But only since about 1880.
Before that 'France' was only about 20% of the country and only about 20% spoke French.
There was a huge effort to create a single nation, similar to the unification of Germany and Italy around the same time.
Their attitude to the language rather shows that - nobody in England thinks English needs 'protecting'.
English is 'open source', French is 'the cathedral'.
It shows in their proliferation patterns too.
Whats the quote?
Other languages borrow foreign words - English lures them into dark alleys and goes through their pockets for any grammer they might have.
The original quote is:
The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle [sic] their pockets for new vocabulary.
France is pretty nationalistic too, no? They're one of the harshest countries in Europe in terms of minority languages, if I recall correctly.