I read the few posts on the french forum. I completely agree with you and am appalled at the way they treated you.
Those two guys were condescending, ignorant, and arrogant. If I were to joke...I would say, well, they are french after all! What do you expect?
(and yes, I am a francophile and francophone).They completed twisted your words and didn't hesitate to attack you directly in a harsh tone, while warning you against using an aggresive tone. What I saw were 2 french bullies using a double-standard. They somehow had no problem using direct tones themselves.
I won't even comment on the historical aspects, or on their labeling of your grandfather. You should be proud that he was a soldier or officer in the Romanian Army, serving his country and fighting for his country.
It is beyond comprehension how those two french guys could not see that.
However, perhaps someone should remind our french friends on their performance in the war.
) The army came to pieces rather quickly in 1940. The so-called "Resistance", while admirable, was hugeeely exaggerated post-war as a french propaganda tool (actual resistance was limited to a small number of mainly communist illegal newspaper/pamphlets publishers, and a few minor sabotage acts).Even after 1940, they continued to be arrogant through De Gaulle, a hysterical character with an inflated ego. Eisenhower, Montgomery, Churchill, and Roosevelt openly saw him as a pain in the butt. Stalin just ignored him or humiliated him.
As I am sure you know, one small episode was the liberation of Paris, where American troops, after fighting their way, were forced to stop at the outskirts of the city so that a French division (Leclerc's, I believe?) could waltz in the city and parade down the street as liberators. I mean, Really? Come on.
We could go on and talk about wide-spread French antisemitism in the late 19th century and early 20th, all the way through 1945.
Or the fact that many inhabitants of villages in Normandy and Bretagne were angry with the Allied invasion and actually preferred the status quo.
I think I am a francophile because I try to ignore France's history in the 20th century. I'll stick to the Renaissance, Classicism, Enlightenment periods, etc. Not much to be said after 1918, sadly.
Anyway, we could go on and on with examples, but it's pointless. They will still have their over-inflated opinion of themselves and treat others as somehow inferior. Apparently, if they think France is the best country on Earth, they are patriotic, a positive virtue. But if someone else thinks the same about their own country, they are nationalists or extremists.
Oh well....I will just say that it feels good to rant and, more importantly, to be able and free to do so on this forum.
I thought they are interested to hear more about romanian army from a Romanian, but no, they knew all better and they were too occupated to hate all former Axis army.