Overview

France and the Nazi Menace examines the French response to the challenge posed by National Socialist Germany in the years 1933-1939. It focuses on the relationship between the intelligence on German intentions and capabilities and the evolution of French national policy from the rise of Hitler in 1933 to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Based on extensive archival research, it considers the nature of the intelligence process and the place of intelligence within the French policy making establishment during the inter-war period. The central argument in the book is that the German threat was far from the only challenge facing French national leaders in an era of economic depression and profound ideological discord. Only after the national humiliation at the Munich Conference did the threat from Nazi Germany take precedence over France's internal problems in the making of policy.

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9780198208341

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Jackson makes a case for seeing the French intelligence as operating effectively under extremely difficult conditions and convincingly argues against views of French policy in the 1930s as characterized by drift and irresponsibility. This important book, combining extensive research with lucid argument demands us to rethink the debate on the Third Republic French History Peter Jackson brings a fresh perspective to bear on the familiar territory of this debate, integrating an account of the role of intelligence into an analysis of the foreign and defence politics pursued in this period French History This is an excellent book for undergraduates and postgraduates of intelligence studies, and also for those studying French and German history during this period History A distinguished addition to the growing body of Anglo-American scholarship which questions the cliche that the Third Republic was terminally 'decadent' in the 1930s Julian Jackson, English Historical Review A timely and well-documented contribution to the recently rekindled debate about the failings of French policy in the face of Nazi expansionism before 1940 ... a scholarly and detailed account which focuses on internal policy-making mechanisms without losing sight of the wider cultural context in which policy makers operate French Studies Essential reading for all students of international history between the two world wars ... [Jackson] has worked intensively and perceptively in an impressive range of French archives, and fits his new findings into an encyclopaedic knowledge of the secondary material ... This is a book to be read with pleasure as well as profit. Diplomacy and Statecraft Peter Jackson's superbly researched book on the relationship between French intelligence and foreign policy-making between 1933 and 1939 attemps to offer a distinct third view ... meticulous analysis of French intelligence reports ... Jackson's command of a wide range of public archival sources (mostly French, but also British and American) is most impressive, and his overall conclusion rightly underscores the importance of domestic political variables in shaping foreign policy. As a contribution to the field of intelligence history , France and the Nazi Menace makes a number of powerful points, most notably that intelligence should not be viewed in a vacuum Sudhir Hazareesingh, Times Literary Supplement A first rate piece of historical writing. His research, most notably in archival sources, is impeccable. His writing displays an exemplary degree of expositional clarity. Above all, he does a superb job of integrating his findings about the intelligence community into the broader political, diplomatic, military, and economic issues. His handling of these huge questions is both confident and economical. This is an important book which deserves a wide readership. William D. Irvine, York University, Ontario, H-Net

Jackson makes a case for seeing the French intelligence as operating effectively under extremely difficult conditions and convincingly argues against views of French policy in the 1930s as characterized by drift and irresponsibility. This important book, combining extensive research with lucid argument demands us to rethink the debate on the Third Republic French History Peter Jackson brings a fresh perspective to bear on the familiar territory of this debate, integrating an account of the role of intelligence into an analysis of the foreign and defence politics pursued in this period French History This is an excellent book for undergraduates and postgraduates of intelligence studies, and also for those studying French and German history during this period History A distinguished addition to the growing body of Anglo-American scholarship which questions the cliche that the Third Republic was terminally 'decadent' in the 1930s Julian Jackson, English Historical Review A timely and well-documented contribution to the recently rekindled debate about the failings of French policy in the face of Nazi expansionism before 1940 ... a scholarly and detailed account which focuses on internal policy-making mechanisms without losing sight of the wider cultural context in which policy makers operate French Studies Essential reading for all students of international history between the two world wars ... [Jackson] has worked intensively and perceptively in an impressive range of French archives, and fits his new findings into an encyclopaedic knowledge of the secondary material ... This is a book to be read with pleasure as well as profit. Diplomacy and Statecraft Peter Jackson's superbly researched book on the relationship between French intelligence and foreign policy-making between 1933 and 1939 attemps to offer a distinct third view ... meticulous analysis of French intelligence reports ... Jackson's command of a wide range of public archival sources (mostly French, but also British and American) is most impressive, and his overall conclusion rightly underscores the importance of domestic political variables in shaping foreign policy. As a contribution to the field of intelligence history , France and the Nazi Menace makes a number of powerful points, most notably that intelligence should not be viewed in a vacuum Sudhir Hazareesingh, Times Literary Supplement A first rate piece of historical writing. His research, most notably in archival sources, is impeccable. His writing displays an exemplary degree of expositional clarity. Above all, he does a superb job of integrating his findings about the intelligence community into the broader political, diplomatic, military, and economic issues. His handling of these huge questions is both confident and economical. This is an important book which deserves a wide readership. William D. Irvine, York University, Ontario, H-Net

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