As for the French, I have some experience of my own. I lived in France for 13 years and I speak fluent French. Not 'Je veux une biere'. Fluent French to the point where a Frenchman wouldn't know I'm English. As an Englishman I have spent many hours debating with the French about our historic past rivalries. And undoubtedly we bailed them out in WW1 & WW2 and we wupped them at Trafalgar and Waterloo. But if you go back a bit further you'll find that the Norman Conquest and the Doomsday Book and every ancient church you see in every town and village in England and Wales was as a result of the English (Saxons) surrendering at Hastings and our country being overrun by the French. They'd get me with it every time.
Well my friend you should point out to them that the English were not invaded by the French but the Normans, a completely seperate
country at the time, in fact the Normans fought the French - on a regular basis and defeated them in most instances.
Had King Harold not had to force march his men from Stamford Bridge having just defeated a Viking army he would alomst certainly have defeated the Normans, they came mighty close as it was and only lost because they broke ranks and charged after the Normans just when they had them on the point of defeat.
Wiliam was so shocked by the brilliance of the English army that having eventually defeated them he went on a course of ethnic cleansing wiping out whole communities and effectively shutting down the country by force of rule.
For their part the British army ( as it was by then) would have
lost to Napolean at Waterloo had the Prussians not turned up when they did.
