Grandeur And Misery - France's Bid for Power in Europe, 1914-1940

A central question in European history is how did a great power pre-eminent in 1918 lie defeated by the same enemy less than 20 years later. Until recently the explanation has been sought in fundamental weaknesses that could only leave the French of 1940 hamstrung and demoralized. Recent studies have challenged that view and now, for the first time, the revisionist approach is displayed in a single volume, both summarizing the research of others and drawing on the author''s own work in the archives. The book is about as far from ''dry as dust'' diplomatic history as it''s possible to get. Its very readable and the author manages to show with the telling anecdote that even a serious subject has its comic side: that, for instance, the French High Command kept forces stationed in the Alps for seven years because no one in the foreign service had thought to pass on news about a secret treaty between Italy and France in 1902; or that after a particularly stressful meeting Andrew Bonar Law, the British prime minister, mouth to Poincare, the French president, through the closed carriage window of his train ''and you go to hell'', all the while smiling and exuding affability. Such episodes are not the substance of the book, but they oil its progress.>

List of contents

Illustrations, maps and tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chronology
Presidents and ministers of France (1914-1940)
1. France and the World
2. Armageddon
3. Peace-making, 1919
4. The Price of Victory
5. A flawed response
6. Predominance, 1919-1924
7. Locarno, 1925
8. Indian summer, 1926-1931
9. Economics, armaments, decision-making
10. Ideology, opinion and foreign policy
11. Challenges, 1932-1936
12. War again, 1936-1939
Epilogue
Notes
Guide to further reading
Index

About the author

Anthony Adamthwaite is Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley, USA.

Product details

• Authors: Anthony Adamthwaite, Anthony P. Adamthwaite
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 17.09.1995
• EAN: 9780713165760
• ISBN: 978-0-7131-6576-0
• No. of pages: 296
• Dimensions: 154 mm x 233 mm x 23 mm
• Series: Hodder Arnold Publication; Hodder Arnold Publication
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; European History, HISTORY / Europe / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / International Relations / General, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, International Relations, c 1938 to c 1946 (World War Two period), c 1914 to c 1918 (including WW1), c 1919 to c 1939 (Inter-war period), c 1939 to c 1945 (including WW2), c 1918 to c 1939 (Inter-war period), c 1914 to c 1918 (World War One period)