Methinks, Gareth's joke is incorrect. Centuries of warring against the French have taught us otherwise. The answer should be: The Italians are committing troops (last flop: 1940 joining Hitler's French war).
But now a political very correct joke about our first king and emperor (of both French and German, died 814):
One day Charlemagne rode out to hunt in the woods around Aix-les-Bains, where he happened to meet an old hussy collecting brushwood.
"How do you do, old hussy" said Charlemagne.
"How do you do, Charlemagne" said the old hussy.
Such and similar stories they're telling still today around Aix-les-Bains about Charlemagne's cordiality.
This joke fits very well Freud's definition (if I remember it well): At first a certain amount of tension is created, then it is unravelled by somthing totally unexpected.

Wilfried