France In An Era Of Global War 1914 1945

In France in an Era of Global War, scholars re-examine experiences of French politics, occupation, empire and entanglements with the Anglophone world between 1914 and 1945. In doing so, they question the long-standing myths and assumptions which continue to surround this period, and offer new avenues of enquiry.

In France in an Era of Global War, scholars re-examine experiences of French politics, occupation, empire and entanglements with the Anglophone world between 1914 and 1945. In doing so, they question the long-standing myths and assumptions which continue to surround this period, and offer new avenues of enquiry.

Europe’s second Thirty Years’ War—an epoch of blood and ashes Fire and Blood looks at the European crisis of the two world wars as a single historical sequence: the age of the European Civil War (1914–1945). Its overture was played out in the trenches of the Great War; its coda on a ruined continent. It opened with conventional declarations of war and finished with “unconditional surrender.” Proclamations of national unity led to eventual devastation, with entire countries torn to pieces. During these three decades of deepening conflicts, a classical interstate conflict morphed into a global civil war, abandoning rules of engagement and fought by irreducible enemies rather than legitimate adversaries, each seeking the annihilation of its opponents. It was a time of both unchained passions and industrial, rationalized massacre. Utilizing multiple sources, Enzo Traverso depicts the dialectic of this era of wars, revolutions and genocides. Rejecting commonplace notions of “totalitarian evil,” he rediscovers the feelings and reinterprets the ideas of an age of intellectual and political commitment when Europe shaped world history with its own collapse.

A major new study on the role of French railwaymen in resistance and genocide during the Second World War.

By training his eye on the ways that people outside the halls of power reacted to the rapid onset and escalation of the fighting in 1914, Neiberg dispels the notion that Europeans were rabid nationalists intent on mass slaughter. He reveals instead a complex set of allegiances that cut across national boundaries.

Characterized by global war, political revolution and national crises, the period between 1914 and 1945 was one of the most horrifying eras in the history of the West. A noted scholar of modern German history, Heinrich August Winkler examines how and why Germany so radically broke with the normative project of the West and unleashed devastation across the world. In this total history of the thirty years between the start of World War One and the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Winkler blends historical narrative with political analysis and encompasses military strategy, national identity, class conflict, economic development and cultural change. The book includes astutely observed chapters on the United States, Japan, Russia, Britain, and the other European powers, and Winkler’s distinctly European perspective offers insights beyond the accounts written by his British and American counterparts. As Germany takes its place at the helm of a unified Europe, Winkler’s fascinating account will be widely read and debated for years to come.

A concise introduction to European history between 1914 and 1945, this series of succinct interpretations written by leading scholars offers a new introduction to the period. Covering historical developments in all areas within Europe's natural borders - from the Atlantic to the Arctic Ocean, from the Bosporus to the Urals and the Mediterranean, the book moves beyond the view that the history of this period can only be understood in terms of catastrophe. Instead it argues for a more balanced perspective, suggesting that both 'darker' and 'lighter' elements in Europe's history were capable of evolving simultaneously. Without neglecting the more familiar stories of war, genocide, and economic depression, each chapter demonstrates that political stability and regime collapse, social progress and mass poverty, the crisis of European civilization and remarkable cultural achievements, existed alongside each other. Emphasising the histories of the smaller states, and the multi-faceted nature of the period, Twisted Paths illuminates the diversity of Europe's experiences in the first half of the twentieth century.

The last fifty years have seen immense challenges for the French: constructing a new European order, building a modern economy, searching for a stable political system. It has also been a time of anxiety and doubt. The French have had to come to terms with the legacy of the German Occupation, the political and social implications of the influx of foreign immigrants, the destruction of traditional rural life, and the threat of Anglo American culture to French language and civilization. Robert Gildea's account examines French politics, society, and culture as well as France's role in the world from 1945 to 1995. He looks at France's attempt to recover national greatness after the Second World War; its attempt to deal with the fear of German resurgence by building the European Community; the Algerian war; and the later development of a neo-colonialism to preserve its influence in Africa and the Pacific. He traces the career of General de Gaulle, the revolution of 1968, and the trend towards both political consensus and political disillusionment. He also examines the rise and fall of the French intellectual, the changing cultural policy of the state, and the threat of feminism, regionalism, and multiculturalism to the ideal of the 'One and Indivisible Republic'.