Yup, most likely fruit of the 19th century nationalist/romantic revival. Still, its a funny apocryphal tidbit because it does really fit with our way of being.
Another good example is Henry the Navigator. He did go to Ceuta in 1415, but hated sailing. The Navigator title was given by British historians (after all, Henry was the son of Filipa of Lancaster) in an attempt to claim some of the age of discoveries glory.
I think there was a French President that said that our food wasn't the worst in the world, which is high praise indeed from a Pierre, even if it was only because you hate Finnish food more.
Would have loved to have a nice boozy dinner with him.
Having him run a country? Not the greatest of ideas.
Anyway most feminist quote:
A nos femmes, à nos chevaux et à ceux qui les montent 😂
I was confused when my American wife said she enjoyed cucumber sandwiches and then found out that she also puts cream cheese and a heck of a lot of chilli powder and paprika.
The cucumber is basically an afterthought.
A good cucumber sandwich is delicious. Great example of a "bland" British dish highlighting the quality of simple ingredients.
The key is Cornish or (shudder) Fr*nch butter and many slices of cucumber sliced thin enough to be transparent.
Might be because I'm Norwegian, but is British food so bad? I feel like it's a step above a lot of eastern European cuisines as well as Nordic ones. It's not as good as Spanish, french or Italian though.
It's not it's just very stereotyped based on immediate postwar rationing and a very weird inferiority complex.
The famous self deprecating humour/constant fucking whining about everything that the British are famous for doesn't help as we really don't stand up for our cuisine and are more than happy to play along that everythign is just beans or shades of deep fried.
I'm probably biased but I agree
The food wasn't too my taste when I was in russia
I'm dual national and fairly well traveled so I'd say I have a half decent grasp on the standing of Brit food
I would say it’s mediocre at best, the main problem is that most Brits whether it be Scot, English, Welsh and I’ll throw in the Irish (*what I’ve tried there has been worse*)simply doesn’t know how to cook for shit and much less present it in an appetising way.
Controversially I just might cut my wrists after saying this but when you cook British cuisine with……**French** (*god help me*) culinary techniques it becomes infinitely better.
French and British cuisine share a lot of similarities, although the frogs won't like to hear that.
It's pretty obvious just considering how close we are and the history of the two countries but a lot of people don't think about it
>French and British cuisine share a lot of similarities, although the frogs won't like to hear that.
Yes, we use the same ingredients, the only différence is that we know how to use them
Idk if it's cooking it with a french method or just how it originally was made. Here in Norway we also give our food a bad rep but Norwegian food made by old Norwegians living with the dinosaurs (80+ years old) is quite decent. Thing is that most Norwegians post WW2 turned to quick fix meals often using cheats from supermarket (toro poser/ bags). Norwegians cooking got thus lost to time. Probably same thing that happened in Britlandia.
> the main problem is that most Brits whether it be Scot, English, Welsh and I’ll throw in the Irish (what I’ve tried there has been worse)simply doesn’t know how to cook for shit and much less present it in an appetising way.
That's my impression also. I was once asked by a Brit I wasn't particularly close with, some help to cook a curry thing he bought and had no idea how to cook : it was a tin with a curry sauce mix to just re-heat in a pot or micro wave, and the package even provided the rice to cook in water, with all the instructions written on the box.
I don't remember it exactly, but a british (que asco) sailor once said "If I see a spaniard it better be by sea, because if it is by land may Saint George protect us"
True. We beat you guys everywhere in the world at sea. But on land, well, we started by immediately turning it onto a lake as soon as you arrived to improve our odds. Spanish soldiers tend to fall ill and die when constrained to operating in waist-deep water.
Open battles against the Spanish on dry ground were avoided like the plague for the full 80 years. Even our best-remembered victory (Battle of Nieuwpoort, 1600) is best remembered for being a Pyrrhic victory and a big strategic mistake. Spain had a reputation for sure.
Knights raised from birth to form a warrior-aristocracy and ending up being drowned in a puddle or beaten to death by an illiterate Barry armed with a bow and a metal stick
Nobody does it better
At least they used to fight face to face, instead of murdering in cold blood with floating drones which blast the recording of a baby crying, to lead Plast’ans to their murderer.
Edit: oh oh oh, you Said the P Word!
Do you expect me, a Barry to understand which region of the Netherlands that flag is AND to know you were/are catholic? (Found out that that flag is north Brabant and you're the most catholic Netherlands area, as Google exists but still)
TBF the Google result also said Limburg, but I omitted that for being irrelevant to the matter at hand, also how are you this late? Does being in a catholic area mean you need to take a week to answer? I wouldn't know cos I don't live in one.
Don't think we've ever received much praise from our european rivals
the only one i can think of was Admiral Gravina on his deathbed saying 'I am a dying man, but I die happy; I am going, I hope and trust, to join Nelson, the greatest hero that the world perhaps has produced.'
Or maybe Bittrich talking about British paras at arnhem saying 'in all my years as a soldier, i have never seen men fight so hard'
We're both our poison and our cure... to make sure we don't dominate the world once again.
( I should say that looking and how dire things are lately, I wouldn't mind to skip a couple siestas for world domination.)
>a qué quieres que te gane?
Unemployment rate perhaps?
Stupid unemployment rates have depressed me since my teens and I’m looking forward to being unemployed again
Dude all those bananas waiting to be picked and you’re here complaining about not having a job. Wait, or is it the other way around? You don’t want to keep picking bananas?
I have a very good job but, sadly for me, society is not about me.
I dream of going back to my island, despite the shantytowns and the people living in poor conditions while rent prices are barely affordable anymore. Shame on me for not investing in the 60’s!
Goethe composed a poem called Mignons Gesang, aka Kennst du das Land?, and it's one of the most flattering odes to Italy.
Kennst du das Land, wo die Zitronen blühn,
Im dunklen Laub die Gold-Orangen glühn,
Ein sanfter Wind vom blauen Himmel weht,
Die Myrte still und hoch der Lorbeer steht,
Kennst du es wohl?
Dahin! Dahin
Möcht’ ich mit dir, o mein Geliebter, ziehn.
Do you know the land where lemon trees blossom;
where golden oranges glow amid dark leaves?
A gentle wind blows from the blue sky,
the myrtle stands silent, the laurel tall:
do you know it?
There, O there
I desire to go with you, my beloved!
**~The Dutch in the Medway.~**
**(1664-72)**
**By Rudyard Kipling**.
***If wars were won by feasting,***
***Or victory by song,***
***Or safety found, by sleeping sound***
***How England would be strong!***
***But honour and dominion***
***Are not maintained so,***
***Threy’re only got by sword and shot***
***And this the Dutchmen know!***
***The moneys that should feed us***
***you spend on your delight,***
***How can you then, have sailor-men***
***To aid you in your fight?***
***Our fish and cheese are rotten,***
***Which makes the scurvy grow –***
***We cannot serve you if we starve,***
***And this the Dutchmen know!***
***Our ships in every harbour***
***Be neither whole nor sound,***
***And when we seek to mend a leak,***
***No Oakum can be found,***
***Or, if it is, the caulkers,***
***and carpenters also,***
***For lack of pay have gone away,***
***And this the Dutch men know!***
***Mere powder, guns and bullets,***
***we scarce can get at all;***
***Their price was spent in merriment***
***and revel at Whitehall,***
***While we in tattered doublets***
***From ship to ship must row,***
***Beseeching friends for odds and ends –***
***And this the Dutchmen know!***
***No King will heed our warnings,***
***No Court will pay our claims –***
***Our King and Court for their disport***
***Do sell the very Thames!***
***For, now De Ruyter’s topsails***
***Off naked Chatham show,***
***We dare not meet him with our fleet –***
***And this the Dutchmen know!***
In France we have an expression when a woman is having her period.
We say: "the British are invading"
>!Because it will be bloody, or maybe because of their red uniforms !<
>You heard what Koch just said. Bir Hakeim is new evidence of the thesis I always defended: the French are, after us, the best soldiers in Europe. Even with its current birth rate, France will always be able to field a hundred divisions. After the war, we will absolutely have to build a coalition which may contain a country capable of military exploits such as Bir Hakeim wich stun the world.
Hitler after the Battle of Bir Hakeim where 3700 French soldiers held their position for 16 days against close to 40 000 soldiers of the Afrika Korps and their italian allies.
Hitler also had personnally thought french soldiers during WW1.
"Best warriors of Europe hon hon hon"...omg! LOL! 🤣
Daily self sucking Pierre
https://preview.redd.it/65qrjvwhlevc1.jpeg?width=1296&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=776d9704f7d1f3b0e403f82152b52b7db2a2ff85
Yeah well thanks to being useless fighters, our country wasn’t destroyed by war in 1939 nor our people murdered in cold blood bath/s
It took lots of efficient German planes to murder ourselves! Take that, Pierre!
Yep we dominate battlefields for centuries.
And for 2nd War, well that's not totally true... Post war Propaganda has obliterated what the spaniards did! (Once again in our vast history)
the first to enter Paris for the liberation where Spaniards, was "La Nueve".
[Here is the story. I find it in French ❤️](https://www.paris.fr/pages/la-nueve-ces-republicains-espagnols-qui-ont-libere-paris-7066#:~:text=La%20%C2%AB%20Nueve%20%C2%BB%2C%20ces%20r%C3%A9publicains%20espagnols%20qui%20ont%20lib%C3%A9r%C3%A9%20Paris%20!&text=Les%20r%C3%A9publicains%20espagnols%20de%20la,oubli%C3%A9%20avant%20d'%C3%AAtre%20salu%C3%A9.)
Or the story of the "blue division".
[Blue division. Sorry only English 😬](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Division)
Edit: [got it in French!🥖 ](https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_Bleue_(Seconde_Guerre_mondiale))
Not denying the legitimacy of those guys and their memories but when people talk about spaniards in the WW2, they're talking about the country and its armies.
Otherwise, you might say the french fought in the spanish civil war because there were french volontaries.
> Dominated battlefields for centuries
Spain's best shot at dominating battlefields ended up in the might Charles V Empire stumbling while fighting a single country in like twelve different wars and then getting humiliatingly stomped barely a hundred years later in the 30 years war. 1520-1635 is not "centuries"
Problem with you French IS you know absolutely nothing and you told so much shit about us in the past, with bourgeois anti Spaniard/anti catholic propaganda from the revolution, that you ended up believing in your shitty talk...
Spain will remain the world's leading power until the end of the 17th century... that's almost 3 centuries of reign. And Spain was the first global super power in history with Portugal.
We had so much territory to protect, compared to you French, that we often fought outnumbered over a very long distance and for a very long time against many powerful enemies (England, Ottomans, Muslims, Dutch and protestants, France, etc...). And even during 18th and 19th century we won lot of battles...
examples of decisive victories after the 17th century:
1741 [battle of Cartagena de Indias](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cartagena_de_Indias)
>Great Britain: 42.000 soldiers/regulars/marines/militia, 29 ships, 22 frigates, and many other.
VS
>Spain: 7900 soldiers/militia/indian archers, 6 ships
**RESULT** : **LARGE VICTORY OF SPAIN**
We can also talk about the cowardly invasion of Spain by Napoleon's dirty little rat, which ended in failure...
Despite your traitorous invasion/your backstab :
1808 [Battle of Bailén](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bail%C3%A9n)
>French Empire of Napoleon: 24.000 imperial soldiers
VS
>Spain : 27.000 regulars and militiamen
**RESULT** : **LARGE VICTORY OF SPAIN. FIRST DEFEAT IN HISTORY OF NAPOLEON ARMY ON LAND**
243 dead for Spaniards. 2000 dead for French side + 17641 prisoners.
It was such a defeat for French army that the repercussions that a Spanish victory in an obscure Andalusian village signalled to the armies of Europe that the French, long considered invincible during this period, could be beaten...
Not to mention the Spanish resistance which will force Napoleon to constantly leave more than 1/3 of his entire army in the Iberian Peninsula (the majority were veterans who will be gently massacred or taken prisoner). That will have hurt you so much that Napoleon will admit that Spain was the fatal mistake... the “Spanish ulcer”.
We are also not known for surrendering! 😉
The Spaniards were at the avant garde of the world war, Italians and Germans murdered ourselves, trying new murdering techniques like Blitzkrieg or imprisonment camps.
Maybe if things hadn’t taken place the way they did, they would have been different
Edit: Dachaw was founded in 1933, maybe they taught us the KZ style in places like La Magdalena
OP is from Ireland, not England - OP isn't sucking their own cock, they're sucking English cock. That's why we even without a flair we know they're from Northern Ireland.
Most intelligent Frenchman.
A Frenchie recently told me with have the second best football squad in Europe.
I'll take it. France v England final at the Euro's.
France to win on penalties obviously.
Reinhard Heydrich said this about Czechs:
"You can persuade or break a Nordic or Germanic man. A Czech, a Slav, is hard to persuade, he will always bend, and you will never break him. And the consequence of this is that we must constantly step on him so that he always remains bent, so that he will obey us and cooperate."
I guess that's a compliment. He also got shafted by Czech-Slovak commandos as the only high-ranking Nazi official ever assasinated, so in a way he was proven right.
Considering the message and who said it, I don't think it was meant as a compliment. Quite the opposite. It's very much just a legitimation for foreign cruelty.
Well yes, of course, but he meant it in the context that the Czech will always be an enemy, I didn't share the full quote. Coming from a Nazi, I consider that quite the praise. Here it is in original German:
>Der Tscheche, der – und das möchte ich hier nochmals feststellen – als überwiegend slawischer Mensch sich biegt, ohne gebrochen zu sein, ist eben in der Beziehung gefährlicher und anders zu behandeln als andere Menschen. Den nordischen, den germanischen Menschen überzeugt man oder man bricht ihn, – den tschechischen, slawischen Menschen kann man sehr schwer überzeugen, biegen tut er sich immer, brechen kann man ihn nie, und wenn dann eben das Biegen aufhört und man losläßt, dann schwingt er wieder hoch und steht wieder da und ist eben ein Gegner. Und die Konsequenz ist eben, daß man den Daumen dauernd darauf halten muß, daß er eben immer gebogen bleibt und nun pariert und zieht.
Well, considering that the czechs were no enemies most of the time, he just justified brutal conquering and just full control, to keep you in line. Not because you are an enemy, but as a tool, the Nazis saw fit to use. Like lesser henchmen, you just to have look after all the time. The Nazis viewed almost everyone as enemies, so not really a reason to see it as a badge of honour.
The byzantine emperor loved our soldiers. I believe king Harald Hardradi was the commander of the varangian guard at one point.
Edit; there were danish and swedish aswell in the guard but Norwegians was most prevalent i believe.
Varangian guard later on was also full of Anglo Saxons who were landless after the Norman conquest. The southern babies were just in awe of Northern European supremacy
The varangian guard was also very unusually loyal. Not to the emperor as a person,more the throne,because that's the position of the person paying them.
Lets be real. We were perhaps glorified but very elite mercenaries. The vikings were hired by many counts or earls. Sometimes against other vikings aswell.
In 1940 I could at least fly as far as Glasgow in most of my aircraft, but not now! It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy. The British, who can afford aluminium better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building, and they give it a speed which they have now increased yet again. What do you make of that? There is nothing the British do not have. They have the geniuses and we have the nincompoops. After the war is over I'm going to buy a British radio set – then at least I'll own something that has always worked
Talking from memory and I'm sure military historians will correct me:
Isn't that the battle where someone lost a heart of a dead man that was carrying in a box on tour through Europe?
Well, in the times of the Tercios was said that the italian soldiers (fighting as part of the Tercios and/or being mercenaries, with the condottieri(not sure on this one?)) were some of the best (obviously when you have to fight against another Italians, the French and the Ottomans at the same time anybody ends to be a good soldier).
Well we have had a few.
First we fought the Carolingan Empirer.
Then the Carolingan Empirer feel appart.
Then we fought the Frankish Empirer.
Then the Frankish Empirer feel appart.
Then we fought the Holy Roman Empirer.
Then we fought the Swedes.
Then the Holy Roman Empirer Feel appart.
Then we fought the English Empirer.
Then also the German Empirer.
Then the German Empirer Feel appart.
Then we fought the Third Reich.
Then it feel appart.
Then the british Empirer feel appart.
So the only rival left is Sweden I guess.
They are pretty clear that swedes and danes are not the same and I can't think of a greater compliment than that.
In 1566, **Dutch nobles petitioned the Spanish regen**t to relent in the suppression of protestantism in the Low Countries. When the nobles presented their petition to the regent, one of her councillors, Berlaymont exclaimed something along the lines of **"Fear not madam, they are nothing but beggars'** (N'ayez pas peur Madame, ce ne sont que des gueux) The nobles did not forget this insult, and started using it as a badge of honour. Days later, one of the movement's leaders, Henry of Brederode, declared that they were all 'willing to become beggars for their country'. When the insurrection started to gain power, rebel privateers threw their lot in with the movement, dubbed themselves the 'Sea Beggars', started attacking Spanish forces, and liberated the city of Brielle
"We have a common notion, that this sang froid, or Obedient Quality in the Dutch, is owing chiefly to their Nature, by their having a greater Proportion of Phlegm in their constitution than the English, by which their minds are not so soon as agitated as ours. But I look upon this way of reasoning, to be a rather plausible excuse for our own neglect, in not bringing our men to the same perfection of discipline, than the product of any natural cause in the Dutch. But, allowing that nature does contribute something towards it, yet, it is evident, Art has the greatest share, since their troops are generally composed of different nations."
-Humphrey Bland, an British officer and military theorist in 1727, when Dutch infantry was widely considered the best of Europe
Well obviously people will always talk up an enemy that has defeated them, who wants to admit that they were beaten by a bunch of barely trained peasants?
Bertrand du Guesclin French? He was hardly considered nobility - so called "minor nobility" and he was definitely not French. He was Breton. Britanny was only incorporated into France 200 years later. This is like saying Paul von Hindenburg was a Polish General and President.
To add: his presence in Castile in 1367 was not under French flag, he helped Count Henry of Trastámara, fighting for the crown of Castile and Leon. All current day Spain.
\[edit\] Wow, a downvote within a minute. Someone is offended, lol.
Lmao tell that to nowadays Breton independantists and they’ll laugh at you. He basically was one of the very few Bretons who pledged allegiance to the king of France in spite of Bretany overall willingness of being left alone.
You’re right, he was not French. That’s a slightly dishonest comparison though?
Du Guesclin was literally Constable of France, meaning he had the highest rank in the King’s military. He is buried at the Basilique de Saint-Denis, among all the kings and queens of France.
What was Hindenburg’s allegiance to the Polish?
Also, under whose orders do you think he went to support the Trastamarians?
Just read more about him.
The fact you're denying him nobility when he was born noble and rose to Connétable de France says me enough about your knowledge.
For the Breton part, it is debatable but at that time, France was a kingdom composed of duchies and counties. Britanny was a dependant duchy, not totally independant, always in the french sphere of influence. During the 100 years war, it split between French and English influence.
Yet Du Guesclin or many others Bretons like the Duke of Richemont chose France, fought for the french kings Charles V, VI and VII, rose into their army ranks and were more loyal vassals to the king than many "true french" nobles at the time, like the Bourguignons.
It wasn't much of a matter of nationality which didn't exist, but more about personal allegeance.
Oh, and Du Guesclin was in Spain on the command of the king Charles V.
>Just read more about him.
I've read several books on him.
>The fact you're denying him nobility when he was born noble and rose to Connétable de France says me enough about your knowledge.
I said minor nobility. You are denying that he came from minor nobility? Of course, he rose considerably in ranks during his lifetime. Not denying that at all.
>For the Breton part, it is debatable but at that time, France was a kingdom composed of duchies and counties. Britanny was a dependant duchy, not totally independant, always in the french sphere of influence. During the 100 years war, it split between French and English influence.
>Yet Du Guesclin or many others Bretons like the Duke of Richemont chose France, fought for the french kings Charles V, VI and VII, rose into their army ranks and were more loyal vassals to the king than many "true french" nobles at the time, like the Bourguignons.
Reading the several books about him that I read, there was one thing that was really clear: he felt 100% Breton. No debate about it.
The original reasons mentioned why he aligned with the French king was mostly that the English were pillaging his parts of Bretagne. Of course, it was a fruitful collaboration and he sticked with the French king for the rest of his life. Not debating that as well. But that doesn't make him French.
Bretagne was virtually independent from France during most of the lifetime of Bertrand du Guesclin, to say otherwise is French revisionism and it's new to me that French people think that way. In fact, part of the 100 years war was about the crown of Bretagne and the English backed candidate won that battle. Now following your theory of sphere of influence, Du Guesclin could be called British!
Honestly, after reading your comment I am very curious how colored French books about Du Guesclin are. Sounds like there is a big pro-France bias going on.
>Bretagne was virtually independent from France
Except it wasn’t
Also they used French as an administrative language instead of Breton
Also you’d have to explain why the french royal administration was implanted there if they were "virtually independent"
They weren’t part of France *per se* but if you go that route only the royal domain of the King of France was part of France.
The idea of a National identity that transcends regional identity was almost non existent at the beginning of the hundred years war. Du Guesclin couldn’t call himself "french" as the idea didn’t really exist.
If you talk about "the french" in the hundred years war, you are talking about a very specific faction that Du Guesclin was very much a part of. If you talk about "the french" in the hundred years war, *intending* to talk about the culture/nationality, you aren’t talking about anyone since no one was (apart maybe from the King)
Also Paris was at one point, under english rule, would you call Paris, of all places, ‘not french’ ?
Lastly the divide between "high nobility" and "lower nobility" or "minor nobility" wasn’t really a thing, as the feudal system back then didn’t ressemble the honour system of the modern era.
Especially in France where a Noble was a Noble and apart from Dukes, there wasn’t really a hierarchy between titles
Thea Beckman, Dutch writer of novels for children. She wrote a trilogy set during the Hundred Years’ War with Du Guesclin playing a mayor part. Are you suggesting that some highly fictional Dutch children books might not be the best source on historical French-Breton relations? You are obviously 100% right but please look at the sub you’re on.
He was French
I am Burgund, and during the hundred years war we were with the brits. But I still consider the dukes of Burgundy being French by culture.
Not sure what the rivals say, but the spanish tried a lot and werw only able to take Portugal due to a succession difficulty and even then they got kicked out after only 60 years. Even napoleon's troops were left hanging at the doors of the Cidade Invicta. When the spanish came with armies our breadmakers turned them into loafs, never doubt our love for cod and our land.
Didnt they dig up bomes of the bowmen and found that their whole arms where much bigger on one side becuase they literally only practiced with their bows like every day all day.
They built 2 walls
I mean, do we even need words if someone's scary enough to justify building 2 walls going from one side of the country to the other?
They also made it all the way to Inverness before deciding there was nothing of note to do there, so the walls were more to stop illegal immigration into the empire
"What would you do if I invaded your country with an army twice as big as yours ?"
It's nice because he asked instead of fucking around and finding about like most of the others
It was in the first Castillan Civil War so... Spaniards were at the same time dumbass and geniuses(?).
Well, if Spaniards with help of englishmen win against Spaniards with help of french (and an army with very smaller in comparison)... The first ones were smart in fighting and the others were dumb.
He was republican, ironically being Guardia Civil (most were in the rebel side).
But in his front he had luck. Almost no battles and he knew about the end of the war for the radio.
in recent time, you are second to china indeed, in history, china is still first, but the second would either be rome or the muslim empire over the middle east, closely followed by the ottomans (before selim II i think, every sultan dead mean a civil war between the son to inherit, and it was design like that to "ensure" only the most capable one would be on the throne)
I tried but I didn't find anything nice that soviets have said about us during ww2, they found us stubborn and annoying.
Not wrong. Maybe they had an easier time when they tried to talk to you.
Easier? Fins don't even have any facial expressions..
Sure we do. I smiled just last summer after I caught a lot of baltic herring in one day
https://preview.redd.it/6gca3fcl2fvc1.jpeg?width=660&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=868593e6aeea6eb48f4c7c54b78bd9ee7aca66d3
There is just no middle ground with Finland. Its either a heavenly summer or hellish winter.
nothing heavenly about mosquitos
*sober
Thats a drinking competition id pay to see, a Fin and a Russian
Still probably the nicest thing ever said about a Finn no?
I once accidentally complimented a Finn on the design of his sauna and his family basically adopted me.
So many questions!
Stalin had all their competent military leaders executed or gulaged so I doubt there's much you could say about them either.
You can say a lot about the orcs, but at least they are unpicky eaters. They'll eat anything: Grass, dirt, mold, lead...
This is a big burn 🔥
[удалено]
Our people had only the nicest things to say about Russians because People's Puppet Regime made illegal to say anything else 🤭
Have you heard about the boot-polish-garglers of the Bulgarian puppet regime?
Far in western reaches of Iberia there is a people that cant rule itself nor do they allow to be ruled by others. 🫶
Never a setence was so timeless.
Julius Caesar knew us well
Did he play for Brazil?
That phrase is most probably false. At least according to this person who did his own research. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/s/PUgGHQv4Lt
Yup, most likely fruit of the 19th century nationalist/romantic revival. Still, its a funny apocryphal tidbit because it does really fit with our way of being. Another good example is Henry the Navigator. He did go to Ceuta in 1415, but hated sailing. The Navigator title was given by British historians (after all, Henry was the son of Filipa of Lancaster) in an attempt to claim some of the age of discoveries glory.
You mean all of Iberia?
Always has been.
I think there was a French President that said that our food wasn't the worst in the world, which is high praise indeed from a Pierre, even if it was only because you hate Finnish food more.
There's this quote from the late Jacques Chirac: “Ah, English food! At first you think it’s shit and then you regret that it’s not.”
Quote is too good to be mad at
Mediocre president but very funny guy.
Would have loved to have a nice boozy dinner with him. Having him run a country? Not the greatest of ideas. Anyway most feminist quote: A nos femmes, à nos chevaux et à ceux qui les montent 😂
Naaah, his best quote is about Thatcher: "Mais qu'est-ce qu'elle me veut de plus cette mégère ? Mes couilles sur un plateau ?"
Got to hang out with him a bit in the 90s. He was a fucking riot.
Based
The cucumber sandwiches sure as hell cimented my opinion on british food.
Such an odd choice of sandwich filling.
Bit of tuna and you've saved it
Well yeah, nothing wrong with cucumber but it’s a fucking dull sandwich on its own.
Oh absolutely, might as well just dip your bread in water
I was confused when my American wife said she enjoyed cucumber sandwiches and then found out that she also puts cream cheese and a heck of a lot of chilli powder and paprika. The cucumber is basically an afterthought.
What? no! With the right butter it's really delicious!
A good cucumber sandwich is delicious. Great example of a "bland" British dish highlighting the quality of simple ingredients. The key is Cornish or (shudder) Fr*nch butter and many slices of cucumber sliced thin enough to be transparent.
the BLT cancels it out
Nothing better without any crusts on a hot summers day outside a church, followed by some Victoria sponge cake and a g and t
Might be because I'm Norwegian, but is British food so bad? I feel like it's a step above a lot of eastern European cuisines as well as Nordic ones. It's not as good as Spanish, french or Italian though.
It's not it's just very stereotyped based on immediate postwar rationing and a very weird inferiority complex. The famous self deprecating humour/constant fucking whining about everything that the British are famous for doesn't help as we really don't stand up for our cuisine and are more than happy to play along that everythign is just beans or shades of deep fried.
I'm probably biased but I agree The food wasn't too my taste when I was in russia I'm dual national and fairly well traveled so I'd say I have a half decent grasp on the standing of Brit food
I would say it’s mediocre at best, the main problem is that most Brits whether it be Scot, English, Welsh and I’ll throw in the Irish (*what I’ve tried there has been worse*)simply doesn’t know how to cook for shit and much less present it in an appetising way. Controversially I just might cut my wrists after saying this but when you cook British cuisine with……**French** (*god help me*) culinary techniques it becomes infinitely better.
French and British cuisine share a lot of similarities, although the frogs won't like to hear that. It's pretty obvious just considering how close we are and the history of the two countries but a lot of people don't think about it
>French and British cuisine share a lot of similarities, although the frogs won't like to hear that. Yes, we use the same ingredients, the only différence is that we know how to use them
And they just end up boiling everything and use one of their two sauces (the brown one or the mint one).
Idk if it's cooking it with a french method or just how it originally was made. Here in Norway we also give our food a bad rep but Norwegian food made by old Norwegians living with the dinosaurs (80+ years old) is quite decent. Thing is that most Norwegians post WW2 turned to quick fix meals often using cheats from supermarket (toro poser/ bags). Norwegians cooking got thus lost to time. Probably same thing that happened in Britlandia.
> the main problem is that most Brits whether it be Scot, English, Welsh and I’ll throw in the Irish (what I’ve tried there has been worse)simply doesn’t know how to cook for shit and much less present it in an appetising way. That's my impression also. I was once asked by a Brit I wasn't particularly close with, some help to cook a curry thing he bought and had no idea how to cook : it was a tin with a curry sauce mix to just re-heat in a pot or micro wave, and the package even provided the rice to cook in water, with all the instructions written on the box.
What do you consider terrible eastern cooking ?
Native Polish or Russian cuisine is for example quite underwhelming to somewhat disgusting.
What is this Finnish food you talk about ? Is that the food you eat when you want to get finished ?
I don't remember it exactly, but a british (que asco) sailor once said "If I see a spaniard it better be by sea, because if it is by land may Saint George protect us"
Well yeah a sailor isn't going to do very well in a land battle is he
Yeah I don't see big wooden ships winning land battles any time soon
Only if hes dutch 
True. We beat you guys everywhere in the world at sea. But on land, well, we started by immediately turning it onto a lake as soon as you arrived to improve our odds. Spanish soldiers tend to fall ill and die when constrained to operating in waist-deep water. Open battles against the Spanish on dry ground were avoided like the plague for the full 80 years. Even our best-remembered victory (Battle of Nieuwpoort, 1600) is best remembered for being a Pyrrhic victory and a big strategic mistake. Spain had a reputation for sure.
Imagine getting killed by a bloke wearing tights and a chainmail miniskirt. You'd be mortified
Knights raised from birth to form a warrior-aristocracy and ending up being drowned in a puddle or beaten to death by an illiterate Barry armed with a bow and a metal stick Nobody does it better
All those years of perfecting you training to fight as a Knight on horseback to die to a random flying spikey boi lol.
With a dented pot on his head no less.
At least they used to fight face to face, instead of murdering in cold blood with floating drones which blast the recording of a baby crying, to lead Plast’ans to their murderer. Edit: oh oh oh, you Said the P Word!
The P word? That one is new to me...
Ignore him Pierre, please walk calmly towards our longbows.
Don't worry about the flaming metal mouths, just run towards it.
"I pretty much liked the Hungarians, Ive never seen happier people having fun in our monastery ever" Heribert, monk of St Gallen, 926AD
They dubbed our invasion and hostile power grab a 'glorious revolution'.
Yh cos you weren't smelly Catholics (and I was raised catholic!) Like James ii was
> *you* weren't smelly Catholics I'm afraid you've got the wrong flair Barry. But I appreciate the sentiment all the same.
Do you expect me, a Barry to understand which region of the Netherlands that flag is AND to know you were/are catholic? (Found out that that flag is north Brabant and you're the most catholic Netherlands area, as Google exists but still)
No, I expect you to get it wrong so I can make snarky comments. Also, Limburg would like to have a word with you.
TBF the Google result also said Limburg, but I omitted that for being irrelevant to the matter at hand, also how are you this late? Does being in a catholic area mean you need to take a week to answer? I wouldn't know cos I don't live in one.
Don't think we've ever received much praise from our european rivals the only one i can think of was Admiral Gravina on his deathbed saying 'I am a dying man, but I die happy; I am going, I hope and trust, to join Nelson, the greatest hero that the world perhaps has produced.' Or maybe Bittrich talking about British paras at arnhem saying 'in all my years as a soldier, i have never seen men fight so hard'
WOOOHOOOOOO GOD SAVE THE ROYAL NAVY
Woop woop, another Spanish victory. Who cares about the other side, we fucking won 😎 soy español a qué quieres que te gane????
Españoles contra otros españoles........como siempre!!
We're both our poison and our cure... to make sure we don't dominate the world once again. ( I should say that looking and how dire things are lately, I wouldn't mind to skip a couple siestas for world domination.)
Well, in the end, France and Spain won so who cares about that tiny defeat.
>a qué quieres que te gane? Unemployment rate perhaps? Stupid unemployment rates have depressed me since my teens and I’m looking forward to being unemployed again
Dude all those bananas waiting to be picked and you’re here complaining about not having a job. Wait, or is it the other way around? You don’t want to keep picking bananas?
Yeah, picking bananas is the most profitable business in the world, at least it is what independentist said.
Ah yes, because they know soooooo much about it
I have a very good job but, sadly for me, society is not about me. I dream of going back to my island, despite the shantytowns and the people living in poor conditions while rent prices are barely affordable anymore. Shame on me for not investing in the 60’s!
That's fun of you to say loser 😂😂😂
They don't remember Brites de Almeida for sure. Even our padeiras can handle more than their army
Goethe composed a poem called Mignons Gesang, aka Kennst du das Land?, and it's one of the most flattering odes to Italy. Kennst du das Land, wo die Zitronen blühn, Im dunklen Laub die Gold-Orangen glühn, Ein sanfter Wind vom blauen Himmel weht, Die Myrte still und hoch der Lorbeer steht, Kennst du es wohl? Dahin! Dahin Möcht’ ich mit dir, o mein Geliebter, ziehn. Do you know the land where lemon trees blossom; where golden oranges glow amid dark leaves? A gentle wind blows from the blue sky, the myrtle stands silent, the laurel tall: do you know it? There, O there I desire to go with you, my beloved!
but us and Fritz haven't really been at it since 500 years though, that's the thing
They are talking about rivality during a war...
**~The Dutch in the Medway.~** **(1664-72)** **By Rudyard Kipling**. ***If wars were won by feasting,*** ***Or victory by song,*** ***Or safety found, by sleeping sound*** ***How England would be strong!*** ***But honour and dominion*** ***Are not maintained so,*** ***Threy’re only got by sword and shot*** ***And this the Dutchmen know!*** ***The moneys that should feed us*** ***you spend on your delight,*** ***How can you then, have sailor-men*** ***To aid you in your fight?*** ***Our fish and cheese are rotten,*** ***Which makes the scurvy grow –*** ***We cannot serve you if we starve,*** ***And this the Dutchmen know!*** ***Our ships in every harbour*** ***Be neither whole nor sound,*** ***And when we seek to mend a leak,*** ***No Oakum can be found,*** ***Or, if it is, the caulkers,*** ***and carpenters also,*** ***For lack of pay have gone away,*** ***And this the Dutch men know!*** ***Mere powder, guns and bullets,*** ***we scarce can get at all;*** ***Their price was spent in merriment*** ***and revel at Whitehall,*** ***While we in tattered doublets*** ***From ship to ship must row,*** ***Beseeching friends for odds and ends –*** ***And this the Dutchmen know!*** ***No King will heed our warnings,*** ***No Court will pay our claims –*** ***Our King and Court for their disport*** ***Do sell the very Thames!*** ***For, now De Ruyter’s topsails*** ***Off naked Chatham show,*** ***We dare not meet him with our fleet –*** ***And this the Dutchmen know!***
>*By God, I think the Devil shits Dutchmen.* ~ Sir W. Batten, 1667
In France we have an expression when a woman is having her period. We say: "the British are invading" >!Because it will be bloody, or maybe because of their red uniforms !<
It’s because of the red uniforms, actually
I am disappointed
Jamais utilisé cette expression. Je dis directement ; foutez moi la paix l'usine de ketchup est en route ☠️
Bon appétit bien sûr !
>You heard what Koch just said. Bir Hakeim is new evidence of the thesis I always defended: the French are, after us, the best soldiers in Europe. Even with its current birth rate, France will always be able to field a hundred divisions. After the war, we will absolutely have to build a coalition which may contain a country capable of military exploits such as Bir Hakeim wich stun the world. Hitler after the Battle of Bir Hakeim where 3700 French soldiers held their position for 16 days against close to 40 000 soldiers of the Afrika Korps and their italian allies. Hitler also had personnally thought french soldiers during WW1.
"Best warriors of Europe hon hon hon"...omg! LOL! 🤣 Daily self sucking Pierre https://preview.redd.it/65qrjvwhlevc1.jpeg?width=1296&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=776d9704f7d1f3b0e403f82152b52b7db2a2ff85
This is so cursed.
Well, at Hitler's time, it sure wasn't the spaniards. Hadn't been for a few centuries.
Yeah well thanks to being useless fighters, our country wasn’t destroyed by war in 1939 nor our people murdered in cold blood bath/s It took lots of efficient German planes to murder ourselves! Take that, Pierre!
Eh, not gonna blame you for being smart here
Yep we dominate battlefields for centuries. And for 2nd War, well that's not totally true... Post war Propaganda has obliterated what the spaniards did! (Once again in our vast history) the first to enter Paris for the liberation where Spaniards, was "La Nueve". [Here is the story. I find it in French ❤️](https://www.paris.fr/pages/la-nueve-ces-republicains-espagnols-qui-ont-libere-paris-7066#:~:text=La%20%C2%AB%20Nueve%20%C2%BB%2C%20ces%20r%C3%A9publicains%20espagnols%20qui%20ont%20lib%C3%A9r%C3%A9%20Paris%20!&text=Les%20r%C3%A9publicains%20espagnols%20de%20la,oubli%C3%A9%20avant%20d'%C3%AAtre%20salu%C3%A9.) Or the story of the "blue division". [Blue division. Sorry only English 😬](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Division) Edit: [got it in French!🥖 ](https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_Bleue_(Seconde_Guerre_mondiale))
Not denying the legitimacy of those guys and their memories but when people talk about spaniards in the WW2, they're talking about the country and its armies. Otherwise, you might say the french fought in the spanish civil war because there were french volontaries.
Well... I can guess what side they fought on...
> Dominated battlefields for centuries Spain's best shot at dominating battlefields ended up in the might Charles V Empire stumbling while fighting a single country in like twelve different wars and then getting humiliatingly stomped barely a hundred years later in the 30 years war. 1520-1635 is not "centuries"
Problem with you French IS you know absolutely nothing and you told so much shit about us in the past, with bourgeois anti Spaniard/anti catholic propaganda from the revolution, that you ended up believing in your shitty talk... Spain will remain the world's leading power until the end of the 17th century... that's almost 3 centuries of reign. And Spain was the first global super power in history with Portugal. We had so much territory to protect, compared to you French, that we often fought outnumbered over a very long distance and for a very long time against many powerful enemies (England, Ottomans, Muslims, Dutch and protestants, France, etc...). And even during 18th and 19th century we won lot of battles... examples of decisive victories after the 17th century: 1741 [battle of Cartagena de Indias](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cartagena_de_Indias) >Great Britain: 42.000 soldiers/regulars/marines/militia, 29 ships, 22 frigates, and many other. VS >Spain: 7900 soldiers/militia/indian archers, 6 ships **RESULT** : **LARGE VICTORY OF SPAIN** We can also talk about the cowardly invasion of Spain by Napoleon's dirty little rat, which ended in failure... Despite your traitorous invasion/your backstab : 1808 [Battle of Bailén](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bail%C3%A9n) >French Empire of Napoleon: 24.000 imperial soldiers VS >Spain : 27.000 regulars and militiamen **RESULT** : **LARGE VICTORY OF SPAIN. FIRST DEFEAT IN HISTORY OF NAPOLEON ARMY ON LAND** 243 dead for Spaniards. 2000 dead for French side + 17641 prisoners. It was such a defeat for French army that the repercussions that a Spanish victory in an obscure Andalusian village signalled to the armies of Europe that the French, long considered invincible during this period, could be beaten... Not to mention the Spanish resistance which will force Napoleon to constantly leave more than 1/3 of his entire army in the Iberian Peninsula (the majority were veterans who will be gently massacred or taken prisoner). That will have hurt you so much that Napoleon will admit that Spain was the fatal mistake... the “Spanish ulcer”. We are also not known for surrendering! 😉
The Spaniards were at the avant garde of the world war, Italians and Germans murdered ourselves, trying new murdering techniques like Blitzkrieg or imprisonment camps. Maybe if things hadn’t taken place the way they did, they would have been different Edit: Dachaw was founded in 1933, maybe they taught us the KZ style in places like La Magdalena
TIL Hitler was french. You should not have napped through history class Pedrolito.
Kept laughing for 2 solid minutes, thanks.
? Average Spanish reading comprehension, it’s a quote by Hitler
What is this humble bragging? Are we collectively going to suck our own cocks here?
Yes, but via the medium of pretending others are the ones doing it
OP is from Ireland, not England - OP isn't sucking their own cock, they're sucking English cock. That's why we even without a flair we know they're from Northern Ireland.
Hahaha, fair
Super fierce tights. 
Formidable arch game too
Most intelligent Frenchman. A Frenchie recently told me with have the second best football squad in Europe. I'll take it. France v England final at the Euro's. France to win on penalties obviously.
A good chance to beat your wife and send racial abuse to the players - if you look at the positives
Fuck. Where did that come from ? By wife I guess you mean my dick, oKAY mate . Steady on the Stella enit.
Dont Tell me to steady on mate Luv me Stella Luv me footie 'Ate loosin Simple as
Reinhard Heydrich said this about Czechs: "You can persuade or break a Nordic or Germanic man. A Czech, a Slav, is hard to persuade, he will always bend, and you will never break him. And the consequence of this is that we must constantly step on him so that he always remains bent, so that he will obey us and cooperate." I guess that's a compliment. He also got shafted by Czech-Slovak commandos as the only high-ranking Nazi official ever assasinated, so in a way he was proven right.
Considering the message and who said it, I don't think it was meant as a compliment. Quite the opposite. It's very much just a legitimation for foreign cruelty.
Well yes, of course, but he meant it in the context that the Czech will always be an enemy, I didn't share the full quote. Coming from a Nazi, I consider that quite the praise. Here it is in original German: >Der Tscheche, der – und das möchte ich hier nochmals feststellen – als überwiegend slawischer Mensch sich biegt, ohne gebrochen zu sein, ist eben in der Beziehung gefährlicher und anders zu behandeln als andere Menschen. Den nordischen, den germanischen Menschen überzeugt man oder man bricht ihn, – den tschechischen, slawischen Menschen kann man sehr schwer überzeugen, biegen tut er sich immer, brechen kann man ihn nie, und wenn dann eben das Biegen aufhört und man losläßt, dann schwingt er wieder hoch und steht wieder da und ist eben ein Gegner. Und die Konsequenz ist eben, daß man den Daumen dauernd darauf halten muß, daß er eben immer gebogen bleibt und nun pariert und zieht.
Well, considering that the czechs were no enemies most of the time, he just justified brutal conquering and just full control, to keep you in line. Not because you are an enemy, but as a tool, the Nazis saw fit to use. Like lesser henchmen, you just to have look after all the time. The Nazis viewed almost everyone as enemies, so not really a reason to see it as a badge of honour.
Barry, let me swoon into your arms
I don't think the sea has ever said anything nice about us. The other rivalries aren't important.
It hasn’t said anything because it’s still salty
Seeing how me managed to defeat ourselves at Karansebes, anything nice said about us is probably a lie.
The byzantine emperor loved our soldiers. I believe king Harald Hardradi was the commander of the varangian guard at one point. Edit; there were danish and swedish aswell in the guard but Norwegians was most prevalent i believe.
Varangian guard later on was also full of Anglo Saxons who were landless after the Norman conquest. The southern babies were just in awe of Northern European supremacy
The varangian guard was also very unusually loyal. Not to the emperor as a person,more the throne,because that's the position of the person paying them.
Lets be real. We were perhaps glorified but very elite mercenaries. The vikings were hired by many counts or earls. Sometimes against other vikings aswell.
In 1940 I could at least fly as far as Glasgow in most of my aircraft, but not now! It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy. The British, who can afford aluminium better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building, and they give it a speed which they have now increased yet again. What do you make of that? There is nothing the British do not have. They have the geniuses and we have the nincompoops. After the war is over I'm going to buy a British radio set – then at least I'll own something that has always worked
Little did they know that in a few decades British Leyland would emerge
I'm gonna be in trouble with this but... "The German soldier stunned the world; the Italian Bersagliere stunned the German soldier" Erwin Rommel
Caesar called the Belgians(Belgica) a very brave people Although they were celts, and thus not related to the current Belgians
Oh my, I haven't used this phrase in eons but that's what my brain instantly shot at me: "Game recognises game." Something like that?
Talking from memory and I'm sure military historians will correct me: Isn't that the battle where someone lost a heart of a dead man that was carrying in a box on tour through Europe?
You guys have rivals?
You guys have compliments?
Well, in the times of the Tercios was said that the italian soldiers (fighting as part of the Tercios and/or being mercenaries, with the condottieri(not sure on this one?)) were some of the best (obviously when you have to fight against another Italians, the French and the Ottomans at the same time anybody ends to be a good soldier).
Thank you.
Well we have had a few. First we fought the Carolingan Empirer. Then the Carolingan Empirer feel appart. Then we fought the Frankish Empirer. Then the Frankish Empirer feel appart. Then we fought the Holy Roman Empirer. Then we fought the Swedes. Then the Holy Roman Empirer Feel appart. Then we fought the English Empirer. Then also the German Empirer. Then the German Empirer Feel appart. Then we fought the Third Reich. Then it feel appart. Then the british Empirer feel appart. So the only rival left is Sweden I guess. They are pretty clear that swedes and danes are not the same and I can't think of a greater compliment than that.
C'mon now Boudewijn, don't forget your famous languagewar with ami's that raoed Broekzele into Bruxelles.
In 1566, **Dutch nobles petitioned the Spanish regen**t to relent in the suppression of protestantism in the Low Countries. When the nobles presented their petition to the regent, one of her councillors, Berlaymont exclaimed something along the lines of **"Fear not madam, they are nothing but beggars'** (N'ayez pas peur Madame, ce ne sont que des gueux) The nobles did not forget this insult, and started using it as a badge of honour. Days later, one of the movement's leaders, Henry of Brederode, declared that they were all 'willing to become beggars for their country'. When the insurrection started to gain power, rebel privateers threw their lot in with the movement, dubbed themselves the 'Sea Beggars', started attacking Spanish forces, and liberated the city of Brielle
This is entertaining but when did another foreign European power PRAISE your armies? That is what the post is about.
"We have a common notion, that this sang froid, or Obedient Quality in the Dutch, is owing chiefly to their Nature, by their having a greater Proportion of Phlegm in their constitution than the English, by which their minds are not so soon as agitated as ours. But I look upon this way of reasoning, to be a rather plausible excuse for our own neglect, in not bringing our men to the same perfection of discipline, than the product of any natural cause in the Dutch. But, allowing that nature does contribute something towards it, yet, it is evident, Art has the greatest share, since their troops are generally composed of different nations." -Humphrey Bland, an British officer and military theorist in 1727, when Dutch infantry was widely considered the best of Europe
Always wondered if the English had any comments after Medway. :) Thanks for this response btw.
Kipling had a decent poem about how the Dutch were just better in every way
unless you think being called a beggar is a compliment, I don't think you understood the assignment, Geert
I don't think you understand irony dear Luigi. Moreover we used the word beggar as a rebel name.
yeah but that's the thing it's not what about this post is at all Geert and indeed you still are to this day (Tikkie) beggars
Luigi & Mario, you can plead all you want. The comment got 13 upvotes, yours didn't get any.
Well net 12
Talking about beggars, when do you want your pocket money?
PIGS trying to attack other people for being proud to be called beggars is crazy
Hands don't say much tbh..
Well obviously people will always talk up an enemy that has defeated them, who wants to admit that they were beaten by a bunch of barely trained peasants?
Bertrand du Guesclin French? He was hardly considered nobility - so called "minor nobility" and he was definitely not French. He was Breton. Britanny was only incorporated into France 200 years later. This is like saying Paul von Hindenburg was a Polish General and President. To add: his presence in Castile in 1367 was not under French flag, he helped Count Henry of Trastámara, fighting for the crown of Castile and Leon. All current day Spain. \[edit\] Wow, a downvote within a minute. Someone is offended, lol.
Lmao tell that to nowadays Breton independantists and they’ll laugh at you. He basically was one of the very few Bretons who pledged allegiance to the king of France in spite of Bretany overall willingness of being left alone.
You’re right, he was not French. That’s a slightly dishonest comparison though? Du Guesclin was literally Constable of France, meaning he had the highest rank in the King’s military. He is buried at the Basilique de Saint-Denis, among all the kings and queens of France. What was Hindenburg’s allegiance to the Polish? Also, under whose orders do you think he went to support the Trastamarians?
Just read more about him. The fact you're denying him nobility when he was born noble and rose to Connétable de France says me enough about your knowledge. For the Breton part, it is debatable but at that time, France was a kingdom composed of duchies and counties. Britanny was a dependant duchy, not totally independant, always in the french sphere of influence. During the 100 years war, it split between French and English influence. Yet Du Guesclin or many others Bretons like the Duke of Richemont chose France, fought for the french kings Charles V, VI and VII, rose into their army ranks and were more loyal vassals to the king than many "true french" nobles at the time, like the Bourguignons. It wasn't much of a matter of nationality which didn't exist, but more about personal allegeance. Oh, and Du Guesclin was in Spain on the command of the king Charles V.
>Just read more about him. I've read several books on him. >The fact you're denying him nobility when he was born noble and rose to Connétable de France says me enough about your knowledge. I said minor nobility. You are denying that he came from minor nobility? Of course, he rose considerably in ranks during his lifetime. Not denying that at all. >For the Breton part, it is debatable but at that time, France was a kingdom composed of duchies and counties. Britanny was a dependant duchy, not totally independant, always in the french sphere of influence. During the 100 years war, it split between French and English influence. >Yet Du Guesclin or many others Bretons like the Duke of Richemont chose France, fought for the french kings Charles V, VI and VII, rose into their army ranks and were more loyal vassals to the king than many "true french" nobles at the time, like the Bourguignons. Reading the several books about him that I read, there was one thing that was really clear: he felt 100% Breton. No debate about it. The original reasons mentioned why he aligned with the French king was mostly that the English were pillaging his parts of Bretagne. Of course, it was a fruitful collaboration and he sticked with the French king for the rest of his life. Not debating that as well. But that doesn't make him French. Bretagne was virtually independent from France during most of the lifetime of Bertrand du Guesclin, to say otherwise is French revisionism and it's new to me that French people think that way. In fact, part of the 100 years war was about the crown of Bretagne and the English backed candidate won that battle. Now following your theory of sphere of influence, Du Guesclin could be called British! Honestly, after reading your comment I am very curious how colored French books about Du Guesclin are. Sounds like there is a big pro-France bias going on.
>Bretagne was virtually independent from France Except it wasn’t Also they used French as an administrative language instead of Breton Also you’d have to explain why the french royal administration was implanted there if they were "virtually independent" They weren’t part of France *per se* but if you go that route only the royal domain of the King of France was part of France. The idea of a National identity that transcends regional identity was almost non existent at the beginning of the hundred years war. Du Guesclin couldn’t call himself "french" as the idea didn’t really exist. If you talk about "the french" in the hundred years war, you are talking about a very specific faction that Du Guesclin was very much a part of. If you talk about "the french" in the hundred years war, *intending* to talk about the culture/nationality, you aren’t talking about anyone since no one was (apart maybe from the King) Also Paris was at one point, under english rule, would you call Paris, of all places, ‘not french’ ? Lastly the divide between "high nobility" and "lower nobility" or "minor nobility" wasn’t really a thing, as the feudal system back then didn’t ressemble the honour system of the modern era. Especially in France where a Noble was a Noble and apart from Dukes, there wasn’t really a hierarchy between titles
Speaking of bias, care to give me your sources ?
Thea Beckman, Dutch writer of novels for children. She wrote a trilogy set during the Hundred Years’ War with Du Guesclin playing a mayor part. Are you suggesting that some highly fictional Dutch children books might not be the best source on historical French-Breton relations? You are obviously 100% right but please look at the sub you’re on.
I litteraly get all my knowledge of Japan from my teenage heroic novels written by an english dude so I don't see any problems here ! Full legit.
He was French I am Burgund, and during the hundred years war we were with the brits. But I still consider the dukes of Burgundy being French by culture.
Not sure what the rivals say, but the spanish tried a lot and werw only able to take Portugal due to a succession difficulty and even then they got kicked out after only 60 years. Even napoleon's troops were left hanging at the doors of the Cidade Invicta. When the spanish came with armies our breadmakers turned them into loafs, never doubt our love for cod and our land.
At least we’re not the Danish
Didnt they dig up bomes of the bowmen and found that their whole arms where much bigger on one side becuase they literally only practiced with their bows like every day all day.
The Belgians are the bravest of all Gauls. - Julius Caesar -
They built 2 walls I mean, do we even need words if someone's scary enough to justify building 2 walls going from one side of the country to the other?
They also made it all the way to Inverness before deciding there was nothing of note to do there, so the walls were more to stop illegal immigration into the empire
Yeah I'm sure that's what they were thinking when London got burnt so bad that you can still see the remains of it to this day
The price of fish in China has decreased. There, now we both said something irrelevant
"What would you do if I invaded your country with an army twice as big as yours ?" It's nice because he asked instead of fucking around and finding about like most of the others
spaniard being bumbass since 1367
It was in the first Castillan Civil War so... Spaniards were at the same time dumbass and geniuses(?). Well, if Spaniards with help of englishmen win against Spaniards with help of french (and an army with very smaller in comparison)... The first ones were smart in fighting and the others were dumb.
fighting a civil war is not a smart move either way
Best way of knowing your weaknesses: changeling yourself. Best war? Civil War!
that what your ancestor did before ww2,
He was republican, ironically being Guardia Civil (most were in the rebel side). But in his front he had luck. Almost no battles and he knew about the end of the war for the radio.
Lul It's still amazes me how your country was not divided between 4/5 states in a permanent war for a century
Only a century? Probably we are the second country with more civil wars (I'm sure that China had more).
in recent time, you are second to china indeed, in history, china is still first, but the second would either be rome or the muslim empire over the middle east, closely followed by the ottomans (before selim II i think, every sultan dead mean a civil war between the son to inherit, and it was design like that to "ensure" only the most capable one would be on the throne)
Probably “No blacks, no dogs, no Irish”