Quote Originally Posted by Ned Christiansen View Post
Well, I was referring more to how people are so quick to scoff at every single individual French soldier and automatically and offhandedly brand him a coward. That ain't right
It's easy to make jokes until you think about the French Foreign Legion. Then you have to come back to reality. And as much as we are sometimes astonished at the capitulation to the Germans, you really only have to think about what the Germans did to Holland when they didn't surrender fast enough to understand the concern. Despite his artistic values, Hitler was absolutely ready to turn Paris into rubble simply to demonstrate his willingness to destroy anything and everything that didn't bend to his will. I would wager while he toured Paris that he was slightly annoyed that he didn't get the opportunity to burn it all down. He considered the British to be racial equals and was frustrated they went to war with him, but that didn't stop him from bombing London or making invasion plans. By contrast he disliked the French and was hoping to repay a debt in a way that would make them remember.