Technically, that's Americans with getting fit. Or Australians trying to tame their country (we all know it's impossible). Or the Scottish becoming sober... So many ways to apply that saying...
Actually, if you look at the battles of Crecy and Azincourt, the french lost because they were the aggressors attacking an army of archers (when they either lacked archers or didn't use their crossbowmen well). The Napoleonic wars were also caused by the French being the attacking forces again, and they lost again. They were almost unable to hold back the Germans in WW1, and lost in world war 2. They are known as cowards for WW2, but their history shows that they can hold their own, when their philosophy was: offense is the best defense.
Caption this Meme
