JACOB Rees-Mogg has caused quite the stir after claiming the French are “always grumpy” in October due to the anniversaries of Trafalgar and Agincourt.
The House of Commons leader continued his hobby of accusing other nations of grumpiness due to hundred-year-old battles on Tuesday - although this time it wasn't Scotland.
Sharing his podcast, the Tory MP tweeted: “The French are always grumpy in October, the anniversaries of Trafalgar and Agincourt upset them.”
The House of Commons leader was referencing two battles England won against France.
The French are always grumpy in October, the anniversaries of Trafalgar and Agincourt upset them.https://t.co/dJnQhHIwBv
— Jacob Rees-Mogg (@Jacob_Rees_Mogg) November 2, 2021
The Battle of Agincourt saw an English victory on October 25, 1415 amid the hundred Years’ War. It came as an unexpected victory as the English were vastly outnumbered.
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The Battle of Trafalgar occurred on October 21, 1805 in which the British Royal Navy saw off the French and Spanish.
The National approached a number of people French people, as well as Brits living in France, to see what they thought of Rees-Mogg’s comment, and they came back with a resounding answer: Nobody in France knows who Rees-Mogg is, nor cares about the battles.
Sophie Leguil, a French person living in the UK, told The National: “Rees-Mogg's comments are total nonsense on several grounds.
“A) most French people literally wouldn't have a clue about what Agincourt is, the period it happened in or the events.
“It's a date we learn at primary school and readily forget (except perhaps for a small proportion of people who are passionate about history or work in the field, and people who live in or visit the area).
You're joking, aren't you? Real French person here! French people NEVER think of Agincourt, absolutely never. Nor do they think of Hastings or Austerlitz. We're more interested in the present & future than the past. We have a prestigious past but it's what we do now that matters.
— V. #IWearAMask #InLimbo #LesMaitresdelOrage (@InlimboV) November 2, 2021
“B) There's no 'upset' or regrets, no massive nostalgia. Generally speaking, modern France was heavily marked by recent wars (WW2, Algeria etc) and those are debated, but older wars are not a thing outside of specialist crowds.
“C) We may be grumpy in October but that's only because days get darker and rainier.”
James Barisic, who lives in France, said he has never heard a French person mention either war: “It’s quite odd behaviour but, I suppose, if you spend your life living in the past (and trying to drag people back to it), the things that we consider history must seem quite recent and relevant.
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"I can categorically say that, in 7 years of living in France and working across the country, nobody has ever mentioned Agincourt. Nobody.”
Barisic said one of the things he learned when emigrating is the “level of self-importance that emanates" from parts of England "is really weird”.
He added that France has a good sense of its own history, but doesn’t dwell on it.
He continued: “France is much more focused on the future than on the past. It’s much more like Scotland in that sense – which probably explains why Mogg doesn’t understand Scotland either."
Laurence Whiteside, a Brit who has lived in France for 25 years agreed, saying: “To be honest, most French people will have no idea who Jacob Rees-Mogg is.
“But I think they'd be rather bemused at the idea that they're still sore about Agincourt.”
Asked what people in France thought of Rees-Mogg, he replied: “I'll have to explain to them who JRM is first.”
An anonymous Frenchman living in Scotland added that he had no feelings towards the battles, like most French people.
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Meanwhile, Todd Foreman, an American-Brit living in Paris said the North East Somerset MP is not relevant to the lives of people in France.
“I don’t think any French people will take any notice of it or care at all about what Jacob Rees-Mogg says,” he said.
“Virtually no one in France knows who he is. Would many people in the UK care if his French counterpart said something similar regarding some event in distant history? I doubt it.
“I think most people would just see it as a lame comment by someone of no relevance to them and move on to more important concerns.”
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