Quote Originally Posted by Brenus View Post
“You don't get Englishmen ranting about atrocities committed by the French, or anything of that sort. Just respond with banter in the same vein, reeling off a list of French victories against the English. Although on the military front there aren't many things that hit the English nerve (since we've rarely been invaded),).”
Demo of what I said: Celebration by English of victories against the French. I could now list the impressive victories against the English it would just be another demo. We don’t think that time is gone and we have let it go. To be frank, my first reaction towards this answer was exactly this, then I realised what I was about to do. Due to the National Identity Building, the English really believed they won the 100 years’ war in Agincourt. When you say “and while combined American-French victories are probably closest to that, they don't come close to the kind of ammunition that Brits have against the French (eg. Syria 1941 - the last British victory over the French, or Mers el-Kebir 1940, the last British naval victory over the French, or even Torch 1942, the last American victory over the French” it is a denial of one of the greatest lost of territory in History. Just do note that the French (Vichy) won against the British Fleet in Dakar (sorry, too much to resist) (I am ashamed). For the anecdote, my former Father-in Law was a Free French Navy, fighting with the Royal Navy at the time. The victory of the Vichy French against the English Fleet calmed down the resentment of the Free French against the Royal Navy. Funny how we humans are working...
A lot of angst over nothing special, or as Shakespeare almost said, much owt about nowt. Like I said, the so-called Francophobia is akin to sporting rivalry. Fans of sporting teams don't talk about their losses, unless they happened in "plucky defeats" (and British history glorifies enough of these, including Dunkirk). They glory in victories over the local rivals with whom they have a long history. But through all the talk of everlasting rivalries, it still takes a back seat when more important things like life are concerned. Hence remembrances of the deceased are honoured by all sides alike, no matter their supposed rivalry. It doesn't mean the rivalry never existed, nor does it mean the rivalry overrides everything. The sporting rivalry is just something to talk about, a cultural and an identity tag, but it's something that will be put aside when more important things are discussed.

For another version of this sporting rivalry, see the Anglo-American friendly antagonism. There's plenty of needle there, and they have more ammunition to aim at us than you do, being much bigger and more successful than us. But all of it disappears when we have a common cause, and we think the same way more often than not.

Also, when you cite the 100 years war (decisive defeat for the English) and Dakar, that's the spirit. We win some and we lose some, c'est la vie. Just because we don't mention the losses doesn't mean we didn't lose. It just means we find something else to banter about. None of all that stuff remotely approached the unpleasantness that the Chinese and Koreans experienced under the Japanese, so we should be able to brush it away with a smile and a shrug. For all that we celebrate Agincourt, we don't currently hold any territory in mainland France, and that's something we don't even try to deny. Well, maybe apart from Calais on weekends and bank holidays.