112 Gripes About the French was a 1945 handbook issued by the United States military authorities to enlisted personnel arriving in France after the Liberation. It was meant to defuse the growing tension between the American military and the locals.
History The euphoria of victory over Germany was short-lived, and within months of Liberation, tensions began to rise between the French and the U.S. military personnel stationed in the country, with the former seeing the latter as arrogant and wanting to flaunt their wealth, and the latter seeing the former as proud and resentful. Fights were breaking out more often, and fears were raised, even among high officials, that the situation might eventually lead to a breakdown of civil order.
The War Department commissioned humorist Leo Rosten to address the matter. He and the co-authors set out in a witty yet trenchant question-and-answer format, 112 Gripes about the French posed a series of well-rehearsed complaints about the French, and then provided a common-sense rejoinder to each of them –the aim being to explain the culture clash, provide context, and defuse tensions between the average soldier and his hosts. Subjects ranged from geopolitics to prostitution and from hygiene to plumbing.
It has been republished in the United States in 2004 (), and in France under the title "Nos amis les Français" ("Our friends the French"), in 2003, where it became a best-seller.
Contents The French and Us
The French
Characteristics
Customs and Manners
Cleanliness and Sanitation
Work and Laziness
Moral
Automobiles and Locomotives
The French and the Germans
Prices: “We're being gypped”
The Black Market
Those French Soldiers
French Collaboration
“They got off pretty easy in this war”
French Politics
See also Anti-French sentiment in the United States Franco-American relations Francophobia Military history of France during World War II Military of the United States Cheese-eating surrender monkeys
Sources
BBC comments on the recent republishing of the handbook.