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France was a powerful country with a large army and a vast Empire, that stretched around the globe, but it was not cohesive. The country because of It had stark political differences was not unified conflicts and many politicians were more loyal to their political party that the than their country. Many People on both the extreme Left such as the Communists or the extreme right hated the French government so muchvirulently, that they were only their support of the French government be best described as half-hearted in their response to after the German invasion. Many ordinary people were disgusted with the leaderS leaders of the Third Republic, who were widely seen as professional politicians who were both venal and corrupt .<ref>Jackson, p.117</ref>. Furthermore, there defeatism was a general air of defeatism in the air rampant at the start of WW II. France had a low birth rate and many were convinced that the country was degenerating, based on ideas current at the time . <ref> Bloch, Marc , ''Strange Defeat: A Statement of Evidence Written in 1940 '' (New York, NY: Norton, 1946), p. 117</ref>. The cultural pessimism in France meant that many, in the political and military elite believed that France could not win against the Germans defeat Germany and that any efforts to resist the Germans were pointless. Many people believed that France was a nation in decline and that her greatest days had passed. This led to a spirit of defeatism in France in the Spring and Summer of 1940, that played an important role in the Fall of France. It must be noted that Despite the valiant efforts of many French men against the German invasion, the French government and women military were very patriotic ill-equipped both politically and resisted the Germans with great braverymilitarily to meaningfully contest Germany. <ref>Copper, p, 144</ref>.