Anti-French sentiment in the United States and Wikipedia:Peer review: Difference between pages

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'''Anti-French sentiment''' in the [[United States]] is characterized by disapproval of many or all things [[France|French]]. It often takes the form of moral censure corresponding with tensions in [[Franco-U.S. relations]].

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==Before the Second World War==

This page is for nearly Featured-standard articles that need the final checking by peers before being nominated as [[Wikipedia:Featured article candidates|Featured article candidates]]. '''Requests for peer review''' are listed here to expose articles to closer scrutiny than they might otherwise receive. See [[:Category:Wikipedia style guidelines]] and [[:Category:Wikipedia how-to]] for advice on writing [[Wikipedia:How to write a great article|great articles]]. Or look at the discussion of [[Wikipedia:The perfect article|the perfect article]] and try to reach as many of those ideals as possible. If an article needs extensive work, please list it on [[Wikipedia:Pages needing attention|Pages needing attention]], [[Wikipedia:Requests for expansion|Requests for expansion]] or [[Wikipedia:Cleanup|Cleanup]]. Please list article content disputes on [[Wikipedia:Requests for comment|Requests for comment]] rather than here.

The United States of America was formed in a revolution (some say it is merely a war of independence) by colonies of the British Crown. Relations between the colonies and France prior to this revolution were therefore shaped by British-French relations. The colonials fought for Britain against France in what is sometimes termed the [[French and Indian War]]. Furthermore the Puritan colonies and Scottish Presbyterians of the inland regions tended toward [[Anti-Catholicism]] and so disliked all Catholic nations. By the same token a few Catholics in the colonies felt uncomfortable with the anti-clerical thought of many French philosophers.

'''Note:''' [[Peer review]] is the process of review by peers and usually implies a group of authoritative reviewers who are equally familiar and expert in the subject. The process represented by this page is not formal peer review in that sense and articles that undergo this process cannot be assumed to have greater authority than any other.

How widespread it was remains uncertain, but during the Revolutionary War and immediately after Americans tended more toward "Francophilia." Many of the French philosophers proved inspirational to the [[Founding Fathers]]. Further [[Thomas Paine]] would later feel admirations for the spirit of Revolutionary France. In [[patriotic]] American contexts of the time, France was characterized as the first [[alliance|ally]] of the [[American Revolution|American revolutionaries]]. When the [[Marquis de Lafayette]] toured the United States in ([[1824]]-[[1825]]), he was accorded a hero's welcome as the first American [[celebrity]], and numerous new settlements were named [[Lafayette]], [[Fayette]] and [[Fayetteville]].

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[[Harvard University]] professor and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury [[A. Piatt Andrew]] summed up this Francophile tradition, when he wrote:

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:''"Few in number and limited in their activities, this little band of American ambulance drivers in France is of course insignificant when compared with the tens of thousands of young Frenchmen who crossed the ocean as soldiers and sailors to help America in 1777. To the valor and devotion of these Frenchmen we owe our very existence as an independent nation, and nothing that Americans have done for France during these last hard years of trial can be thought of &mdash; without embarrassment &mdash; in relation with what Frenchmen did for us in those unforgettable years of our peril from [[1777]] to [[1781]]."''

''See also [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Computer and video games/Peer review|Peer reviews]] for [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Computer and video games]]''

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Anti-French feelings did not exist at that time in such a friendly climate.

==Requests==

Despite the positive view some Americans had of [[The French Revolution]] it awakened or created Anti-French feelings among many [[Federalist]]s. An ideological split was already emerging between Francophobe and Francophile sentiment, with [[John Adams]], [[Alexander Hamilton]] and their fellow [[Federalist]]s taking a skeptical view of [[France]], even as [[Thomas Jefferson]] and other [[Democratic-Republicans]] urged closer ties. As for the Revolution many or most Federalists denounced it as far too radical and violent. Those on the Democratic-Republican side disliked its excesses, but remained hopeful it would make France a progressive and liberal nation. Hence the division between conservative and liberal on France perhaps began that early.

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Adding to the mix in the [[1790s]], the French, under a new post-revolutionary government, accused the United States of collaborating with the English and proceeded to impound UK-bound US merchant ships. Attempts at diplomacy lead to the [[1797]] [[XYZ Affair]] in which three French agents approached American delegates requesting a tribute of $250,000. This lead to a state of [[Quasi-War]], an undeclared war fought entirely at sea between the United States and France from [[1798]] to [[1801]]. Relations deepened after the rise of [[Napoleon]] and the election of [[Thomas Jefferson]] culminating with the [[Louisiana Purchase]] in [[1803]]. After the Anglo-American [[War of 1812]], during which British military forces burnt the [[White House]] in Washington, France became a main ally of the United States.

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With the influx of [[Irish ethnicity|Irish]] immigrants in the [[1840s]] and the rise of a [[populist]] sub-culture hostile to [[United Kingdom|Britain]], France became a rallying-point, though an ambivalent one, for its [[republicanism]] was tarnished. American cultured classes embraced French styles and luxuries after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]: Americans trained as architects in the ''[[Ecole des Beaux-Arts]],'' French [[haute cuisine]] reigned at elite American tables, and upper class women in the U.S. followed Parisian clothing fashions. Following [[World War I]], a generation of rich American [[expatriate]]s and [[bohemian]]s settled in [[Paris]]. The stock-market crash and the [[Great Depression]] put a damper on international lifestyles, and a change in temper of internal French politics during the [[interbellum]] sent many politically fastidious Americans home.

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The First World War had also brought the British and the Americans closer together; and a millennium archaic British reservation against the French was easily revived in a nation descended from British colonies. Reservations against the function of the democratic French parliamentarism, against Catholicism, against perceived French arrogance in negotiating the Treaty of Versailles, etc. weakened the emotional ties between American Francophiles and the French. Additionally, France attitudes against [[Weimar Germany]], combining fear and a wish for dominance after the French traumatic experience of WWI (1.5 million French soldiers killed), were by many seen as an obstacle for a lasting European peace, as it mobilized the Germans into [[revanchism]] and [[militarism]].

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==Post World War II==

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The collapse of Anglo-French Infantry in Dunkerque in [[1940]] under powerful [[Nazi Germany|German]] forces came as a profound shock to Francophilic Americans, who remembered a quite different [[Paris]] through the rosy tints of popular culture. For less Francophilic Americans this collapse seemed rapid enough to start the idea the French are weak or quick to surrender. This is in some respects curious as another imperialist power, [[the Netherlands]], had perhaps a more thorough and rapid conquest by the Nazis. Although at times deemed to be weak or prone to surrender by certain Americans, the Netherlands is rarely a subject of such stereotypes in the US. In fact, the anti-French sentiment was common enough among the GIs that at the end of 1945 the US military authorities thought it necessary to distibute to them the explanatory booklet "[[112 Gripes about the French]]" upon their arrival in France.

Soon after the end of [[World War II]], relations between the United States and France began to sour. The French military operations against Algerian terrorism during the [[Algerian War of Independence]] inspired condemnation and horror by many around the world. It contributed to anti-French sentiments in the Islamic world up to the 1990s. In the [[Suez Crisis]] of ([[1956]]), when General Nasser decided to nationalize the Anglo-French Suez Canal in Egypt, the French angered even idealistic Americans by being seen as an excuse to make an opportunistic grab at a financial resource of a poor nation. The French in 1954 also suffered a humiliating defeat at [[Dien Bien Phu]] at the hands of the Vietnamese, though they were at the time supplied with weapons by the US which considered that they were fighting against [[Communism]]. These events led the United States to push for France to end [[French colonial empire|its colonial empire]].

Franco-U.S. relations worsened further under [[Charles de Gaulle]], who rejected the position of France as subservient to the US and attempted to position France as a counterweight to U.S. power in [[Europe]] and certain parts of the [[Third World]]. This included demanding equal status in [[NATO]], and then pulling out of NATO's integrated military command in 1966 when this was refused. One concern was that the current NATO arrangement had a large number of American troops positioned in France &mdash; France preferred not to have foreign troops under foreign command on its soil.

France also distanced itself from [[Israel]], with which it used to have a very close relationship, and began to be more sympathetic to the [[Palestinian]] and the [[Middle East]]. Israel then sought closer ties with the United States.

France's troubled history in ruling Vietnam helped make the [[Vietnam War]] generally unpopular there. Additionally, the Vietnam war was seen as a colonial war, echoing the unpopular Algerian war that France had waged a few years ago. Hence De Gaulle's government began to criticize the US for going on intervening in a nation they had learned to leave. A small percentage of Americans blamed France's earlier role in the region for the entire war or they felt French history in the region meant they had no right to criticize.

France also tried to develop less hostile relations with the communist world in the [[Cold War]] context, including the [[Soviet Union]], while it established military forces meant to oppose a Soviet invasion. In particular, French pursuit of [[nuclear weapon]]s and an independent military capability were also designed to move France away from dependency upon the US (''See: [[Force de frappe]].''). During de Gaulle's time in office, Franco-U.S. relations reached a great low, and there were accusations from American commentators that France was "no longer a [[Western world|Western]] power."

De Gaulle's support for [[Quebec]] independence was partly seen in the U.S. as an unwelcome intrusion of a European power into the affairs of a sovereign country in the Americas, as exemplified by his ''[[Vive le Québec libre speech]]'' in [[1967]], and flying in the face of the [[Monroe Doctrine]], whereby the U.S. vowed never to allow the reestablishment of direct European influence in the Western Hemisphere (although France still directly controls French Guiana in South America, Martinique, Guadeloupe and other islands in the Carribeans). This call for the independence of a province of a close ally sharing land borders with the U.S. was seen as a hostile intrusion by a nation that the U.S. saw as a historic friend. De Gaulle's words managed not only to anger the United States, but also Canada and the United Kingdom who saw it as arrogance on the part of De Gaulle.

Relations improved somewhat under de Gaulle's successors, but tensions reappeared intermittently. In 1969 a French documentary [[Le Chagrin et la Pitié]], English translation ''The Sorrow and the Pity'', brought back an earlier issue. Ever since the [[Dreyfus Affair]] accusations of popular French [[Anti-Semitism]] had been intermittently newsworthy. This documentary indicated that the French may not have resisted the Nazi-puppet [[Vichy]] government as much as many Americans had believed or hoped. The director was the German born [[Marcel Ophüls]], but he had lived in France since childhood. He shared writing credits with Frenchman [[André Harris]]. The film proved controversial in France, but it primarily aimed at simply encouraging honesty about anti-Semitism in France's history rather than inspiring any anti-French hostility. It is likely that the number of US viewers of the film was minimal. Still many of the Americans who saw it tended toward the intellectual end of the spectrum so it may have inspired renewed intellectual interest in former Anti-Semitism in French history.

In time, this spread down the academic ladder to encourage a more widespread misperception that the French to this day are unusually Anti-Semitic or that any sympathy they have for Palestine is related to Anti-Semitism. In reality polls indicate that although modern France has a higher rate of "unfavorable views of Jews" than the US, Canada, or UK it's not much different than the rest of Continental Europe (see [http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=252 Pew Poll on international views of religious groups]). In fact their views of Judaism may even be more positive than the US (see [http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?PageID=811 Favorable views of Jews by nation]), since more Americans might be neutral on the subject or refuse to answer.

Also, France, more strongly than any other nation, sees the [[European Union]] as a method of counter-balancing American power, and thus works towards such ends as having the [[Euro]] challenge the preeminent position of the [[United States dollar]] in global trade. France still has a military presence around the globe, since it still has many small [[French overseas departments and territories|oversea possessions]] in the South Pacific, the Caribbean, and South America (all of which enjoy full political representation at the national level, as well as varying degrees of legislative autonomy).

The American government has remained lukewarm towards France, and pursued much closer relationships with other states such as the [[United Kingdom]], [[Germany]], [[Spain]] and [[Italy]].

Many Americans, especially conservatives, have a negative view of France. Left-wingers tend to have a better opinion of France. This is seen when conservative talk hosts and magazines regularly decry the French whereas [[Michael Moore]] went to accept an award for his movie ''[[Fahrenheit 9/11]]'' at the international [[Cannes Film Festival]] in France ; though the Award was granted by an international jury with an American president (Q. Tarantino).

==2003 Iraq War==

''See also [[Popular opposition to the 2003 Iraq War]]''

Anti-French sentiment in the United States returned to the fore in the wake of [[France]]'s refusal to endorse the [[2003]] [[2003 invasion of Iraq|US plan to invade Iraq]] in the [[UN Security Council]]. While other nations were also openly opposed to the plan (notably [[Germany]], [[Russia]], [[Belgium]] and the [[People's Republic of China]]), France was accused of particularly ferocious criticism, because it was seen by invasion proponents as opposing not because of a disagreement over what to do about the situation, but as a way of opposing the United States for the sake of decreasing the diplomatic power of the United States and building an opposing power movement.

Through some American media particularly close to political administration at that time, France was accused of knee-jerk [[anti-Americanism]], of hypocritically acting out of economic interests in [[Iraq]]'s [[petroleum|oil]] (a similar charge was leveled at Russia and Germany, but with far less ferocity), and of hypocritically sending a military presence to [[C&ocirc;te d'Ivoire]] (formerly known as the Ivory Coast in English) during the [[Iraq crisis]]. However, it has been proved that these discussed arguments were all the more controversial because France had these ten last years only minor relations with Iraq and was only its 13th economic partner in 2002, and within the “Oil for food” UN program, the United States bought 50% of American oil whereas France only 8%. Concerning the French military forces present in [[C&ocirc;te d'Ivoire]], they were legally on the spot, sent by the UN Security Council as a part of the UNOCI mission (resolutions 1464 & 1528).

France and Russia, both permanent members of the [[Security Council]] with veto power, warned that they would oppose the proposed new U.N. resolution authorizing the invasion of Iraq on [[March 11]], [[2003]]. Since it appears unlikely that the plan would have received the 60% support of the Security Council (which it needed see [[The UN Security Council and the Iraq war]] for further details), the proposition was cancelled. This caused some to wonder why France was singled out. One major difference, however, between the French and Russian opposition was that France was vowing to use veto power whereas Russia was going to merely vote against the resolution. The veto is controversial when used by anyone and curiously this seems more true of nations that rarely use it. In the case of France the last time they used the veto without US agreement was in 1976 over an issue with the Comoros. [http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/membship/veto/vetosubj.htm Veto history] Many people (including some French people) felt hostilty to France came from the idea it acted in open competition against the U.S. to convince other members [http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/03/09/sprj.irq.villepin/index.html]. Others blame the [[Media of the United States|U.S. media]] or [[media manipulation]] of using France as a [[scapegoat]] to avoid discussion of the many other countries opposed to the plan. France was also viewed as using French political power to unduly influence countries that the US also wished to unduly influence. French President [[Jacques Chirac]] was quoted as telling eastern European nations that expressed support for the US that they "missed an opportunity to keep quiet" and were "not very well-mannered and a little careless of the dangers which come with a too-rapid alignment with the American position."

It was also argued that accusations of knee-jerk anti-Americanism from France were made so as to avoid discussing the actual reasons that France (and more generally [[global protests against war on Iraq]]) said it had to oppose the war - namely that France did not believe there was a clear and imminent danger from Iraq's alleged [[weapons of mass destruction]], that it was not consistent with the [[War on Terrorism]], and that a war would only destabilize the [[Middle East]] while not providing long-term solutions. Thanks to a long experience in this area, France also warned the US that such a military operation in Iraq would be regarded by the Arabic world as an invasion and could support the emergence of an opposition movement widespread in the whole [[Middle East]].

Two years after the end of the war in Iraq, nothing significant concerning [[Weapons of Mass Destruction]] has been found, and the political situation in Iraq is widely seen as one of political turmoil and terrorism. Among many patriotic papers this has had little or no affect on anti-french sentiments, but in 2003 the National Journal, the influent official paper of the American Congress, titled on November 7. that "[http://nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2003/1107nj1.htm The French Were Right]" about the current American failure after the [[Iraq War]].

=== China and Taiwan ===

During a state visit to China on [[April 21]], 2005 [[Jacques Chirac|Chirac's]] Prime Minister [[Jean-Pierre Raffarin]] lent support to a new "anti-secession" law on [[Taiwan]], allowing China to use "non-peaceful" means to bring Taiwan back into the fold, and continued to push for a lifting of the EU arms embargo against China. France's position was seen as attempting to aid China in altering the balance of power against the US in the East Asia region as China is the most plausible military power to be able to do that. The French support of ending the EU arms embargo drew the most ire from the US and from supporters of Taiwanese independence. The push to end the embargo also inspired disapproval among many critical of [[Human rights in the People's Republic of China]]. Hence the US threatened sanctions against the EU unless the embargo was continued. Interestingly France's current eagerness to sell arms to China comes after it had previously sold high-tech fighter jets to Taiwan in the early 1990s.

=== Diplomatic friction ===

[[Donald Rumsfeld]] famously referred to France and Germany as "[[Old Europe]]" while referring to the many [[Central European]] countries which pledged diplomatic backing of the US war as "[[New Europe]]," raising long-existent fears that expansion of the European Union would be used by the US to keep Europe politically divided.

Chirac became the subject of harsh criticism in U.S. media [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=6005] [http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/899082/posts] and French foreign minister [[Dominique de Villepin]] emerged as a prominent critic of U.S. action in Iraq.

=== Cultural friction ===

The cultures and governments of the US and France have some significant differences which cause friction or misunderstanding. What Americans know of French culture is primarily avant-garde cinema, high fashion, and gourmet food, which are representative of the tastes of a very narrow fraction of French society. These elements add up to give many Americans the impression the French are pretentious, moody, elitist, and unfriendly. These stereotypes had a role in anti-French sentiments even before recent wars.

An interesting counterpoint to this reputation of cultural elitism is the claimed popularity of American slapstick comic [[Jerry Lewis]] in France. Lewis, while never all that popular with the general French public, was once lauded by some high-brow critics for his absurd movies. He ended up obtaining the ''[[Legion d'Honneur]]'', France's highest civilian award. The myth that Lewis is a superstar in France is an enduring theme in cultural anti-French sentiment in the United States, since, in the view of anti-French critics, it proved that the French had poor taste.

More recently the French Republic's Secularism has become something of an issue in the more devout Christian and Islamic segments of American society. There are some similarities there to [[The Federalist]]s reaction to perceived French anti-clericalism; that said, modern hostility to French secularism is mostly caused by recent events in France, such as the [[French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools]] and other alleged religious discriminations. American religious and libertarian types deem this to be a sign the French are elitist or even bigoted. The French generally perceive American pressures in that respect to be misguided meddling by foreigners who are not aware of local issues.

As always the perceived debt and failures France is deemed to have because of the World Wars also has some traction in the US. From the public's perspective the derogatory phrase "[[cheese-eating surrender monkeys]]" began as a joke on ''[[The Simpsons]]'' [[television program]] in [[1995 in television|1995]]. It was used first used by the Scottish born [[Groundskeeper Willy]] character to disparage the French. The jibe likely was intended ironically or satirically by [[The Simpsons]] and not initially seen as being in any way sincere. However around 2002-3 it became popular in a few [[Washington, DC]] circles. ''[[National Review]]'' contributor [[Jonah Goldberg]] claimed credit for making the term known. Many US commentators and politicians, including [[Andy Rooney]] on the television program ''[[60 Minutes]]'', characterized the French as being ungrateful for opposing U.S. foreign policy after U.S. soldiers fought to liberate France from [[Nazi Germany]] during [[World War II]]. Bumper [[sticker (paper)|sticker]]s were produced in the United States which jokingly called for the United States to invade: "Iraq first, France next!", and "First Iraq, then Chirac!". Although sentiments like this could not be said to begin or end with the current administration as in the 1990s an unscientific poll by Michael Moore's [[TV Nation]] showed France as the nation American's would most wish to invade. Then and now this view is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but does represent anti-French hostility.

A well known incident occurred in [[March 11]], 2003 when the cafeteria menus in the three [[United States House of Representatives]] office buildings changed the name of ''[[french fries]]'' to ''[[freedom fries]]''. ''[[French toast]]'' was also changed to ''[[freedom toast]]''. (During [[World War I]], in a similar move, attempts were made to replace the word ''[[sauerkraut]]'' with the term ''[[liberty cabbage]]'', ''[[hamburger]]'' replaced with ''Liberty Sandwich'', and ''frankfurter'' with ''[[hot dog]]'', in menus and in popular speech; only the latter was successful.) Most [[Europe]]ans, and a sizable number of Americans, dismissed these name changes as "gimmickry" and "totally ridiculous". Besides, the rebuke went amiss, since the term "French Fries" is not used in French -- in France, "French" fries are credited to Belgium.

[[Congressman]] [[Billy Tauzin]] from [[Louisiana]], the only [[Cajun]] in the [[House of Representatives]], removed the [[French language]] section of his official [[website]] because of anti-French sentiment. Congressman [[Roy Blunt]] began using jokes which alleged that the French were cowards.

Certain Americans claimed they purchased great quantities of French [[wine]] and poured it out on the streets instead of drinking it. Many, even other protesters, have noted that no matter what one does with the wine, buying it still provides money for those who produced it. In that regard it could be called an anti-protest, despite being an unintentional one.

=== Boycott ===

Many voices in America, especially those on the right and controversial talk host [[Bill O'Reilly]] called for a boycott of French products, but its effect was negligible. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in February 2004, the United States imported $2.26 billion in French goods and services, up from $2.18 billion in February 2002.[http://www.amon-hen.com/archives/000171.html] However, the president of IC&A Inc, a business that imports only French products, reported demand fell in the vicinity of 40% to 50% from February 2003 levels.

Calls for boycott largely focused on products deemed typically French &ndash; [[wine]]s, [[bottled water]] ([[Evian]] and others), [[lingerie]] and luxury items. These constitute a small minority of French trade, whereas lesser-profile products such as aircraft (for example, [[Airbus]]), machinery, and chemicals account for a larger share. This may explain the above discrepancy.

There was no large scale boycott of French products. But some wine manufacturers in France apparently suffered some loss of sales in the [[US]] as it was reported in the media. It is unclear whether it was due to downturn in economy as French wine tends to be expensive or due to anti-French sentiment.

One area of continuing controversy is the dispute over [[Airbus]] government subsidies which has helped the European aircraft manufacturer stay competitive with [[Boeing]]. Although Airbus is a consortium of four nations, it is viewed as a French-controlled venture since it is headquarted in [[Toulouse]], [[France]]. Many US business conservatives have regarded Airbus as "cheats" for the generous loans that they have received (although [[Boeing]] also receives beneficial military contracts that some see as equivalent to loans).

===Anti-French sentiment reactions===

Reaction to anti-French sentiment in the US was a tenor of the [[Global protests against war on Iraq|anti-war protest]] in [[Montreal, Quebec]] on [[15 March]] [[2003]], and may have been partially responsible for that city's 200,000-strong turn-out, being one of the largest of that day's worldwide protests. Montreal's various protests against the Iraq war were some of the largest in [[North America]].

== Popular anti-French allegations ==

Because of the sometimes-strained relationship between the two countries, some Americans, including [[editorial]]ists and [[congressmen]], relish anti-French jokes or cultural stereotypes (a form of [[meme]], these self-propagating myths and stereotypes take on an air of certainty, but rarely show historical or cultural subtlety and complexity). Many of these allude to events of the [[Second World War]], alleged French military weakness and cooperation with the [[Third Reich]]. In many cases, such jokes, such as the claim that "Paris has never been defended", denote a total absence of respect for historical accuracy and for those who died in the defense of France.

Such characterizations have been used by [[conservative]] editorialists to dismiss the French opposition to the [[War in Iraq]] as fear and appeasement with respect to [[radical Islamism]]. The French were also accused of ingratitude for the US intervention in [[World War I]] and the [[Allies#World_War_II|allied forces]] liberation of France in World War II. Many feel that the French government should express its gratitude to the American government by maintaining a foreign policy similar to that of the United States. Such arguments were especially intense during the lead-up to the [[War in Iraq]] [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/14/60minutes/rooney/main540729.shtml].

There is also criticism of French domestic policy, some claiming that French criticism of Israeli actions was motivated by [[anti-semitism]]. In late 2001 [[Daniel Bernard]], the French ambassador to London was reported as calling Israel "that shitty little country" and asking "Why should the world be in danger of World War III because of those people?", but such words were totally denied by Mr Bernard and the French Embassy one day later. One incident sometimes considered evidence of anti-semitism in the French media is the death of [[Muhammad al-Durrah]], which was blamed on Israel by [[France 2]] and which is controversial because of claims that the incident may have been falsely attributed to Israel or may even be an outright hoax.

In 2002, the book "l'Effroyable Imposture" (The Horrifying Fraud) about terror attcks on 9/11, written by Thierry Meyssan, was regarded as erroneous allegations by French media, but became a best-seller in France. The book claims that the September 11 attacks were not caused by terrorists, but rather by the US military deliberately attacking the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Some have claimed that France is a "[[socialist]]" country. In reality, ever since the foundation of the [[French Fifth Republic]] in [[1958]], France has been ruled by self-described [[French Socialist Party|Socialists]] for only 15 years &mdash; and except for the 1981-1982 period under [[François Mitterrand]], calling their policies "Socialist" is highly disputable.

Although France currently has a [[Union for a Popular Movement|conservative]] government under [[Jacques Chirac]], some of Chirac's proposed policies, such as his support of a global tax to fight AIDS, and his addition of an "environment charter" to the French constitution, are described as "socialist" in some American political circles. In addition, the French comprehensive [[welfare state]] system of public education, social services, [[publicly-funded medicine]] and social security is often criticized as being "socialist" in the United States.

''See also [[Offensive terms per nationality]].''

==See also==

*[[American Revolutionary War]]

*[[Anti-Americanism]]

*[[Franco-U.S. relations]]

*[[Francophobia]]

*[[Jacques-Donatien Le Ray]]

*[[Jingoism]]

*[[Lafayette Escadrille]]

*[[Liberal elite]]

*[[Louisiana Purchase]]

*[[Marquis de Lafayette]]

*[[Quasi-War]]

*[[Statue of Liberty]]

*[[War of 1812]]

*[[XYZ Affair]]

==Books & References ==

*[[Richard Z. Chesnoff]], ''The Arrogance of the French : Why They Can't Stand Us--and Why the Feeling Is Mutual'', Sentinel, April, 2005 ISBN 1595230106

* [[Edward C.Knox]], The New York Times Looks at France, The French Review, N°6, Vol.75, May 2002

:*'' No other national or ethnic group appears to get the same continually negative treatment in print media reserved for France and the French, with the possible exception of Arabs or Palestinians, and even there, the treatment is not so much cultural as political, linked to a specific context or event.If one were to substitute, for example, "Mexican" or "Japanese" or "Indian" for "French", what would reader reaction be?". ''

* [[Martin A. Schain]] : "Transatlantic Tensions. From Conflicts of Interests to Conflict of Values?" Colloquium, CERI/GMF, 2 FEBRUARY 2-3, 2004 POLITICS,IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURALISM IN FRANCE AND THE UNITED STATES Department of Politics and Center for European Studies New York University [http://www.ceri-sciences-po.org/archive/march04/artms.pdf PDF document]

*[[Pierre-André Taguieff]] : The force of prejudice : on racism and its doubles ( Minneapolis, Minn. : University of Minnesota Press, ©2001. ISBN 0816623724 0816623732 )

==External links==

*[http://www.eupolitique.com/hot.html] Web site containing various political views of European culture

*[http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/france.html "Complete Military History" of France] (a site presenting an inexact historical account for the sake of mocking France.See also [http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/Printable.asp?ID=6085 a previous version])

*[http://www.spacecityrock.com/2003_02_16_break-archive.html "French Military History"] (another point of view on the matter)

*[http://www.exile.ru/2003-October-02/war_nerd.html "The French"] (an article explaining that French military history is in fact more glorious than that of many, if not all countries in the world)

*[http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/jokes/bljokefrenchjokes2.htm Jokes from celebrities]

*[http://www.miquelon.org "Stop Bashing France Website"]

*[http://www.fuckfrance.com" F$%k France (Anti-french forum site)"]

*[http://www.nationalreview.com/goldberg/goldbergprint040601.html Jonah Goldberg column]

*[http://www.whitehouse.org/news/2003/022503.asp Satirical website on anti-French sentiment]

*[http://www.house.gov/tauzin/ Congressman Billy Tauzin's website]

*[http://nofrance.info/ A site dedicated to a world without france]

*[http://docteurjp.free.fr/laguerre.htm La vieille Europe et la puissante Amerique] - French language personal essay written by one "Jean Pierre Serres"

*[http://www.info-france-usa.org/fr/actu/revue/synh238.asp Synthese de la presse Americaine] - French language summary of American media coverage by the Embassy of France in the US, from 7 Mar to [[13 April]] [[2003]]

*[http://www.arabia.com/newsfeed/article/english/0,14183,353113,00.html Editorial- "The Truth Behind the French Opposition to America"]

*[http://www.jsonline.com/lifestyle/advice/mar03/126026.asp "With France this time, the jokes on us"] -D.L. Stewart column (humorist)

*[http://nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2003/1107nj1.htm "The French Were Right"] (from the National Journal, American Congress, 7 Nov. 2003)

*[http://www.immigration.gov/graphics/pl107209.htm ''Public Law 107-209'' Conferring honorary citizenship of the United States posthumously on the Marquis de Lafayette] 08/06/02 Signed by President George W. Bush

*[http://www.brookings.edu/fp/cusf/analysis/terrorism.htm France, the United States and the "War on Terrorism"] (U.S.-France Analysis, [[1 January]] [[2002]])

*[http://www.metrospy.com/ Pro-war, pro-Bush, pro-boycott of French products site].

*[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/05/17/wfran17.xml&ssSheet=/news/2005/05/17/ixnewstop.html "Europe unites in hatred of French"] (from news.telegraph)

*[http://www.superfrenchie.com Superfrenchie.com] (a site from a Frenchman living in the USA, devoted to debunking many anti-french prejudices, as well as giving the french perspective of things)

*[http://www.understandfrance.org Understandfrance.org] (a site explaining cultural differences beetwen France and the US, many of which can result in misunderstandings and resentment)

[[fr:Ressentiment anti-français aux États-Unis d'Amérique]]

[[Category:U.S. history of foreign relations]]

[[Category:Anti-state sentiment|France]]

[[Category:Foreign relations of France]]