The French Army up till 1939 was considered by many to be the most powerful in the world. people were aghast when the Germans invaded the Rhineland and France did nothing. Even Hitler himself admitted that this move was a desperate gamble: the Germans did not at the time have the power or the political will to prevent the Franch from taking it back. Here is where (as previously stated) the political weakness of the French nation of the time came into play. No one was willing or able politically to stick his neck out and call for war. France was caught off guard both politically and in terms of her strategic and tactical thought. I stand by my statement that the French do not deserve to be blasted for their defeat in 1939–if everyone knew how horrendous the Nazi war machine was going to be then both England and the USA deserve a whole heap of blame as well for standing by and letting it happen. But virtually no one in high political office did…cest la vie!
In response to Yanny, I basically agree in terms of USAs MAJOR wars (that is those on which the strength of the nation as-we-knew-it meant) if he is saying–as I think he is–we have won wars based on crushing strength of numbers and materiel, rather than (necessarily) quality of the above. I am speaking mainly of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War and WWs 1 and 2. However USA has won (and lost) most of it’s smaller wars on the strength of subterfuge, political cunning, and precise use of military strength, rather than pure brute force. And one could argue that since the invention of the atomic bomb and the switch to an “all-volunteer” (that is a professional rather than citizen) armed forces, the situation today decidedly favors the latter…
Just my opinion. Blast away…
Ozone27