r/europe • u/MarktpLatz Lower Saxony (Germany) • May 08 '17

Series What do you know about... France?

This is the sixteenth part of our ongoing series about the countries of Europe. You can find an overview here.

Todays country:

France

France is the second most populous country in the EU. They were the most important voice in creating the EU (and its predecessors), to elevate their own power and to prevent further war with Germany. Hence, French is a very important language for the EU and especially for some institutions like the ECJ whose working language is French. They have just elected a new president last sunday and they will have parliamentary elections in june.

So, what do you know about France?

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u/Gremlinator_TITSMACK May 09 '17

False

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u/-Golvan- France May 09 '17

How so?

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u/Gremlinator_TITSMACK May 09 '17

France played as much of a part in unifying Germany as France played a part in Italy winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

If you lose and then take credit that you did something for your opponent, maybe Macron should go and thank Le Pen for playing a big part in his win against her?

Really makes you think

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u/-Golvan- France May 09 '17

I mean Macron did win against Le Pen because she was Le Pen, had it been another candidate it would not have played out the same way...

The French didn't lose when they destroyed the HRE and created the Confederacy of the Rhine, nor when they weakened the Austrians in the Second Italian War of Independence so that the Prussians could inflict them the coup de grâce, nor when they inspired nationalism across Europe during the revolution