The Archbishop that send Joan of Arc to the bonefire was called Cauchon, pig.
Pierre Laval, Pétain right hand in Vichy from 1940 to 1944, was born near Vichy and in the 30's bought a castle near Vichy; as if the ugly fate had doomed that man to that infamous place in France history.
In French language, Laval sounds like avaler, to swallow, and we have a great expression for somebody manipulated by his chief to make ugly things while convinced he his right "il avale des couleuvres" "he swallows a lot of grass-snakes".
So one could say that "La France de Vichy, elle Laval bien des couleuvres avec Hitler."
As for Pétain, it sounds like Putain - enough said. "La putain elle avale tout"
On 7 May 1940, General Huntziger, commander in chief of the French IXth Army guarding the Ardenne forrest near Sedan (sigh) said exactly this
"Je ne crois pas que les Allemands ait jamais eu l'intention d'attaquer dans le secteur de Sedan"
(It is my intimate conviction the german armies are not dumb enough to ever attack near Sedan" (re-sigh)
The commander in chief of the other army guarding the Ardennes, General Corap (on which Huntziger later astutely and successfully put the blame instead of himself, the bastard) was far more lucid. He went to see Supreme commander in chief Maurice Gamelin, in March 1940, and explained him his defensive lines in the Ardenne lacked of everything - Flak, mines, barbed wire, concrete for bunkers, machine guns, ammunitions. Gamelin, self obsessed with the Dyle-Escaut-Breda in Belgium nothern flatlands, just answered "Corap, I'm not interested in your sector, the Meuse."
Later in 1946 Gamelin justified his Crecy / Azincourt disaster by saying (the moron) "How could i have won that battle with French soldiers lacking any will to fight ?"
For your information, it is now confirmed Gamelin, who led the French armies to the battle in 1940, had tertiary syphillis stage. In a nutshell, his brain was like mash potatoes. Dear God.
Imagine the conversation, in 1950, between a grandfather, a father, and a son, having fought, respectively, the 1870, 1914-18, and 1940 campaigns.
"In 1870 the Prussians crushed us in Sedan"
"Me too !"
"Idiots. We, in 1914, lost the Battle of the frontiers - just like in 1870 and 1940. But at least, we saved Paris by resisting on the Marne river ! "
"Well, in 1870 we couldn't do that, and Paris fell, but at least after a valiant siege, and by the way, the Germans did not stayed.
"So in 1940 you did all wrong, kind off: no miracle on the Marne, Paris open city, and what's worse, the german stayed. Plus they were, this time, genocidal fanatics, unlike Bismarck or the Kayzer".
"And three times, the government fled to Bordeaux. what's with this town trying to become capital of France in place of Paris ?"
On October 9, 1934 in Marseille the king of Yugoslavia and Foreign minister Louis Barthou were shot and killed. The attack also crippled the lucid and somewhat capable General Georges (who hated the Dyle-Breda manoeuver and would have stayed on the Escault, fighting a defensive war on the Belgian border).
And guess who got the job of Commander of the French armies to replace Weygand instead of Georges ? Gamelin. And guess who got Barthou job afterwards ? Pierre Laval, in his first major minister job.
In a nutshell, France 1940 defeat and the ensuing advent of Vichy damned soul, happened the same day.
The 1940 disaster is a rather faithfull copy of 1415 & Azincourt. With De Gaulle in the role of Joan of Arc (and Charles VII, too) Laval being the Armagnac traitors while Pétain would be Isabault de Bavière, the english invaders being the germans.
Crazy Charles VI mental agony lasting 30 years was kind of 3rd Republic interbellum agony.
Reaching further back in time, Crecy (1346) was kind of 1870 Prussian war while Du Guesclin victories were like 14-18 - pyrrhic victories for nothing, Charles VI going crazy shortly afterwards (1392) and agonizing for 30 years, leading to internal breakdown and finally, Azincourt disaster.
Paris was occupied, the French armies crushed to smithereens, King Charles VII not in Bordeaux but Bourges, with traitors willing to lick the ennemy ass to get their slice of the New Order cake (here's to you, Vichy France).
France was lost, yet a miracle saved France (it is a proverb, actually - "quand la France est perdue, un miracle sauve la France") and surely enough, Joan of Arc and De Gaulle come out of nowhere, kicked french morale in the ass, and ultimately managed to save the day.
Pierre Laval, Pétain right hand in Vichy from 1940 to 1944, was born near Vichy and in the 30's bought a castle near Vichy; as if the ugly fate had doomed that man to that infamous place in France history.
In French language, Laval sounds like avaler, to swallow, and we have a great expression for somebody manipulated by his chief to make ugly things while convinced he his right "il avale des couleuvres" "he swallows a lot of grass-snakes".
So one could say that "La France de Vichy, elle Laval bien des couleuvres avec Hitler."
As for Pétain, it sounds like Putain - enough said. "La putain elle avale tout"
On 7 May 1940, General Huntziger, commander in chief of the French IXth Army guarding the Ardenne forrest near Sedan (sigh) said exactly this
"Je ne crois pas que les Allemands ait jamais eu l'intention d'attaquer dans le secteur de Sedan"
(It is my intimate conviction the german armies are not dumb enough to ever attack near Sedan" (re-sigh)
The commander in chief of the other army guarding the Ardennes, General Corap (on which Huntziger later astutely and successfully put the blame instead of himself, the bastard) was far more lucid. He went to see Supreme commander in chief Maurice Gamelin, in March 1940, and explained him his defensive lines in the Ardenne lacked of everything - Flak, mines, barbed wire, concrete for bunkers, machine guns, ammunitions. Gamelin, self obsessed with the Dyle-Escaut-Breda in Belgium nothern flatlands, just answered "Corap, I'm not interested in your sector, the Meuse."
Later in 1946 Gamelin justified his Crecy / Azincourt disaster by saying (the moron) "How could i have won that battle with French soldiers lacking any will to fight ?"
For your information, it is now confirmed Gamelin, who led the French armies to the battle in 1940, had tertiary syphillis stage. In a nutshell, his brain was like mash potatoes. Dear God.
Imagine the conversation, in 1950, between a grandfather, a father, and a son, having fought, respectively, the 1870, 1914-18, and 1940 campaigns.
"In 1870 the Prussians crushed us in Sedan"
"Me too !"
"Idiots. We, in 1914, lost the Battle of the frontiers - just like in 1870 and 1940. But at least, we saved Paris by resisting on the Marne river ! "
"Well, in 1870 we couldn't do that, and Paris fell, but at least after a valiant siege, and by the way, the Germans did not stayed.
"So in 1940 you did all wrong, kind off: no miracle on the Marne, Paris open city, and what's worse, the german stayed. Plus they were, this time, genocidal fanatics, unlike Bismarck or the Kayzer".
"And three times, the government fled to Bordeaux. what's with this town trying to become capital of France in place of Paris ?"
On October 9, 1934 in Marseille the king of Yugoslavia and Foreign minister Louis Barthou were shot and killed. The attack also crippled the lucid and somewhat capable General Georges (who hated the Dyle-Breda manoeuver and would have stayed on the Escault, fighting a defensive war on the Belgian border).
And guess who got the job of Commander of the French armies to replace Weygand instead of Georges ? Gamelin. And guess who got Barthou job afterwards ? Pierre Laval, in his first major minister job.
In a nutshell, France 1940 defeat and the ensuing advent of Vichy damned soul, happened the same day.
The 1940 disaster is a rather faithfull copy of 1415 & Azincourt. With De Gaulle in the role of Joan of Arc (and Charles VII, too) Laval being the Armagnac traitors while Pétain would be Isabault de Bavière, the english invaders being the germans.
Crazy Charles VI mental agony lasting 30 years was kind of 3rd Republic interbellum agony.
Reaching further back in time, Crecy (1346) was kind of 1870 Prussian war while Du Guesclin victories were like 14-18 - pyrrhic victories for nothing, Charles VI going crazy shortly afterwards (1392) and agonizing for 30 years, leading to internal breakdown and finally, Azincourt disaster.
Paris was occupied, the French armies crushed to smithereens, King Charles VII not in Bordeaux but Bourges, with traitors willing to lick the ennemy ass to get their slice of the New Order cake (here's to you, Vichy France).
France was lost, yet a miracle saved France (it is a proverb, actually - "quand la France est perdue, un miracle sauve la France") and surely enough, Joan of Arc and De Gaulle come out of nowhere, kicked french morale in the ass, and ultimately managed to save the day.
Last edited: