People didn't know who to trust and a lot of atrocities were committed, especially against the Nazi sympathisers - or those that were thought as such. And, in turn, the Germans executed people like cattle in retaliation. There was no romance, not even heroism: only darkness. I find it unlikely that a commercial movie could be ever made out of the Greek WWII resistance, but I reckon the dark and gritty environment would definitely make for good "Art" film setting, though - you know, one of those very slow-paced, underlit, 3-hour movies that somehow make you want to kill yourself. P.S.: I wasn't aware of a stereotype that Greek girls like anal sex. Also, the "Zorba culture" is part of the post-WWII optimistic Western culture, while rembetiko fits with the pre-WWII stoicism that Greek culture had inherited from the East. These two never coexisted.

[@Nikolas_A]

@Marry Christmas LOL, you really cast off your racist image with that comment...

[@dectechnologies1129]

Do research, or even an episode on Polish resistance. At the least it will blow your mind. 180 degrees from French resistance. It was more than resistance. It was a genuine underground army.

[@agustinl2302]

Do you have any link you recommend?

[@VictorV7PL]

@@agustinl2302 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Army start with wiki.

[@OslikusPrime]

180 degrees from Fr. resistance ? You mean that part for example, where Armija Krajowa, Jew resistance, comunists, nationalists, German supporters, Russian supporters and who knows who else hated each other to the death ?

[@mefisto654]

@@OslikusPrime We had no german supporters... as well as we had no nationalist group hating Armia Krajowa, as they were part of it. There was communist group hunting the true polish resistance more than fighting Germans but it was little shit in comparison. Not as here in France where these multiple dispersed groups did not create any stable united force.

[@adampyci8311]

@@mefisto654 Narodowe Siły Zbrojne was certainly not a part of AK.

[@cgaccount3669]

I recently watched a French video about tanks on Netflix. Interesting how they invented the tank. And how it was France not Canada that attacked on DDay. Degaul was pelted with tomatoes in Montreal in 1967... not over his shameful lies about WW2 allies but because he was a jerk lol

[@nicolasfrebillot7899]

I'm French and it's very interesting to hear a British point of views on this kind of topic. I appreciate it. I am not a Resistance expert, what I know and what I have learnt in school is that De Gaulle called the French to not surrender by a broadcast from London the 18 juin 40, it's a very important date even nowadays to understand the French mentality. My country swept away in few weeks and it was devastating for our honour but De Gaulle said to the French basically we are not defeated... maybe an explanation why numerous resistance movements everywhere in the country... Relating to the organisation it was effectively difficult l the Gestapo arrested a lot of French Jean Moulin for instance a famous figure of our history... thank you LindyBeige and thank you the UK, you had very brave men during WWI and WWII we don't speak enough of you during the commemorations in France. Best regards from France.

[@LeHappiste]

I'd rather hear the viewpoint of countries that actually contributed in WW2, like America and Russia Who cares about what cowardly Brits who hid on their island think?

[@barryirlandi4217]

Nicolas Frebillot almost exactly the same as the Algerias to the French

[@bisus]

Lol.

[@sirpig8899]

Ha! the bait is laid....now the troll plays the waiting game........😴

[@redcoatgaming4141]

I smell a troll comment possibly by a little frog who house got rekt by a drunk British tank driver

[@tomsweeney7922]

My Great-Grandad was a fighter in the resistance. He was a Scottish soldier who got left behind at Dunkirk. A resistance cell too him in and taught him french (they told people he was Italian). They managed to hide him until 1943 when he was found by the gestapo and imprisoned as a POW. So I guess they has some use.

[@mamavswild]

Oh so much of the resistance weren’t even French? That’s what I got out of that! LOL

[@lucgonzo]

@@mamavswild much of the resistance in france were french, but a significant wasn't. For example, a lot of people from Spain, that fled Spain after the end of the spanish civil war and victory of Franco continued the fight in France against facism. Also, as Tom explained, Allied soldier ( UK, US etc... ) that got lost in France etc... joined the french resistance

[@baroneb5043]

" I'd rather have a German Division in front of me than a French one behind me " Gen. George Patton

[@JayBaddAssCutler]

Barone B actually it was Abraham Lincoln. Do some googling on your quotes

[@baroneb5043]

JayBaddAssCutler abraham lincoln my prick.....

[@baroneb5043]

JayBaddAssCutler u must be a frenchman

[@baroneb5043]

Andrew Plowright fkn idiot... Fox News was around 70 years ago ??? he said it....

[@joebuchanan9563]

Just love this one! Thanks :)

[@PatriceBoivin]

When I was in Reims in 1980 I noticed there were many monuments regarding WW1, but not so much about WW2. There was a room where the end of a war was signed... I was too young to sort it all out. I did notice that in Europe citizens in each country seem to take pride in comparing themselves against their neighbouring countries. Not sure what the point is. All their monarchs were cousins anyway, they have a shared history.

[@HanSolo__]

Good point.

[@druisteen]

Because most of WW1 memorial served also has WW 2 mémorial

[@Anndgrim]

I like how you show measure and concern but the comment section is just plain condescending anyway. De Gaulles speech is rather mistranslated in its intent if you ask me. Yes De Gaulles word were over the top but they were clearly said in order to bolster and federate the French population. If someone has to be credited with the lack of Civil War, it's rather De Gaulles posturing than the lack of firearms. Even after the war he defended French interests very effectively. He did what was good for France and sometimes it meant throwing hissy fits and being overly dramatic. Ultimately he and others manage to move the needle from France being split up into US and UK colonies to France being its own country again and the French occupying parts of Germany. That's a major accomplishment in and of itself. It also has to be noted that the FFI fought for 4 days before any allied troops (French or American) entered the city. Oh and had the roles (and strategic placement) of France and the UK been swapped, it would have probably gone down about the same. It's rather amusing to see the British of all people think they'd have been any humbler. (They too have their ridiculously nationalistic spin on History.)

[@kokofan50]

The thing is, I don't think the British would have surrendered like the French, so they would never need to take some else's credit.

[@Anndgrim]

kokofan50 Believe that if you want.

[@kokofan50]

Anndgrim Seeing as it's a hypothetical backed up only by our thoughts on either side, that's just what I'll do.

[@cc-rz4ts]

kokofan50 Only because they are on a island and that theyr navy was one of the best but if theyr where a land brigde between the UK and europe Germany would have steam rolled the UK the same wqy it did the french. Look at the russian the only thing that saved then was that theyr so bloody big

[@wierdalien1]

+kokofan50 i have to agree with you. britan probably would have not surrendered as fast aa the french. but to be fair to the french they bore the brunt of the first world war.

[@Kharmazov]

I call bull on this one. In Poland somehow the resistance was quite well organized despite consisting of numerous factions that on occasion opposed each other. This is yet again the warscythe and MG42 nonsense all over.

[@captinobvious4705]

Weren't they the first to break the Enigma cypher

[@Kharmazov]

Tiger King Yup, pretty much.

[@lindybeige]

No, but they helped by developing some of the parts that later went into the computer that did.

[@lindybeige]

I know far less about the Polish resistance, and cannot say how much outside help it got. There were localised pockets of success, but the Warsaw uprising ended up in disaster, and was not coordinated with the Russian advance. Indeed, it seems that the Russians may even have delayed in order to wait for the uprising to fail. The British gave Tito in Yugoslavia a huge amount of help, and his force was more military in nature.

[@Kamfrenchie]

yep, i dont think the german would have bothered torturing and killing Jean Moulin and others

[@benjaminbrewer2569]

My knowledge of the French resistance during ww2 comes from “Allo, Allo.”

[@Galewalion]

As a Pole I find "France being betrayed by her allies" hillarious :V

[@IceAxe1940]

That is really ironic, especially after what happened in Sep. Of 39.

[@mamavswild]

As a US soldier I was surprised at how much the poles liked us...we totally screwed then over after WWII because we weren’t willing to risk the peace with another almost equally terrible invader...the Soviets. We DID fight a long Cold War to release the Soviet grip on Europe but it was mostly to reunite east and west Germany, the other nations freed were just a bonus.

[@captianmorgan7627]

"Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once"

[@ScotsDestroyer]

good mooning

[@frozenflame580]

good night

[@gora876]

Save it. we already know that you are Gay.

[@scottleft3672]

beep beep...ich sehe dich von innen mein liddle tankk!

[@fds7476]

You stupid woman!

[@louishaumont8566]

"The french invaded Germany, but then were betrayed by their allies the british"... Not that this isn't a horridly skewed understanding of WW2, but you shouldn't mock the very idea this much, since France did occupy Germany as far as into the Sigfried line in 1939, but then swiftly rushed back to the Maginot line when the british weren't complacent with invading Germany at the same time. So derp. Now of course de Gaulle can be accused of having shrewdly flattered the french sense of patriotism, with deliberate exaggerations of how much of the french population the Resistance really did span, but would you really blame him for that when that was all he could to bolster french nationalism and prevent the country from descending into civil war. The Resistance may not have been a wholly-inclusive organization of all french individuals that banded together to repel the germans from their homes, but in many ways, they did warrant France being considered a "victorious allied nation". Had the french resistance not liberated such a wide extent of french cities in 1944, the country would've been deemed an occupied country by the allies, which the francophobe F.D.R. had very much intended for France. It remains that the french resistance were men who braced the threat of death, and torture too, not only on themselves but their kin whom the SS were known to indict their retaliations against. And besides, the Normandy landings transpired only with such success because the french resistance had disseminated lies in the Heer, and had disrupted german logistics by blowing trains, roads, and had caught off many a divisions on their way to Normandy. (Watched your video all the way through, and you do make mention of that so thanks!). Also, when the french boast of french resistance, they refer both to the home-grown guerrilla, but also of their foreign freedom fighters. After all, you british were only so decidedly victorious at El-Alamein because the 3,000 french had repelled 30,000 germans at Bir-Hakeim, and had them stranded in the desert for more than a week, leaving Monty ample time to revise his own strategy. Those freedom forces also liberated the french African territories from Vichy on their own, and then were grouped with the American armies for the Provence landings in August 1944. So the gratefulness has to go both ways. But sure, thanks Brits for WW2. It pays back for us saving you lot at Dunkirk.

[@louishaumont8566]

As to the resistance cells not being coordinated with each other, although this is very true especially by the later stages when communist, socialist and Christian-democrats were competing with each other to be the most beloved by the french population, you should know that the CNR (national council of the resistance) was founded in 1943 to better coordinate the resistance effort (but I can agree that it was mostly there to prepare France for after the war). So they weren't either all cut off from each other. Interesting video regardless though I can't agree with all of it. Cheers.

[@FinnisJaeger]

can i smell butthurt baguette?

[@PROkiller16]

To correct you, the Saar Offensive was just French and a hilarious joke which launched late and then just wandered back after a few days. They didn't even reach the Siegfried line, if they did they would have found fucking nothing and been able to just keep carrying on.

[@louishaumont8566]

Putain, putain, Léviath

[@louishaumont8566]

Jaager- Do I smell someone that can't formulate his arguments in anything than memes? Yup, seems I do.

[@Grimpy970]

Huge fan of the channel- been watching for years now. Something you explained in passing highly intrigued me. You briefly commented about the precautions you may be forced to take when signalling for an allied supply drop. Can you or anyone else supply more information on how these covert resupplies were organised and carried out traditionally? Were they all different, owing to mission constraints, or was there a sort of standard operating procedure for the whole thing? Thank you for reading, and please let me know if you (or anyone else for that matter) knows more about the fascinating subject of guerilla logistics

[@johnshorten6877]

A joy to watch this guy! I wish I could be as enthusiastic about anything as he is about everything!

[@professormagma4287]

One time a Frenchman told me online that D-Day was a defeat for the Allies and did next to nothing while the French Resistance did practically all the work

[@mattnar3865]

If that happens again you can now factcheck that asshole

[@mamavswild]

What a tool

[@josephyates9936]

What about the British running away at Dunkirik leaving their weapons and allies behind them and pretending that that was a victory. And then surrendering to the Japanese in Singapore. LOL!!

[@neshirst-ashuach1881]

Its rare to see such a perfect example of whataboutism. 10/10 congratulations!

[@charliecharliewhiskey9403]

​@Joseph Yates we don't act like Dunkirk was a victory? We celebrate it for what it was; getting ourselves out of a bad situation we found ourselves in

[@AstAMoore]

It’s good that the Dominion and the Cardassian military finally obliterated the Maquis . . . Oh, wait.

[@thomasdarmanin1112]

Ast A. Moore MICHAEL EDDINGTON DID NOTHING WRONG

[@AstAMoore]

Thomas Darmanin Well, he did expose Kasidy Yates, I’ll give him that, but he shot Kira. Kira!

[@wierdalien1]

+Ast A. Moore lol

[@Dravreth]

Eddington betrayed The Sisko that is enough

[@valhar2000]

If Eddington had taken command of Star Fleet, the Federation would have defeated The Dominion by itself. I get that the writers wanted to give Sisko an effective foe, but that character was ridiculous.

[@seamusoflatcap]

Every able bodied French person was in the resistance. However, they didn't join it until the Allies had kicked the Germans out of France for them and it was safe to come out. Was the Resistance any use? Well, it provided an idea for a BBC comedy in the 1970s.

[@darthkek1953]

What do I think of the French Resistance? I think it would have been a very good idea.

[@x-a-]

i think you would pissed yourself in the middle of a war with a weapon in hand, my opinion

[@glenndemoor3020]

The stereotyping in the comments has me flabbergasted. It's frightening how comfortable people seem to be to approach a subject while attributing causes and results to the idea that all if not most of the millions of inhabitants of a country share the exact same mental, moral, physical and behavioural properties and are incapable of anything outside that spectrum. It's astounding how in this age with so much information free at hand to counter these stereotypes, people still rather bury themselves into ignorant bias.

[@artytomparis]

Have you been to France as more than a tourist. He's not saying they all shared the same mentality. With few exceptions, they all hate each other but smile while doing so. In fact they hate / envy everyone. It's a horrible country and I hope they never get organised because if they do it won't be just Germany's wealth they decide to come after.

[@Altrantis]

Isn't that a common cultural trait in all romance language speaking countries? I say that as someone from Latin America.

[@farmerboy916]

Glenn de Moor Nationalism is quite the malignant cancer.

[@travissmith2773]

You're surprised? Welcome to the echo chamber generation.

[@artytomparis]

Altrantis It's not like that in Italy. Not in my experience.

[@DeGust01Gote]

a classic british frog bashing

[@migkillerphantom]

Gustav Leifsson What's wrong with frog bashing?

[@DeGust01Gote]

didnt say it was wrong hehe i love it

[@DaytonaRoadster]

nothing, no one like the french...even the french

[@CapitanCookies]

Gustav Leifsson RIP my fellow frogs

[@psikogeek]

Look on the bright side; if you anger the French, you need only fear their surrender.

[@panicmerchants]

Absolutely fascinating, very informative and has answered some niggling queries i have always had.

[@stevenleslie8557]

"Aaahh, the French" - Orson Welles

[@manishy1]

Inb4 offended Frenchmen

[@anders6227]

*graps popcorn*

[@mistahsusan2650]

I see a redundancy...

[@MrTrollaid]

You know, it's been a while since we learned to accept that WW2 was a pretty shameful period for us and came to term with that. The truth is Résistance and collaborators represented a ridiculous minority while most of the population lowered their heads and went with the flow. There was a lot of pettiness and malice, far outweighing a few moments of heroism. That';s true, and we have to deal with it. Also true the fact that France didn't deliver itself and shouldn';t be counted among the "winners"; of WW2. That being said, de Gaulle "freeing" Paris didn't happen for no reasons. The Allies feared that he would become another dictator taking all the power for himself (he was a general after all, and military men usually don't do great when put in power), but he was a moderate right wing man while most of the other Résistance factions were leaning far left. And the Americans preferred a lot to put in power a man that distrusted them and looked like he could destroy democracy rather than a communist that might make France an ally of the USSR. In the end, de Gaulle didn't bring French democracy down and was honest enough to step down when the people wanted him out, but his defiance for the US made France a begrudging ally of them even today.

[@mrsabidji]

Frenchman here. I don't feel offended one bit. Like MrTrollaid said, most French people are completely aware that WW2 here wasn't all glorious Resistance everywhere exploding Nazi tanks by the dozen, and it's still one of France's most shameful times in recent history.

[@LeHappiste]

Pretty much mrsabidji said French people treat WW2 as their shamefullest moment Unlike Poles who for some reason take great pride in having been conquered in 35 days

[@gertmoelders8809]

French tanks could drive backwards very fast, I've heard...

[@2adamast]

42 km/h backward by the assistant-driver, already facing the rear

[@richard343s]

I hear that french tanks have three reverse gears and one forward, just in case they get attacked from the rear

[@vibingwithvinyl]

Apparently they used them to retreat quickly.

[@Neverhoodian]

I realize it's a joke, but French tanks in 1940 were quite advanced, on par with or even superior to their German counterparts on paper. That said, the Germans had the critical advantages of better training, tactics, morale and air cover.

[@Stingetan]

Also the French tanks were spread out along their border with Germany. And German blitzkreig meant huge numbers attacking one or more spots to penetrate the defence and do more damage from "inside". This meant the French tanks were almost always greatly outnumbered. But yeah, "haha frenchies", I guess.

[@wolfthequarrelsome504]

A German plane in a raid on some military target over England dropped a single bomb while flying over the Thames which landed in the East end of London and killed 2 people. Immediately, without raising the matter in Parliament, Churchill telephoned bomber command directly and ordered a 350 plane bombing raid on Berlin. Later, he was responsible for the fire bombing of a civilian City of Dresden which burned alive 100,000 people.

[@feartheghus]

Take the speeches lindy is showing from Charles Andre versus Winston Churchill’s, jeez the utter lack of gratitude. Churchill’s “we will fight on the beeches” speech is truly amazing, it holds Britain’s and its entire empire united, and even if the island fell the empire should still fight even if its made unwinnable because they’ll be waiting for America to get its forces ready and moving in to liberate Britain so that we could then fight together and liberate the rest of the world. Then we have this Frenchman here trying to brush the great efforts by his allies under the rug...

[@edgeyt1]

3:45 to avoid confusion: Mi6 was formed in 1909, SOE was formed in 1940 and disbanded in 1946.

[@dalegribble9480]

Yes, they were both working that project along with the OSS.

[@GreyMASTA]

Im your age, french and I've never heard that "version" of the Resistance invading Gemany and reconquering Europe all by herself. WTF.

[@Naizine]

Me neither,never heard so much rubbish!

[@Mitaka.Kotsuka]

then you just need to hear the speech from de gaullie, the idiot man actually said so

[@tancredemontagne7461]

@@Mitaka.Kotsuka he did not. He talkedabout how Paris liberated herself, not France

[@aybrokemyback6739]

@@Mitaka.Kotsuka he never said that, and thinking that only prove that you're an idiot who need a strawmen to look intelligent. That's pathetic. 😂

[@lupus67remus7]

J'ai déjà vu un reportage de l'époque qui utilisait l'offensive Française de la Sarre comme "invasion du territoire Allemand" et disait que la retraite vers l'Angleterre était une manœuvre stratégique...

[@williambarnes274]

It's written in the proper historical texts that the British began and directed the "French Resistance." As a child my grandfather's favorite joke was about the ability to buy several hundred thousand rifles that had never been fired and only dropped once.

[@lordred4116]

The French make a big song and dance about the resistance, but they were few in numbers, and were often betrayed by their own countrymen.

[@poiutrew]

"The one France, the true France.......The Vichy France"

[@Altrantis]

They got rid of the french motto, "Liberté, égalité, fraternité", and with it all the republican values. I think, in a way, they half-recreated monarchic France.

[@lpsp442]

Much as how the EU has recreated the empire of Charlemagne

[@andreatomassini202]

hahaha what?

[@H.J.Fleischmann]

+LP SP With a slight Habsburg twist...

[@MikhaelAhava]

It's the Frankish kingdoms.

[@TheIamfrustrated]

Why do French tanks have rear view mirrors? So they can watch the battle too.

[@silvesby]

Must be why they have 7 reverse gear and 1 forward gear in case they're attacked from behind.

[@laserprawn]

Funny though, since none of the French ever did run away - the British did, though, and thanks only to the French who stayed behind.

[@silvesby]

Nick Halme It's a joke about the French government, which almost completely betrayed its people.

[@veagance]

they didnt stay behind, they were brought with. lindy explains this in his d day video

[@dylanf8591]

The forward gear is for parking purposes only, and is too slow to be properly used in offensive combat. This is a big mistake made by many overconfident French tank crews.

[@gordybing1727]

Hi All, According to "Operation Dragoon, The Allied Invasion of the South of France, by Mr. William B Breuer "Blaskowitz's other reserve division, the 157th, was far north of the Cote d' Azur and could be expected to be of little value once the invasion began. The 157th Division for weeks had been battling large bands of French Resistance fighters in the mountains." Thanks for your time, take care.

[@lazercat7725]

Whenever one of my friends gives up on something or doesn't stand up for themselves, I always say "what are you, French?"

[@Historyfan476AD]

France's greatest moment of WW2 was holding back the Germans during Dunkirk. They should take pride in that.But rewriting history and claiming you single handily liberated France come on, i mean even in the films they are seen driving american vehicles.

[@quantamioshowler8390]

Everyone played a role, but beware of misinformation.

[@Historyfan476AD]

@@hazewire4618 someone has to delay the enemy. many retreats throughout history would have become a slaughter if not for the rearguard action of many brave men.

[@danielguerrero4121]

built under license by renault LOL

[@plp5953]

Not a single French ever believed that France liberated herself. De Gaulle said that to motivate people and restore the nation that had been torn apart. It is not what we are taught in school, it is not what is in museum. Also, the French continental army was mostly defeated but we still had colonial troupes.

[@mandowarrior123]

@@plp5953 it is what played on the history reel at the arch of triumph when i was in paris.

[@MartyNaklo]

Are you the judean people's front?

[@davidtiganila27]

SPLITTER

[@Bent773]

No mate, we're the people's front of Judea!

[@MartyNaklo]

The only thing we hate more than the Romans is the judean people's front!

[@ObadiahtheSlim]

There's only one group we hate more than the Germans and that's the French People's Front.

[@vivianstanshall8121]

FUCK OFF!! we're the peoples front of judea

[@raylast3873]

It‘s true, Parisians ended up rising up before the Allies showed up, but this was hardly due to De Gaulle‘s efforts.

[@WetaMantis]

TLDR: Yes it was. De Gaulle demanded the Allies to liberate Paris first but they did not agree because they wanted to go strait to Germany and use their momentum without slowing in drawn out street to street urban warfare. He put down an ultimatum that if they wanted to let Paris rot away at the hand of the enemy, they wouldn't have his 2nd Armor Division (2ème DB) at their disposal and it would proceed toward the capital alone. So the Allies gave in. In secret, De Gaulle had already ordered Gen. Leclerc to go for it earlier in the day and disobey Allies orders, entering the capital with no air cover. Allied forces began with 2ème DB spearheading the attack and 4th American infantry division securing. Knowing the Allies were near: the population took arms with French police and Resistance under coordination of the FFI and liberated a big part of the city. When 2ème DB arrived, the city was almost empty of Germans troops but still counting a few pockets of entrenched SS troops. Hitler had ordered to destroy every Parisian landmark monument like the Eiffel tower and strategic points like bridges but the French authorities pressured the German governor not to do it, he ended up surrendering to the Allies. They later catched German troops before they could reinforce the city that had already been liberated. Allies learned that if they had left control of the city to the Germans they would have bunkered with relieve forces and it would have been very hard to retake: street fighting is very costly, the city would have been bombed to smithereens by Allied air raids or the German ones and they would have rigged every important monument with explosives and destroyed them. I'm extremely grateful the Allies helped France liberate our country from the Nazis and I think it would have been impossible without them. But the fact France wasn't involved or even very significant in it's own liberation is simply not true and historical revisionism.

[@raylast3873]

@@WetaMantis lmao, the Nazis were driven out by an uprising that neither de Gaulle nor the Allies had anything directly to do with. De Gaulle was dispatched to Paris to make sure the proles didn‘t get out of hand and do anything bad like forming their own government.

[@WetaMantis]

@@raylast3873 You did not watch my explanation and repeated yourself without arguments or facts.

[@terrygorman588]

There were some very brave folk who served in the resistance. They put their lives on the line and many helped so many British airmen to return home - to them great respect is due. On the other hand I`m fortunate enough to have visited France many times in the 1950`s, `60`s and `70`s, and my abiding memory of those times is that every Frenchman to whom one spoke for more than a couple of minutes insisted on telling you that, "J`etais dans le Maquis". I suppose I would have done the same if I`d been in their place. Interestingly, the only person who actually proved they had been in the Resistance was a lady of about 4` 11" who had been a wireless operator.

[@Peter73sky]

"Somebody was telling me about the French Army rifle that was being advertised on eBay the other day -- the description was, 'Never shot. Dropped once.'

[@alecbertrand3306]

Peter73sky nice very original joke

[@benoitbvg2888]

3 likes in 11 months... I guess 70 year old jokes don't work anymore...

[@strelokhiggs9713]

Are you french?

[@DawnOfTheDead991]

Of all the Allies in 1940, the French fought the hardest but were simply outclassed. The Brits barely fought at all on the ground in 1940

[@sugarnads]

Funny how its ONLY americans who make these jokes. You know...the country that arrived 3 years late to WW1 and even THEN didnt get into the fight until another year had passed, by which time the ANZACS and Canadians had basically destroyed the german army's will to fight AND went on to smash the hindenburg line in time for the americans to claim they won WW1. And the same mob that had to have war declared on them by BOTH major axis nations, before AGAIN arriving 3 years late... But yeah the french are cowards.

[@theangrykorean5194]

the British and the French have such a rollercoaster Love/Hate relationship it makes 90210 look like Sunday School. 90's reference...I'm so old 😥

[@andym9571]

I had a French girlfriend. I loved her .. Then I absolutely hated her.

[@eleveneleven572]

In Brittany I was talking to a fellow Brit and he told me an incident from around 10 yrs ago. He was chatting with a neighbour when an elderly guy came along and dropped his wallet. My friend made to pick it up for him but his neighbour stopped him. The old guy managed to pick it up and shuffled on. My friend asked what was going on. His neighbour said that the old guy had denounced his father to the Germans who had him shot as a resistance member.

[@shaunfoley858]

Eleven : Eleven people have long memories when it comes to war.

[@etistone]

As french, I'll be forever grateful to the british and americans for their contribution in liberating France. Of course free french army did only contribute modestly to liberate France and definitely couldn't do it alone. But in the context of the time 1945: 5 years of deprivation, and humiliation, after the worst defeat possible. Having to deal with a divided nation, a shattered nation. De Gaule was the man who built it back, who restored it. With his speaches, he restored the confidence in its fellow citizen to build a brighter future and to pursue its ideals. So France can stand tall and proud again amongst the other great nations. On liberation of Nice in southern France, my grandfather joined the free french as a truck driver in the Nice squadron, (attached to the RAF as 328 squadron).

[@yoann5934]

As a french, I have never heard of "France liberating herself"...

[@BingleFlimp]

I'm not French and I don't know how old you are but it might have been something they tried to do in the early years after the liberation. It's nearly a hundred years since the liberation and it was perhaps the 80s when Lloyd was a boy at the museum, that was 40 years ago. Perhaps as time has gone on propaganda has died down and a more factual image of WW2 has been presented. I know that in the new millennium Britain when we were taught about WW2 it wasn't nearly as patriotic and biased as it was in my parents' day.

[@amandasaint8513]

2018-1944 =/= nearly 100 years. 74 years. 2018-1980 =/= 40 years ago. Seriously.

[@CountArtha]

You don't live under a Gaulist government. I'm sure it was most egregious in the Sixties when he was running things.

[@andryr.8221]

Amanda Saint it's called approximation, yes calculating would be rather easy but when it's not that important we usually tend to approximate, but we also do it out of laziness

[@amandasaint8513]

Andry Randrianantoandro the 1980 to 2018 can be argued as approximation. 74 years vs 100 years is not an approximation unless it is a very bad approximation that is worthy of mocking.

[@SeanCStark]

They rescued my grandfather Lt. Hayes who got shot down in the channel... R.A.F. Eagle Squadron U.S. air volunteers

[@lordeden1475]

THE SOE ESCAPE LINES HELP YOUR GRAND POPS NOT THE FRENCH!

[@whatthefrack6425]

Herr Frick troll

[@willdaberby7908]

Lord Eden...believe me...you have to read about the Freteval camp.

[@ramoucho8577]

@Lord eden. Jealous little dick... what happens? Are you tired of eating dirty meals and living under constant rain in a cold and ugly country where everybody is pink and readheaded? Not enough money to buy a castle in south of france? OH I FORGOT! YOU RE COMPLETELY FUCKED UP WITH YOUR BREXIT NOW! bye bye holydays in france. Hello scotland and ireland!

[@Deathlemon21]

And what’s wrong with you? Why are you so annoyed with him? While yes he may be wrong, but calling him a dick is a bit far. So what Britain went for Brexit, that’s their decision. Or are you against democracy? Why are EU countries so angry that the UK is leaving the EU, is it because they are scared about it or just generally hate the UK, which would mean surely that Brexit was a good thing then. Also Ireland is already in the EU, it’s Northern Ireland that is still in the UK. To add to that Scotland is most likely not going to leave Britain, and is definitely not likely able to rejoin the EU, because certain members, like Spain, have said they will not support it.

[@markrowland1366]

General Charles Degauls supporters were referred to as Gaulists. Gaul being an ancient name for France. This too was part of his propergander. 30,000 dead is a revolt. De Gaul did an enormous job in uniting France both during and after the war. The Soviets were fermenting all sorts of trouble for half a century.

[@bentomlins785]

R.A.F Wing-Commander F.F.E Yeo-Thomas (reffered to by the Gestapo as the white rabbit) dropped into occupied France in 1942 and did a great deal to help the French and guess what; his agent-de-liaison betrayed him and talked to the German's. He tried to unite all French restitance partys under one flag and was essentially a WW2 James Bond. He was captured in 1944 by the Gestapo and was tortured for weeks but never gave in to the Germans. He is often regarded as one of the bravest men in the fight against Germany from within. He was British and spoke fluent French, he lost many of his friends and fellow S.O.E members but never truly gave up. Edit: I highly suggest you read the book The White Rabbit by Bruce Marshall. It encapsulates Yeo-Thomas' time in France as a spy excellently.

[@piratenflipper]

Could you please make a video talking about the polish resistance, it would be amazingly interesting to hear the british perspective on that topic, and your opinion

[@druisteen]

it will not ! This guy say shit on French all the time ! It's a meme

[@fiachramaccana280]

I wouldnt bother. The Poles were true heroes. Dont need the Brits to tell you that...

[@rohandalvi6476]

@@fiachramaccana280 i always thought that the germans were the heros

[@fiachramaccana280]

@@rohandalvi6476 troll

[@em3876]

@@fiachramaccana280 yep honestly poland was the most underrated country during world war 2

[@Exiledk]

French resistance is futile...! I remember the old joke advert: For sale. Genuine French WWII rifle. Never been fired. Only dropped once.

[@junlee3515]

Is that a reference to baby shoes never worn

[@druisteen]

@Roderick storey P90 is made in Belgium not France

[@davidsanders1991]

That is very mean.

[@dabtican4953]

Isn't that from some Vietnam war film talking about some ARVN soldiers?

[@bobsyoruncle4583]

100,000 French soldiers died in 4 weeks during the fall of France. They were undone by the failure of their high command to effectively respond to the revolutionary tactics of the German combined arms assault. To dismiss their defeat as an act of cowardice is disgusting.

[@RetroRoundupUK]

There is a interesting museum in Kelmarsh called the Carpetbagger museum, about the efforts to supply the French Resistance. It's worth a visit and a highlight when the current health nonsense is over, Lloyd!

[@jeffsanders1609]

Who won WWII? France: Oui! Rest of the World: *hysterical laughter* Germany: Das ist ein guter witz!

[@tayasalgarcia8690]

every body thinks they won ww2 on their own

[@BingleFlimp]

I think most of the major forces could have _could_ have won on their own. The Soviets most definitely could have. The US could have but it would have taken longer as a hypothetically Nazi-dominated Europe and America would have just battled over the Atlantic whilst also fighting the Japanese, it would have been close. The British Empire _might_ have been able to win by the skin of their teeth but they'd have to abandon most of the fight in the Pacific to deal with Germany. Everyone allying agaisnt the Axis powers meant the war was a lot shorter and a lot less bloody then it could have been.

[@Morrigi192]

The Soviets couldn't have, they were very dependent on lend-lease. Without it, famine would have struck and they would have run out of steel and trucks. The Germans would have either taken Moscow, shattering the Soviet logistical system, or the war would have ground into a stalemate.

[@nestpascamillekazeyquiveut9984]

@@Morrigi192 Same for the Brittish. In WW2 they didn't performed a lot better than France.

[@Kerygmachela]

@@nestpascamillekazeyquiveut9984 Only in the early war.

[@nestpascamillekazeyquiveut9984]

@@Kerygmachela Yep, as the french, they weren't prepared. But compared To the french, they had the sea protecting them from the german Blitzkrieg...

[@mynameachef8614]

I would love it if you talked about Polish or Yugoslavias partisans

[@scottleft3672]

no in condescending terms though.

[@jackofshadows8538]

And Ukrainian, which fought the bastard Soviet monsters until the 1950s!

[@blaaaaaaaaaaaaa111]

Last polish resistance members fighting Sowiets were killed in 1963

[@maciekberendt1761]

dava noncom ukrainian was murdering mostly polish villigers and ukrainian resistning to that so yea we could use video about it

[@ericvondumb2838]

Solidarity proves you utterly wrong!

[@wingedhats4750]

Love these Lindybeige talks, but must take issue with this one on account of a number of inaccuracies. There were two French Sections of SOE, one of which was fully operated by SOE, F Section, while the other, RF Section, was run by the Free French, specifically by ‘Colonel Passy’, although SOE provided the training, logistics, etc. Two separate sections of the Gestapo operated against the British and the French Sections of SOE France, captives from the latter Section being much more brutally interrogated. While agents in the former Section were of mixed nationality, the latter was chiefly composed of French, with exceptions such as 'The White Rabbit' (Yeo-Thomas). When the one-time pad system of encryption was introduced to F Section it was denied to RF Section, presumable so their communications could continue to be read by the British, but exposing their agents to vulnerability. Well before the landings in Normandy a considerable measure of unity had been established through the efforts of Jean Moulin and his MUR. Up until the time it became clear that the Axis was on a losing wicket, resistance was the domain of only a very select few. STO certainly swelled the numbers of the maquis in remote corners of rural France from late 1943. SOE and the SIS, also known as MI6, were always completely distinct organisations with very different tasks: fostering insurrection and sabotage on the one hand, intelligence on the other. There was considerable friction between the two (at least in the corridors of power). The two largest and most effective intelligence organisations in Occupied France, l'Agence Immobilière and l'Alliance (or l'Arche de Noé as the Gestapo called it) were however created through entirely French initiative in the earliest days after the defeat. The intelligence they provided was of inestimable value, in for example the destruction of German U-boats by the Royal Navy and of a Panzer division by the RAF. A high proportion of their members perished before firing-squads and in the concentration camps. France was handicapped both before and during the occupation by a communist party which took orders from Stalin, by right-wingers, including some senior military men, who were admirers of Hitler, by socialists who turned into “national-socialists”, and by a senile but still much admired Maréchal Pétain.

[@lesialyls]

Enjoy Lindy talks too but this one that felt pretty weak (albeit well told as always). Missing out Jean Moulin! Naughty.

[@barryking9002]

How about the white mouse a New Zealander half Maori lass who was married to a Frenchman ( living in France before the war began) and worked for ose in the resistance in France she is recognized as the most decorated New Zealander and several really awesome books have been written about her life . It is my honor that she was my grandmother's cousin

[@martinradcliffe4798]

I think the impact of the Resistance has been- and still is in some quarters- massively overstated. Not to say that locally some minor successes were not achieved by some very brave people. Of course post liberation every Frenchman and his dog claimed to be active members of the Resistance- REALLY active in some cases.

[@Grant5272]

I remember a friend of my father's who was in the US Army and invaded at Normandy, talking about his visit to France in the early 1950s. He said "Every Frenchman I met said he was in the French Resistance! Hell, if there were really that many French in the Resistance, I wouldn't have needed to wade ashore at Normandy!"

[@lindybeige]

There were more people claiming the resistance pension in many places than the wartime population of those places.

[@Grant5272]

lol... I don't mean this as a slam against the French at all, but why am I not surprised???

[@bobbyjoe1111]

@@Grant5272 nothing to do with being french. just humans being greedy and shameless

[@JuanCKaun]

@@bobbyjoe1111 but also frenchness

[@josephyates9936]

@@JuanCKaun What about Brits and all their BS take on history? Just look at WW2: Ran away from the enemy leaving their arms on the beaches at Dunkirk, surrendered to the Japenese in Singapore despite outnumbering the Japanese 3 to 1 !!!, massive collaboration with the Germans in Jersey and Guernsey etc etc . Only when the war got going in Russia and the Americans came on the scene did the tide of the war change yet Brits keep puffing themselves as being some sorts of war heroes. Make the French look modest tbh ...

[@PalleRasmussen]

Do not forget the heroic efforts of the great René Artois.

[@TheAegisClaw]

He liberated the stolen Madonna with the big boobies.

[@ZGryphon]

And his wife Stella.

[@Mugofbrown]

That sold for 15,000 pounds in Bristol recently!

[@SuperEdge67]

PalleRasmussen Despite the efforts of Herr Flick of the Gestapo to stop him.

[@kevfullo]

Ah Renee. A true hero

[@zed1207]

Max Hastings has written a very informative book on the trip of Das Reich to the battlefield in 1944.

[@jameshope7933]

I read that book too,I've become a fan of Hastings over the last 10 years.

[@neaorin]

Julian Jackson's "France: The Dark Years, 1940-1944" is a good read on the subject. In short, the Resistance: 1. provided the Allies with intel about German defensive positions and troop movements 2. helped downed Allied pilots return to Britain (or after D-day, their own lines) 3. helped some Jews and other "undesirables" escape occupied France 4. disrupted German communications and troop movements (some Panzer divisions took weeks to arrive in Normandy because they couldn't send their tanks via rail due to the railway sabotages) 5. prevented some French cities from suffering a lot more damage than they did. Hitler had ordered Paris razed to the ground and while the German garrison commander had decided to disobey that order, there were likely other Nazis around which would have carried it out - except they couldn't because the Resistance was everywhere in the city and it was too risky.

[@owbu]

So droping lots of weapons into a country does not turn it into a stable democracy? If only someone would have told the guys solving the middle eastern problems^^

[@FuckingFuckShitBitch]

You're forgetting the fact that the US isn't trying to solve the middle eastern problem. They're actively aiding them in causing more violence and uprisings because it's good for business.

[@tomcole5118]

Dreyfus one word Oil.

[@tomcole5118]

***** but the present still needs it quite a lot.

[@MattC-jg1yb]

Hey look! Uninformed idiots! Everyone knows the US only drops bombs on these countries. Of course. It's kinda weird that they would put ground troops there considering all they do is bomb. What's funny is that when I was in Afghanistan, I didn't see any bombs being dropped! In fact, the US army corps of engineers was tirelessly working to build roads, schools, clinics, and more! Crazy how much develo- err I mean, BOMBS, the US brought there.

[@GFSLombardo]

"Hearts and Minds"= what a concept! Look how great it worked in Vietnam=What could possibly go wrong? History repeating itself, again and again and again.Why do we have any military at all in Iraq and Afghanistan and now Syria? Just send in the Peace Corps(we still have a Peace Corps, or has that been disappeared?) Wanna go back as a volunteer?

[@jerrymail]

Where i live there was several airfields, with Me 109 fighters, Heinkel 111 & Ju-88 torpedo bombers, KG. 77 and perhaps others units. As the German bombers attacked allied convoys on the Mediterranean Sea, there was quite a lot of air combats in the area where i live. The Resistance here was quite successful in extracting shot down allied pilots, but, apart from that, they did not succeed much. Beware of the propagandistic use made by French politicians about History, and World War II in particular !

[@kingcole55]

I'd love to see Lindybeige review Roberto Rosselini's war trilogy. The first one, Rome: Open City, was shot partly while the war was still going on, and the second, Paisan, uses lots of footage from the war itself. I'm mostly curious about how realistic he feels the depictions of the partisans, the war, and the aftermath are. Some of the details from the movie seem realistic but also incredibly surreal.

[@akgeronimo501]

I may quote this incorrectly but Patton when asked about the help of the resistance, he said "it was better than expected, but less than advertised".

[@tangent272]

To understand the level of bitterness amongst the socialist and communist forces you need to understand the Spanish Civil war, which ended in 1939 in the neighbouring country; many of the socialists and communists in France, and pretty much all of those with combat experience, would have fought in Spain, and would have been fresh from the battlefield at the start of WWII. The 'war within the war' was what happened on the Republican/Anarchist/Socialist/Communist side after the rest of the world left them for dead against the fascists and the only people who would arm them were the Russians. The communists in Spain had always been a tiny, almost irrelevant faction but when the Russians showed up and announced they'd only be handing over weapons to fellow communists, suddenly that tiny faction had all the guns. Some of the other factions made friends with the Communists, others decided they'd been doing fine before the Russians showed up and would continue to do fine without their help. Unfortunately, the Russians also sent military advisers, as the Germans and Italians were doing on the fascist side, and these Russian officers, raised in Stalin's army, had no tolerance for dissent; remember that, in 1936/7 when this was happening Russia was still in the middle of the purges, so responding to _any_ disagreement with a firing squad was simple common practice as far as they were concerned. The heavily armed communists, along with those who thought they could work with them, declared themselves the legitimate government and demanded that everyone fighting the fascists start following the communists orders, punishing, then dissappearing then straight out massacring anyone who didn't jump to agree quickly enough. After several bloody months, after which much of the resistance to the fascists had had to flee the country and the rest had been either neutered or rolled into what by that point was basically the Russian army in Spain. The rest of the war had no real ideology and was just a practice match between Germany and Russia, with mostly Spanish people doing the dying, like so many other proxy wars around the world before and since. So those factions in the French resistance would remember that. It was wasn't some petty 'Judean People's Front' bullshit, this was people who'd seen the commies at work close up, probably lost friends into their torture chambers and they weren't going to see it again. They also knew that, at least in Spain, the commies really were a bigger, certainly closer, threat than the fascists. Add to that the fact that different groups figured out what was happening in Spain at different times, so although two groups might have ended up fighting the commies, at an earlier point one might have been helping the commies against the other. That's the huge mess behind the 'pettiness' Lloyd is describing from the various French resistance groups.

[@jeffzeiler346]

So basically french people suck. Every self defeating coward does their best to craft a convincing excuse - and the french certainly put some effort into their excuses. Too bad they didn't put the same effort into fighting the fascists occupying their country.

[@daniniubo2354]

What a nice Fairy Tale... I recomend you to stop watching History Channel videos as your only source of information....

[@Hebdomad7]

so just like the Judean Peoples Front vs the peoples front of Judea... to hell with the popular front of Judea... splitters!!

[@anarchoenby]

Love your content, man.

[@justeauanka6017]

Great way to study history. Most amusing and informative. Thank you