FRANCE AND MUNICH BKFORK AND AKTKR Till, SURRKNDKR by ALEXANDER
WlRTH It was the opinion of Marclan that war should be avoided as
ton UH it is K ssihU to preserve it . secure uml honotirnblw pence
but it was HUuxvise his opinion that ponce cannot be honourable or
secure, if the Jioveroitfn betrays a pusIHaninunis avt, rsion It
vur. Thi. s tintiptnatc cotiniK Uetate. l his reply to the
cletuunds of Attiia t who insolently pressed the payment t f the
annual tribute. ttrttf Mifl of f te Ktimatt ttwpire, . hap. xxxv.
HAKPKR AND BROTH KRS PUBLISHI. US NI. W YORK AND LONDON Printed in
Gutrtutyt C.., Mritisk by The 6Yw and GmxM Ltd. To NANCY ALEXANDRA
PREFACE T oiiRNAuTs books are best-sellers nowadays and in many J
cases deservedly so. But this will not be a bestseller, I nave not
attempted to give a brilliant and lively account of my experiences
and sensations at the sight and sound of crumbling bastions. The
book is mainly concerned with some of the chief causes of these
catastrophes, rather than with the catastrophes themselves Except
for a trip to Spain, I Hhave lived in Paris almost without moving
an ordinary staff correspondent, with his regular telephone call to
London at eight oclock every night, Saturdays cxceptcd f Allo 9
alia wtw abonntnwnt de Londresl Could anything be less adventurous
than the word abannementt And few capitals in Europe have, in the
last two years, provided less colour stuff to the papers than
Paris. The task I set myself was a more modest and less exciting
one. Having watched France, day after day, for over ten years, I
felt that I must try to understand the rather long and at times
almost imperceptible process by which France came to accept Munich
so contraryto all that she had stood for since the War and also the
process by which she consciously con tributed to the downfall of
the Spanish Republic What was this double political and
psychological process In this book I have tried to answer this
question M Philippe lamour once answered it with the simple phrase
triomphe dt la facility There is some truth in it but it is not the
whole truth. The question, as will be seen, is rather more com
plicated, I am not apologising for being sometimes a little long
windeda charge that may perhaps be brought against me. The Munich
crisisboth before and after Septemberis such an outstanding
landmark in the life of France that every little human detail every
little newspaper cutting throwing some light on the workings of
French minds during those days is of some interest. PREFACE What is
happening in France though a country km dynamic than many others,
and so less exciting on the face of it is of infinite importance to
England, to the world and to our western civilisation, Including
the very fact that she i not dynamic 1 in the totalitarian sense
This is not a polemical book and I do not call anybody names. In so
far as the facts are known and especially in the history of the
Czech crisis there are still a few gaps and a few obscuritiesthis
book is mainly an examination of French foreign policy during the
past eighteen month, and of the currents of French opinion in
relation to the tragic events of 1938 and the early part of 1959
If, in spite of the modest limits of my task, and in spite oC my
desire to be objective perhaps an absurd ambition nowadays, I have
at times spoken with some bitterness, it was because the period
covered in this book will probablylong be remembered as a time when
the radiance of France had grown dim n seldom before. And to anyone
who loves France and all that she represents to the world, it was
often painful to watch. But the revival of France, with all her
immense spiritual forces, is in progress once again...
General
Imprint: |
Read Books
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
March 2007 |
First published: |
March 2007 |
Authors: |
Alexander Werth
|
Dimensions: |
216 x 140 x 25mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
448 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-4067-0671-0 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
History >
General
Books >
History >
General
|
LSN: |
1-4067-0671-X |
Barcode: |
9781406706710 |
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