Why did France's performance during World War II become a joke to many people?

France during World War II was a paper tiger.

Before the outbreak of World War II, France was known as the strongest army country with millions of troops. In the international situation after World War I, Britain and France are the most respected countries, and the two countries are in charge of all affairs in the world. At that time, American isolationism prevailed and it didn't care much about world affairs. Before the outbreak of World War II, France's strength was not weak, and people also had confidence in France's victory. They thought that if France could not defeat Germany, it could at least be on an equal footing with Germany in World War I. However, after the beginning of World War II, France was defeated by Germany with little resistance. This news really surprised many people.

France was defeated by Germany as easy as blowing off dust, largely because France is just a paper tiger, which looks very powerful, but its weapons and equipment are relatively backward. The cause of World War II is related to the economic crisis of 1929 to some extent. Because of the economic crisis of 1929, the economic development of major countries in the world has fallen behind for decades. Britain and France were also deeply disturbed, as were Germany and Japan, so Germany gave the Nazis an opportunity in the chaos, and the Nazis took the opportunity to come to power, and Japan passed the crisis on to the outside world. Young officers launched the September 18th Incident, which shocked China and foreign countries, and occupied three northeastern provinces.

At that time, Britain was the strongest country in the world and the pound was also an international currency. Britain can pass on the economic crisis to the world, just as the dollar prints money now, so can the British economy. At that time, the economic situation in France was very grim, and the development of armaments was very slow. The military equipment was mainly backward equipment during World War I, so that many soldiers realized that they hardly needed relevant training because they had used it. It is precisely because France is well aware of its own problems that, on the eve of the outbreak of World War II, when there was a conflict with Germany, France always adopted a passive strategy of avoiding war and even adopted a policy of appeasement. At that time, French superstitions relied on their own maginot line to stop the German threat.

Germany is very different from France. After coming out of the shadow of the economic crisis, Germany began to actively expand its troops to prepare for war. Prior to this, its military scale was very small and its equipment was very few. After the expansion, Germany's military equipment was the most advanced at that time.

Although France became a joke in the eyes of most people during World War II, France was divided into two factions. Marshal Petain stayed to cooperate with Hitler, but Charles de Gaulle joined England. So no matter which side wins, France has at least one way out. Although France's performance during World War II was not so good, it eventually entered the ranks of the five permanent members of the Security Council and remained one of the world powers.