France is commonly made fun of for not having won a war, for instance when they rejoined NATO and the daily mail made fun of them:
Why did the French celebrate their World Cup in 1998 so wildly?
It was their first time they won anything without outside help.
Why are the French afraid of war?
You would be, too, if you had never won one.
Are there any examples with clear French victories of war? A good example would be where conquered another nation, a large area of land without immediately losing it or gained a ceasefire/surrender through skill or force. War of alliances are fine as long as France is the main contributor and the military leader similar to how America is sometimes joined by much smaller contributions by other nations.
The French derived their name from the Franks which existed around 700AD, so that seem like a good starting point unless anyone feel like arguing that point.