I ended up leaving it out of my first comment, but I considered bringing up the yellow vest riots as support for what you and I are both saying. As far as I can recall, those riots went on for about a year with very little international coverage beyond the first couple months. Many French certainly stood up for themselves then, which comes off as especially admirable and sincere with so little attention.

I also wonder if their willingness to show backbone has something to do with France being the main battleground for both WWI and WWII.