let me remind the case; usa was mentioned a superpower for 100years, which was obviously an exagguration. 100years ago, usa didn't even attend with the world war I; no strong country wants to miss such a "chance", world wars are only for expanding imperialist positions/benefits.
Didn't *attend*? Are you kidding me? The US wasn't an important country because it didn't get involved in a war until very late?
I'll happily reduce "superpower" to 70 years, but still claim "most important country in the world" for at least 100 years. Biggest economy means a lot.
Pretty small, outside its ex-colonies,
Ahem. I'm happy to concede colonial impact.
Also, showing a map of ex-colonies isn't that helpful, as if land area alone mattered. outside Quebec and the *state* lousiana (not the whole Louisiana territory) how much cultural impact did France have on the continental US? Please don't tell me you really think they had much impact on Illinois or Michigan or Iowa.
Impact on India is minimal.
Most of the African area covered is barely populated desert (though still some heavily populated areas on the coasts). The Pacific Islands are tiny and lightly populated.
So yeah, French impact still significant in Quebec, Haiti, Algeria/Morocco, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon, Madagascar, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Tahiti, Mali, Chad, Mauritania, and a few others. Obviously also lasting military impact due to intervention in the American Revolution. But cultural impact on the rest of the world? The lasting legacy of French being the international language, and the culture of aristocrats? Not much, IMO.
Metric measures I'll also willingly concede.
I guess this is a non-issue really, in the eyes of the beholder. My real point I suppose is just that English has become the dominant world language and culture, and that its hard to see much long-term impact of France in India, China, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Indonesia, Latin America, or really any of the significant economies of the world outside Europe. I'll still gladly give them 3rd or 4th in terms of importance of colonial powers (unclear to me whether or not Brazil matters more in the long-run than all of the French colonies combined).