"Seraphim" a écrit dans le message news:
...
(snip)
What happened to our army in 1939-40 had little to do with what was
achieved in 1917-18...

I've always thought it had everything to do with it. World War I basically
destroyed the cream of a generation for France. After the horrors of the
first war, it was decided that sending their men off to die in the
trenches
was stupid, and that they were better off just making things so difficult
on the enemy that an attack would never come. Unfortunately for the
French,
the attack did come, but not where they had prepared for it, and due to
this France did not have the means avaible to respond properly.
In short, the French army got their butt kicked in WWII because they
were trying to avoild another WWI.

Or because they stuck too hard to the illusion that they had fought the last
one of their history, an illusion certainly linked to the horrors of WW1.

Christophe