Finally, France finds someone it refuses to surrender to: Lance Armstrong

As to the "should we laugh at France" topic, come on. Of course they aren't all a bunch of quitters. Napoleon is perhaps the most highly regarded general of all time and everyone knows that.

But it's so damn funny. Like a Helen Keller joke.

 

Vichy France was a puppet regime established in the southern half of France, ostensibly a "free" country not occupied by the Germans, who physically controlled the Atlantic and Channel coastal areas but who didn't want to be bothered with occupying the whole country and French territories in Africa.

It was supposedly neutral after the "armistice" with Germany, but its leaders willingly collaborated with Germany, enacting anti-Semitic laws and establishing interment camps.

Regarding armed confrontations between the Allies and Vichy France, the most noteworthy was probably the destruction of a number of French ships at a port in Algeria in July 1940, days after the armistice. Vichy had promised that the French navy would not fall into Nazi hands, but this didn't go far enough for the British. They demanded that Vichy either join with the Royal Navy to continue the fight or neutralize its ships in some fashion, including scuttling the fleet.

The ultimatum stipulated that the British would use whatever force it deemed necessary to ensure compliance. When Vichy did not comply, the British attacked and sank several ships at port, killing more than 1,000 French sailors.