Download Free French Defense At A Crossroads Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online French Defense At A Crossroads and write the review.

The French Defence Debate examines assertions of consensus and continuity in, and surrounding, France's defence since 1958, with primary reference to the political career of François Mitterrand. Mitterrand's influence over defence and security, before and after his election to the presidency, is often underestimated. Nonetheless his impact was substantial, if ultimately for his lack of concern to preserve consensus and his reluctance to instigate necessary changes in France's defence - despite the end of the Cold War, and the military deficiencies and limitations of national independence it exposed.
Located at the junction of North America and the Caribbean, the vast territory of colonial Louisiana provides a paradigmatic case study for an Atlantic studies approach. One of the largest North American colonies and one of the last to be founded, Louisiana was governed by a succession of sovereignties, with parts ruled at various times by France, Spain, Britain, and finally the United States. But just as these shifting imperial connections shaped the territory's culture, Louisiana's peculiar geography and history also yielded a distinctive colonization pattern that reflected a synthesis of continent and island societies. Louisiana: Crossroads of the Atlantic World offers an exceptional collaboration among American, Canadian, and European historians who explore colonial and antebellum Louisiana's relations with the rest of the Atlantic world. Studying the legacy of each period of Louisiana history over the longue durée, the essays create a larger picture of the ways early settlements influenced Louisiana society and how the changes in sovereignty and other circulations gave rise to a multiethnic society. Contributors examine the workings of empire through the examples of slave laws, administrative careers or on-the-ground political negotiations, cultural exchanges among landowners, slave holders, and slaves, and the construction of race through sexuality, marriage, and household formation. As a whole, the volume makes the compelling argument that one cannot write Louisiana history without adopting an Atlantic perspective, or Atlantic history without referring to Louisiana. Contributors: Guillaume Aubert, Emily Clark, Alexandre Dubé, Sylvia R. Frey, Sylvia L. Hilton, Jean-Pierre Le Glaunec, Cécile Vidal, Sophie White, Mary Williams.
Most international historians present the outbreak of World War II as the result of an irreconcilable conflict between Great Britain and Germany. This ubiquitous Anglo-German perspective fails to recognize complex causes and repercussions of international events, misappropriates historical responsibilities, and overlooks many global and imperial factors of the war's origins. Reynolds M. Salerno shows that the situation in the Mediterranean played a decisive role in the European drama of the late 1930s and profoundly influenced the manner in which the Second World War unfolded. Vital Crossroads is the result of the author's remarkable access to and extensive research in twenty-eight archives in five different countries. Concentrating on the period from the Mediterranean crisis of 1935 to Italy's declaration of war in June 1940, Salerno demonstrates that the international politics of pre-World War II Europe--particularly in the Mediterranean--can only be understood as the multilateral interaction of British, French, German, and Italian foreign and defense policies. Control of the Mediterranean, he asserts, was a central concern for the European powers in 1935-40, and a fundamental reason why Europe went to war and why the conflict unfolded as it did. As a result, France and Italy influenced and often determined the nature and direction of Allied and Axis policy to an extent disproportionate to their nations' military and economic strength.Salerno contends that the Allies' reluctance to take decisive action against Fascist Italy in 1939-40 contributed to the fall of France in 1940, Britain's desperate situation in 1940-41, and the post-war collapse of Britain as a world power. At a time when the Allied powers dreaded the ability of the German military to march across the European continent, they also feared that the Italian armed forces would strive to fulfill Mussolini's grand imperial ambitions in the Mediterranean.
A man of inventiveness, versatility and reformist ideas, Marshal Sebastien Le Preste de Vauban built a formidable ring of fortresses to protect France's national frontiers. More than just a fortification designer, Vauban was also a gifted economist, author, and political strategist. This book tells the complete story of Vauban's exceptional career, placing him within the framework of Louis XIV's reign and revealing his lasting influences in France and other nations. With the aid of numerous detailed drawings, 17th century bastioned fortification, artillery, and seige warfare are described in detail. Vauban's fortifications that are still standing today are particularly highlighted.
Violence was prominent in France?s conquest of a colonial empire, and the use of force was integral to its control and regulation of colonial territories. What, if anything, made such violence distinctly colonial? And how did its practitioners justify or explain it? These are issues at the heart of The French Colonial Mind: Violence, Military Encounters, and Colonialism. The second of two linked volumes, this book brings together prominent scholars of French colonial history to explore the many ways in which brutality and killing became central to the French experience and management of empire. Sometimes concealed or denied, at other times highly publicized and even celebrated, French violence was so widespread that it was in some ways constitutive of colonial identity. Yet such violence was also destructive: destabilizing for its practitioners and lethal or otherwise devastating for its victims. The manifestations of violence in the minds and actions of imperialists are investigated here in essays that move from the conquest of Algeria in the 1830s to the disintegration of France?s empire after World War II. The authors engage a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from the violence of first colonial encounters to conflicts of decolonization. Each considers not only the forms and extent of colonial violence but also its dire effects on perpetrators and victims. Together, their essays provide the clearest picture yet of the workings of violence in French imperialist thought.
This analysis of French colonial ideology and interest in Morocco delineates the manner in which the agents of the protectorate regime sought to conquer the country and control its indigenous inhabitants. Numerous comparative perspectives are offered, placing the French policy towards Morocco in a wider context, making this study relevant to not only North Africa, but also to other parts of the post-colonial world.
The late Byron Farwell served as an engineer in the British forces of World War II and was an author of at least seven books on various aspects of military history. In this encyclopedia, a labor of love intended for both scholars and general readers, entries include information on wars, revolutions, battles, sieges, spies, soldiers, technical military terms, weapons, and other aspects of 19th-centruy wars and military life. The length of an entry does not necessarily correspond to its importance. Some lesser conflicts and minor personalities are given more space, because information is not readily available elsewhere; and conversely, if information on a topic is widely available, the entry is short. Small bandw images enhance the text. A selected bibliography is included at the end of the volume. Indexing, at least by country or general topic would have improved this otherwise carefully prepared reference. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR
A Companion to the First World War brings together an international team of distinguished historians who provide a series of original and thought-provoking essays on one of the most devastating events in modern history. Comprises 38 essays by leading scholars who analyze the current state of historical scholarship on the First World War Provides extensive coverage spanning the pre-war period, the military conflict, social, economic, political, and cultural developments, and the war's legacy Offers original perspectives on themes as diverse as strategy and tactics, war crimes, science and technology, and the arts Selected as a 2011 Outstanding Academic Title by CHOICE
Fighting for the Enemy explores the participation of Koreans in the Japanese military and supporting industries before and during World War II, first through voluntary enlistment and eventually through conscription. Contrary to popular belief among Korean nationalists, this involvement was not entirely coerced. Brandon Palmer examines this ambiguous situation in the context of Japan's long-term colonial effort to assimilate Koreans into Japanese sociopolitical life and documents the many ways Koreans-short of openly resisting-avoided full cooperation with Japanese war efforts. Much media attention has been given to Japan's exploitation of "comfort women" in Korea and elsewhere in East Asia during the colonial period, but, until now, there has been no extended, objective analysis of the exploitation of the thousands of young Korean men who served in Japan's military and auxiliary occupations.