France is strong where Britain and America are weak

Emmanuel Macron unveiled his campaign manifesto in a carefully orchestrated press conference on Thursday and his pledges to cut taxes and reform the welfare system dominated the headlines on Friday morning.

But the president also touched on defence, promising that spending – €32.3 billion when he came to power in 2017 – will rise to €50 billion by 2025. Some of that money will be invested in cyber warfare technology, as well, presumably, on ammunition; if reports are to be believed the French army would run out of ordnance after four days of a major war.

It’s a favourite pastime of Anglophones to mock the French military, though only those who don’t know their history indulge in such juvenile antics. The battle of Verdun cost the lives of around 375,000 Frenchmen in 1916, and in the summer of 1940 their soldiers fought bravely against the Nazi invader but were let down by the ineptitude of their high command.