>Except France, they were just plane useless.
That depends on what you call France. If you call Morocco, Algeria, Tunesia and some other African countries also France, which most of them were in those days, then France also did good things. And don't forget about the Legionnairs.
It seems many of you don't like France. Why? I like it, nice girls, nice country, nice cities, nice food and drinks and a great history. Many great mathemacians came from France. Fourier, Laplace, Langrange. Perhaps the only negative point is that the French can be quite egoistic.
