While the 46e President of the United States Joe Biden has just arrived on French soil to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the Normandy landings alongside Emmanuel Macron, Ifop-Fiducial for Sud Radio questioned the French on their vision of the end of the Second World War in Europe and the view on France’s allies.
Concerning France’s allies, a large majority of French people (60%, compared to 20% in 1945, an increase of 40 points) consider that the United States is the nation which contributed the most to the defeat of Germany in 1945, followed by the USSR (25%) and Great Britain (15%). The major difference is observed according to age, because 72% of those over 65 agree with this statement, compared to only 55% of those under 30.
Despite a significant decline of six points in ten years, many French people still believe that the main reason which pushed the United States to enter the war in Europe in 1941 was to protect their economic and strategic interests (39%). Among those who express this opinion, the most represented are the wealthiest categories (61%), while this idea is only shared by three in ten voters for Marine Le Pen in 2022 (30%).
On the more current question of the reliability of France’s allies, while Germany established itself in 2014 as the undisputed leader with 82% of French people judging it as a secure ally, its consideration as such fell by seven points. (75% in 2024). Despite already very low reliability in 2014, Russia is experiencing a significant decline linked to the current context (12% in 2014 compared to 8% in 2024). However, two out of ten Eric Zemmour voters (21%) judge Russia to be a reliable ally of France.
A significant majority now considers Russia as the country most threatening to France (69%), with Renaissance sympathizers in the first place (89%), closely followed by those close to the Republicans (85%). Extremely strong growth in 10 years (+45 points), in the midst of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
written by Guilhem Lugagne
