<P> In the Second World War the United States again favored France over Nazi Germany . The successful performance of German warplanes during the Spanish Civil War (1936--39) suddenly forced France to realize its military inferiority . Germany had better warplanes, more of them, and much more efficient production systems . President Franklin Roosevelt had long been interested in France, and was a personal friend of French Senator, Baron Amaury de La Grange . In late 1937 he told Roosevelt about The French weaknesses, and asked for military help . Roosevelt was forthcoming, and forced the War Department to secretly sell the most modern American airplanes to France . Paris frantically expanded its own aircraft production, but it was too little and too late . France and Britain declared war on Germany when it invaded Poland in September 1939, but there was little action until the following spring . Suddenly a German blitzkrieg overwhelmed Denmark and Norway and trapped French and British forces in Belgium . Many French soldiers were evacuated through Dunkirk, but France was forced to surrender . </P> <P> Langer (1947) argues that Washington was shocked by the sudden collapse of France in spring 1940, and feared that Germany might gain control of the large French fleet, and exploit France's overseas colonies . This led the Roosevelt administration to maintain diplomatic relations . FDR appointed his close associate Admiral William D. Leahy as ambassador . Vichy regime was officially neutral but it was helping Germany . </P> <P> The United States severed diplomatic relations in late 1942 when Germany took direct control of areas that Vichy had ruled, and Vichy France became a Nazi puppet state . More recently, Hurstfield (1986) concluded that Roosevelt, not the State Department, had made the decision, thereby deflecting criticism from leftwing elements of his coalition onto the hapless State Department . When the experiment ended FDR brought Leahy back to Washington as his top military advisor and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs . </P> <P> Relations were strained between Roosevelt and Charles De Gaulle, the leader of the Free French, who had refused to participate in the Normandy landings in June 1944 . After Normandy the Americans and the Allies knew it was only a matter of time before the Nazis lost . Eisenhower did give De Gaulle his word that Paris would be liberated by the French as the Americans had no interest in Paris, a city they considered lacking tactical value . It was therefore easy for Eisenhower to let De Gaulle's FFI take the charge . There was one important aspect of Paris that did seem to matter to everyone: it was its historical and cultural significance . Hitler had given the order to bomb and burn Paris to the ground; he wanted to make it a second Stalingrad . The Americans and the Allies could not let this happen . The French 2nd armored division with Maj. Gen Phillipe Leclerc at its helm was granted this supreme task of liberating Paris . General Leclerc was ecstatic at this thought because he wanted to wipe away the humiliation of the Vichy Government . </P>

How did the napoleonic war affect the united states