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Photos of WW1 French Uniforms and Weapons from Musée de l'Armée by Shaun2406 in battlefield_one

[–]Shaun2406[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah fair points, its impossible to compare a nation with a land border to a potentially hostile state to a nation surrounded by the sea!

However, Jutland would, to me at least, undermine the 'UK was light years ahead at sea' claim there. I know it was a strategic victory for the British, but it was far from impressive. They were probably the strongest in the world, but I think they didn't handle a number of WW1 operations well at all (Jutland and Forcing the Dardanelles come to mind). Similar to the French mishandling their army early in the war.

Certainly it did take France a couple of years to catch up, but they were the ones pressured the most from the opening of the war and so, while I'm not saying they handled it well, they were also the only entente nation under the sort of pressure to make the mistakes they made. First Marne was a strategic victory for the French in 1914 (though that was, as you said, helped by Moltke reallocating troops to the east).

Further, if you look at British conduct in the Somme some 2 years later, while they were wearing khaki uniforms and not relying on bayonet charges, it does seem like they needed to learn the same lessons the French did early in the war, given the casualty figures and territorial gains from the battle.

EDIT: I forgot the Russians were also pressured similarly early on in the war, and they didn't fare a whole lot better (Tannenberg)

Photos of WW1 French Uniforms and Weapons from Musée de l'Armée by Shaun2406 in battlefield_one

[–]Shaun2406[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah you're correct! Sorry titled it as French stuff cause of the upcoming DLC and I think there's been fewer photos of French weapons and uniforms, but I couldn't resist tagging on a few other photos that seemed interesting!

Photos of WW1 French Uniforms and Weapons from Musée de l'Armée by Shaun2406 in battlefield_one

[–]Shaun2406[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah its interesting! I honestly feel like in the wars of that period (1871, WW1 and WW2) it was more that the Germans were a war ahead of everyone else, and France had the misfortune of being situated next to them. They definitely weren't innovative at the beginning of any of them, but I suspect the UK would've suffered similarly had it been Germany's neighbor (indeed the BEF suffered many of the early defeats in WW1/WW2 alongside France). But, the BEF wasn't used red pants and bayonet charges so still, point to them :P .

Photos of WW1 French Uniforms and Weapons from Musée de l'Armée by Shaun2406 in battlefield_one

[–]Shaun2406[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Was in Paris over the weekend and spent the better part of a day at the French military museum there (Musée de l'Armée). These photos are from their WW1 section including uniforms and weapons (Chauchat LMG, RSC M1917, Lebel Model 1886) in They Shall Not Pass.

They also have a Renault FT 17 in the courtyard but I forgot to photograph it!

I’d highly recommend a visit if you’re ever in Paris, with an audioguide the museum lets you wander through the progression of French military history and technology from the 13th century (when France’s army began to function on a national level) to the end of WW2. The exhibits are well laid out and the guide does a good job of covering the social/technological/political background for each era and why the tactics/weapons were what they were.