"Virtually worthless" might be overstating the case.
France is an ancient designation for a virtually worthless plot of land found on the planet Earth. Once a sovereign nation best known for whine and cheese, France was incorporated into the Anglo-American Hegemony that arose at the end of one of the conflicts collectively known as World War III. In fact, neither the Americans nor the British particularly wanted France to become part of their union, but it made economic sense to simply protect the French before they ran like bunnies at the first sign of trouble.
Jean-Luc Picard is allegedly from France, although his speech is remarkably like a 20th century BBC presenter. This apparent anomaly is readily explained when you consider that after centuries of trying, the British finally conquered the French.
- This Okuda-style conjecture attempts to explain why every single actor cast to play a frog was, in fact, from the United Kingdom. Given how casting someone with even a hint of Frenchiness went, this might have been a good choice.
