I should judge them on things that happened more than 100 years ago?
If you are going to judge a
whole society, by god yes! Remember, if it were not for the French, the United States would not exist. What was it that General Pershing said when he arrived in France, "Lafayette, we are here."?
And think about the First World War: The Somme, The Marne,
Verdun! An entire generation wiped out. So when the Second World War occurred and the French were faced with a vastly superior, battle hardened force invading their country and their only real ally wasn't fully behind the war yet and only had an small expeditionary force in France to assist. What could they do? They surrendered to SAVE THEIR PEOPLE! And if you think that the French didn't contribute to the defeat of Germany, tell that to the survivors of the maquis! Had it not been for the French Resistance the liberation of France and Europe would have been a much tougher battle. We probably would have invaded at Calais instead of Normandy, and that would have been even more horrific.
Sure their empire has fallen, the Indochine War was a mistake and their attempt to hold on to Algeria was bloodbath that makes our Vietnam War look tame. But France still holds a huge sway in international politics, has an immensely capable military which includes the only non-US super carrier in the world and influences the globe through its language and arts. To judge a country on only the last century and a single military failure is ridiculous.
By the same standards even the US is a dismal failure. Out culture has gone to hell, we've lost our 'empire' (the Philippines), we fought to a stalemate in Korea, lost in Vietnam and are arguably losing in both Iraq and Afghanistan.