Re: Whining from foreigners.

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Atkinson" <johnmatkinson@yahoo.com>
> Heh. . . on this one, we agree.  I've never figured
> out what the hell the French were smoking to conclude
> an alliance with the Russians, with whom they have
> nothing in common and few joint interests other than a
> burning fear/envy/inferiority complex regarding
> Germany.

I suspect that was quite enough reason, especially after 1870/71.
Plus Germany had a larger population and higher industrial production
(AFAIK) than France at the time, so they needed allies, and the only
suitable continetal ally was Russia- well. perhaps Austria-Hungary but
that
was even more unlikely.

Just look at all the alliances that were made up at one time or another.
Who
would have thought in 1988 that the US would fight a war with Syria on
its
side ?

> Having said that, once their idiot politicians (and
> are Americans the only ones that believe in holding
> our politicos responsible for stupidity??) got them
> into the war, I would suggest that at least a certain
> amount of the freedom of the French people as a whole
> would be circumscribed had they lost.

Would have depended on the way the war ended, I guess. For a total
defeat,
yes. For some kind of peace treaty, probably not. Plus, the Germany of
the
Kaisers time was not the blood-thirsty regime of Hitler, though not
exactly
a democracy by our standrads, either.

Greetings