137-543: Paul Reynaud ( French: [pɔl ʁɛno] ; 15 October 1878 – 21 September 1966) was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period , noted for his economic liberalism and vocal opposition to Nazi Germany . Reynaud opposed the Munich Agreement of September 1938, when France and the United Kingdom gave way before Hitler 's proposals for the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia. After
274-782: A League of Nations mandate of the former German Cameroon and a free hand in the Ethiopian Empire from France in return for Italian support against Germany in the Stresa Front . This was refused by French Prime Minister Édouard Herriot , who was not yet sufficiently worried about the prospect of a German resurgence. The failed resolution of the Abyssinia Crisis led to the Second Italo-Ethiopian War , in which Italy annexed Ethiopia to its empire. Italy's stance towards Spain shifted between
411-618: A Marcel wave . The young women who pioneered these trends were called " flappers ". Not all was new: "normalcy" returned to politics in the wake of hyper-emotional wartime passions in the United States, France, and Germany. The leftist revolutions in Finland, Poland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Spain were defeated by conservatives, but succeeded in Russia, which became the base for Soviet communism and Marxism–Leninism . In Italy,
548-569: A client state following British guidance. Egypt joined the League of Nations. Egypt's King Fuad and his son King Farouk and their conservative allies stayed in power with lavish lifestyles thanks to an informal alliance with Britain who would protect them from both secular and Muslim radicalism. Mandatory Iraq , a British mandate since 1920, gained official independence as the Kingdom of Iraq in 1932 when King Faisal agreed to British terms of
685-819: A non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union in August 1939, Germany invaded Poland after Poland's refusal to cede the Free City of Danzig in September 1939. Britain and France declared war and World War II began – somewhat sooner than the Nazis expected or were ready for. After establishing the " Rome-Berlin Axis " with Benito Mussolini , and signing the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan – which
822-432: A samurai who had been educated at Cambridge ". His head was set deep between his shoulders, and he had "a sharp, nasal, metallic voice" and "mechanical" bearing. By his first marriage in 1912 to Jeanne Anne Henri-Robert, he was the father of a daughter, Collette, born in 1914. At some time in the early 1920s, Reynaud was introduced to Hélène Rebuffel by André Tardieu , a friend of her father's. Rebuffel's father, however,
959-515: A community of action for so long as may be necessary". On 15 June 1940, the French cabinet rejected a British proposal—conceived by Jean Monnet and supported by De Gaulle—for a union between France and Britain. Reynaud abandoned the idea of a "long war strategy" based on attrition. To divert German attention from France, Reynaud considered expanding the war to the Balkans or Northern Europe. He played
1096-413: A disgust with cultural liberalism . Fascists believed in power, violence, male superiority, and a "natural" hierarchy, often led by dictators such as Benito Mussolini or Adolf Hitler . Fascism in power meant that liberalism and human rights were discarded, and individual pursuits and values were subordinated to what the party decided was best. The Japanese modelled their industrial economy closely on
1233-612: A fortune in the textile industry, enabling Reynaud to study law at the Sorbonne . He entered politics and was elected to the French Chamber of Deputies from 1919 to 1924, representing Basses-Alpes , and again from 1928, representing a Paris district. Although he was first elected as part of the conservative "Blue Horizon" bloc in 1919, Reynaud shortly thereafter switched his allegiance to the centre-right Democratic Republican Alliance party, later becoming its vice-president. In
1370-619: A key role in initiating the Allied campaign in Norway , although it ended in failure. Following Britain's decision to withdraw on 26 April, Reynaud travelled to London to personally urge the British to continue their fight in Norway . The Battle of France began less than two months after Reynaud assumed office. The initial German attack in early May 1940 severely damaged French defences, and Paris
1507-547: A limit that would be determined by the mandatory power. This led to increasing conflict with the Arab population, who openly revolted in 1936 . As the threat of war with Germany increased during the 1930s, Britain judged the support of Arabs as more important than the establishment of a Jewish homeland, and shifted to a pro-Arab stance, limiting Jewish immigration and in turn triggering a Jewish insurgency . The Dominions (Canada, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and
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#17327720065041644-428: A limited program of economic reform that was not to Daladier's satisfaction; Reynaud and Marchandeau swapped portfolios, and Reynaud went ahead with his radical liberalization reforms. Reynaud's reforms were implemented, and the government faced down a one-day strike in opposition. Reynaud addressed France's business community, arguing that "We live in a capitalist system. For it to function we must obey its laws. These are
1781-491: A major role in several countries in Latin America. Fascist parties sprang up, attuned to local right-wing traditions, but also possessing common features that typically included extreme militaristic nationalism, a desire for economic self-containment, threats and aggression toward neighbouring countries, oppression of minorities, a ridicule of democracy while using its techniques to mobilise an angry middle-class base, and
1918-547: A meeting in London with Churchill. During the meeting, Churchill informed the War Cabinet that Reynaud had declared the French military situation as hopeless. Reynaud stated he had no intention of signing a separate peace with Germany but might be compelled to resign, leaving the possibility that others in the French government could sign such a treaty. Churchill also mentioned that he did not rule out talks with Mussolini , who
2055-582: A military alliance and an assured flow of oil. In Palestine , Britain was presented with the problem of mediating between the Palestinian Arabs and increasing numbers of Jewish settlers . The Balfour Declaration , which had been incorporated into the terms of the mandate, stated that a national home for the Jewish people would be established in Palestine, and Jewish immigration allowed up to
2192-654: A payment to Turkey , the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, though he failed in an attempt to extract a mandate of a portion of Iraq from Britain. The month following the ratification of the Treaty of Lausanne, Mussolini ordered the invasion of the Greek island of Corfu after the Corfu incident . The Italian press supported the move, noting that Corfu had been a Venetian possession for four hundred years. The matter
2329-473: A profound sense of guilt for 20 years over allowing Pétain to come to power and offered increasingly convoluted explanations for the events that transpired. Despite Reynaud's own fighting spirit and a brief moment of indecision on 26 May, he regretted not being able to emulate Clemenceau , France's great wartime Prime Minister from 1917 to 1918, and he never forgave himself for failing to be another de Gaulle. Reynaud later claimed he had hoped Pétain would resign if
2466-586: A prominent figure again in French political life, serving in several cabinet positions. He favoured a United States of Europe , and participated in drafting the constitution for the Fifth Republic , but resigned from government in 1962 after disagreement with President de Gaulle over changes to the electoral system. Reynaud was born in Barcelonnette , Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, the son of Alexandre and Amelie (née Gassier) Reynaud. His father had made
2603-417: A sharp reduction in new business starts. Cities all around the world were hit hard, especially those dependent on heavy industry . Construction was virtually halted in many countries. Farming communities and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by about 60%. Facing plummeting demand with few alternative sources of jobs, areas dependent on primary sector industries such as mining and logging suffered
2740-536: A smaller neighbour to match Germany's annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia . Italian King Victor Emmanuel III took the Albanian crown , and a fascist government under Shefqet Vërlaci was established. Pierre %C3%89tienne Flandin Pierre-Étienne Flandin ( French pronunciation: [pjɛʁ etjɛn flɑ̃dɛ̃] ; 12 April 1889 – 13 June 1958) was a French conservative politician of
2877-533: A stable state. Albanian society was deeply divided by religion and language, with a border dispute with Greece and an undeveloped, rural economy. In 1939, Italy invaded and annexed Albania as a separate kingdom in personal union with the Italian crown. Italy had long built strong links with the Albanian leadership and considered it firmly within its sphere of influence. Mussolini wanted a spectacular success over
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#17327720065043014-440: A telegram to Reynaud confirming that there would be no immediate approach to Mussolini, although the option remained open. Mussolini had already rejected an overture by President Roosevelt based on suggestions from Britain and France. It was also revealed on 28 May that Italy was preparing to enter the war on Germany's side, which would occur on 10 June. In early June, Charles de Gaulle , whom Reynaud had long supported and one of
3151-633: A war entailed would stamp out France's recovery. The French Right was ambivalent about the war in late 1939 and early 1940, feeling that the Soviets rather than Nazi Germany were the greater long-term threat. Daladier regarded the war with Germany as the greater priority and so refused to send aid to the Finns, who were under attack from the USSR, then loosely allied to Germany, in the Winter War . News that
3288-538: A way of preventing future wars and a recurrence of the Nazi atrocities. Reynaud presided over the consultative committee that drafted the constitution of France's (current) Fifth Republic . In 1962, he denounced his old friend de Gaulle's replacement of the electoral college system by a direct public vote for the Presidency. Reynaud left office the same year. Reynaud was a physically small man, with "the countenance of
3425-594: The Battle for Castle Itter on 5 May 1945, Major Josef Gangl , a Wehrmacht officer who had joined the anti-Nazi Austrian resistance , was killed by a sniper's bullet while attempting to protect Reynaud and other prisoners. After the war, Reynaud was elected in 1946 as a member of the Chamber of Deputies. He was appointed to several cabinet positions in the post-war period and remained a prominent figure in French politics. His attempts to form governments in 1952 and 1953 in
3562-565: The Congress Party led by Mohandas Gandhi . In Britain, public opinion was divided over the morality of the massacre between those who saw it as having saved India from anarchy and those who viewed it with revulsion. Egypt had been under de facto British control since the 1880s, despite its nominal ownership by the Ottoman Empire . In 1922, the Kingdom of Egypt was granted formal independence , though it continued to be
3699-921: The Entente , the Americans came up with the Dawes Plan and Wall Street invested heavily in Germany, which repaid its reparations to nations that, in turn, used the dollars to pay off their war debts to Washington. By the middle of the decade, prosperity was widespread, with the second half of the decade known as the Roaring Twenties . The important stages of interwar diplomacy and international relations included resolutions of wartime issues, such as reparations owed by Germany and boundaries; American involvement in European finances and disarmament projects;
3836-538: The German Reich . After Austria, Hitler turned to Czechoslovakia , where the 3.5 million-strong Sudeten German minority was demanding equal rights and self-government. At the Munich Conference of September 1938, Hitler, the Italian leader Benito Mussolini, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain , and French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier agreed upon the cession of Sudeten territory to
3973-611: The Imperial Japanese Army and supported by other right-wing societies. The IJA's nationalism ended civilian rule in Japan until after 1945. The Army, however, was itself divided into cliques and factions with different strategic viewpoints. One faction viewed the Soviet Union as the main enemy; the other sought to build a mighty empire based in Manchuria and northern China. The Navy, while smaller and less influential,
4110-634: The Maginot Line . He strongly opposed appeasement in the run-up to the Second World War. He also clashed with his party on economic policy, backing the devaluation of the franc as a solution to France's economic woes. Pierre Étienne Flandin , the leader of the Democratic Republican Alliance, agreed with several of Reynaud's key policy stances, particularly on Reynaud's defence of economic liberalism. The franc
4247-532: The May 15 Incident and the military took more power, leading to rapid democratic backsliding . In September 1931, the Japanese Kwantung Army —acting on its own without government approval— seized control of Manchuria , an area in northeastern China that was controlled by the powerful warlord Zhang Xueliang . It created the puppet government of Manchukuo . Britain and France effectively controlled
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4384-618: The National Fascist Party came to power under Benito Mussolini after threatening a March on Rome in 1922. Most independent countries enacted women's suffrage in the interwar era, including Canada in 1917 (though Quebec held out longer), Britain in 1918, and the United States in 1920. There were a few major countries that held out until after the Second World War (such as France, Switzerland, and Portugal). Leslie Hume argues: The women's contribution to
4521-672: The Ottoman territories and German colonies redistributed among the Allies , chiefly Britain and France. The western parts of the Russian Empire, Estonia , Finland , Latvia , Lithuania , and Poland became independent nations in their own right, and Bessarabia (now Moldova and parts of Ukraine ) chose to reunify with Romania . In Russia, the Bolsheviks managed to regain control of Belarus and Ukraine, Central Asia, and
4658-701: The Third Republic , leader of the Democratic Republican Alliance (ARD), and Prime Minister of France from 1934 to 1935. A military pilot during World War I, Flandin held a number of cabinet posts during the interwar period. He was Minister of Commerce, under the premiership of Frédéric François-Marsal , for just five days in 1924. He was Minister of Commerce and Industry in the premierships of André Tardieu in 1931 and 1932. Between those posts, he served under Pierre Laval as Finance Minister. In 1934 (6 February to 8 November), he
4795-621: The Twenty-One Demands of 1915. Its occupation of Siberia proved unproductive. Japan's wartime diplomacy and limited military action had produced few results, and at the Paris Versailles peace conference at the end of the war, Japan was frustrated in its ambitions. At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, its Racial Equality Proposal led to increasing diplomatic isolation. The 1902 alliance with Britain
4932-492: The conservative and Catholic elements and the army revolted against the newly elected government of the Second Spanish Republic , and full-scale civil war erupted. Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany gave munitions and strong military units to the rebel Nationalist faction , led by General Francisco Franco . The Republican (or "Loyalist") government , was on the defensive, but it received significant help from
5069-556: The first world . The era's indulgences were followed by the Great Depression , an unprecedented worldwide economic downturn that severely damaged many of the world's largest economies. Politically, the era coincided with the rise of communism , starting in Russia with the October Revolution and Russian Civil War , at the end of WWI, and ended with the rise of fascism , particularly in Germany and Italy. China
5206-420: The naval sphere, the primary question was whether battleships would maintain their dominance of the seas or be rendered virtually obsolete by naval aviation . The military deliberations and controversies characteristic of the interwar period would ultimately find resolution via the events of WWII, which served as a foundation for many of the tenets, doctrines , and strategies of modern warfare . Overall,
5343-400: The 'traditional' branches of the regular infantry , horse cavalry , and artillery . In the air, the question of allocating air forces to strategic bombing versus dedicating such forces to frontline close air support was the primary contention, with some arguing that interceptor development was outpacing bombers , and others maintaining that " the bomber will always get through ." In
5480-622: The 1920s and the 1930s. The Fascist regime in the 1920s held deep antagonism towards Spain due to Miguel Primo de Rivera 's pro-French foreign policy. In 1926, Mussolini began aiding the Catalan separatist movement , which was led by Francesc Macià , against the Spanish government. With the rise of the left-wing Republican government replacing the Spanish monarchy , Spanish monarchists and fascists repeatedly approached Italy for aid in overthrowing
5617-465: The 1920s, Reynaud developed a reputation for laxity on German reparations, at a time when many in the French government backed harsher terms for Germany. In the 1930s during the Great Depression , particularly after 1933, Reynaud's stance hardened against the Germans at a time when all nations were struggling economically. Reynaud backed a strong alliance with the United Kingdom and, unlike many others on
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5754-771: The 1920s. Economic disaster led to a distrust in the effectiveness of democracy and its collapse in much of Europe and Latin America, including the Baltic and Balkan countries, Poland, Spain, and Portugal. Powerful expansionary anti-democratic regimes emerged in Italy, Japan, and Germany. Fascism took control of the Kingdom of Italy in 1922; as the Great Depression worsened, Nazism emerged victorious in Germany, fascism spread to many other countries in Europe, and also played
5891-510: The Army's aggression in Manchuria, and announced it was withdrawing. On the contrary, the Army completed the conquest of Manchuria, and the civilian cabinet resigned. The political parties were divided on the issue of military expansion. Prime Minister Tsuyoshi tried to negotiate with China but was assassinated in the May 15 Incident in 1932, which ushered in an era of nationalism and militarism led by
6028-502: The Axis military alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. In 1930, the London disarmament conference angered the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces . The Imperial Japanese Navy demanded parity with the United States, Britain and France, but was rejected and the conference kept the 1921 ratios. Japan was required to scrap a capital ship . Extremists assassinated Japanese Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi in
6165-676: The Cabinet meeting on the evening of 12 June, it was evident that a significant faction was pushing for an armistice, leading to the decision to relocate the government to Bordeaux rather than retreat to a fortified Brittany. During the subsequent Anglo-French conference in Tours on 13 June, Reynaud requested to be released from the agreement he had made with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in March 1940, so that France could pursue an armistice. Churchill expressed understanding but did not agree with
6302-602: The Castle Itter in 1943) at Versailles in the same year, at the age of 71. Mabire had already borne him a son, Serge Paul-Reynaud, in 1945; they had two more children, Evelyne, in 1949, and Alexandre in 1954. Reynaud died on 21 September 1966 at Neuilly-sur-Seine , leaving a number of writings. Changes Interwar period In the history of the 20th century , the interwar period (or interbellum ) lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from
6439-651: The Caucasus, forming the Soviet Union . In the Near East , Egypt and Iraq gained independence. During the Great Depression , countries in Latin America nationalised many foreign companies (most of which belonged to the United States ) in a bid to strengthen their own economies. The territorial ambitions of the Soviets, Japanese, Italians, and Germans led to the expansion of their domains. Militarily,
6576-561: The Commander-in-Chief, stormed into Reynaud's office and demanded an armistice. That night, around 11 pm, Reynaud and de Gaulle left Paris for Tours, with the rest of the government following the next day. De Gaulle was unable to persuade Reynaud to dismiss Weygand. At the Anglo-French conference held at the Château du Muguet in Briare on 11–12 June, Churchill urged the French to continue fighting, either from Brittany, French North Africa, or through guerrilla warfare. However, he faced strong resistance from Deputy Prime Minister Marshal Pétain . By
6713-429: The Comtesse Hélène de Portes —a Fascist sympathizer—were pressuring him to seek an armistice. On 14 June, Villelume and de Portes met with American diplomat Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr. and stated that France had no choice but to seek an armistice, although Biddle was sceptical of their claims. At the Cabinet meeting on 15 June, Reynaud proposed that France follow the Dutch example and lay down its arms to continue
6850-468: The Czechs to the Germans, while Flandin felt that allowing Germany to expand eastward would inevitably lead to a conflict with the Soviets that would weaken both. Reynaud publicly made his case, and in response Flandin pamphleted Paris in order to pressure the government to agree to Hitler's demands. Reynaud subsequently left his party to become an independent. However, Reynaud still had the support of Daladier, whose politique de fermeté ("policy of firmness")
6987-446: The Finns had sued for peace in March 1940 prompted Flandin and Pierre Laval to hold secret sessions of the legislature that denounced Daladier's actions; the government fell on 19 March. The government named Reynaud Prime Minister of France two days later. Despite Reynaud's growing popularity, the Chamber of Deputies elected him as Premier by a narrow margin of just one vote, with most of his own party abstaining. Notably, over half of
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#17327720065047124-499: The First World War and Russian Civil War . In advanced economies the prosperity reached middle class households and many in the working class with radio , automobiles , telephones , and electric lighting and appliances . There was unprecedented industrial growth, accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, and significant changes in lifestyle and culture. The media began to focus on celebrities, especially sports heroes and movie stars. Major cities built large sports stadiums for
7261-409: The First World War. It expected a reward, but failed to get self-government as the government was still kept in control of British hands and feared another rebellion like that of 1857 . The Government of India Act 1919 failed to satisfy demand for self-rule. Mounting tension, particularly in the Punjab region , culminated in the Amritsar Massacre in 1919. Indian nationalism surged and centred in
7398-512: The French Ambassador to the US, but Lebrun refused to confirm the appointment, possibly because he admired Reynaud and wished to protect him from association with the Pétain government. Reynaud and de Portes left the Hotel Splendid in Bordeaux, driving southeast to avoid the advancing German armies. They intended to stop at Reynaud's holiday home in Grès, Hérault (some sources suggest they were heading for his daughter's home in Sainte-Maxime ) before fleeing to North Africa. On 28 June, while Reynaud
7535-409: The French Right, better relations with the Soviet Union as a counterweight against the Germans. Reynaud held several cabinet posts in the early 1930s, but he clashed with members of his party after 1932 over French foreign and defense policy. In June 1934, Reynaud defended in the Chamber of Deputies the need to devalue the French franc, whose belonging to the gold standard was increasingly harmful for
7672-484: The French economy, but in those years French public opinion was opposed to any devaluation. He was not given another cabinet position until 1938. Like Winston Churchill , Reynaud was a maverick in his party and often alone in his calls for rearmament and resistance to German aggrandizement. Reynaud was a supporter of Charles de Gaulle 's theories of mechanized warfare in contrast to the static defense doctrines that were in vogue among many of his countrymen, symbolized by
7809-446: The French-dominated Suez Canal Company accept an Italian representative on its board of directors. Italy opposed the French monopoly over the Suez Canal because, under the French-dominated Suez Canal Company, all merchant traffic to the Italian East Africa colony was forced to pay tolls on entering the canal. Albanian Prime Minister and President Ahmet Zogu , who had, in 1928, proclaimed himself King of Albania , failed to create
7946-449: The French-run Suez Canal . Three weeks later, Mussolini told Ciano that he intended for an Italian takeover of Albania. Mussolini professed that Italy would only be able to "breathe easily" if it had acquired a contiguous colonial domain in Africa from the Atlantic to the Indian Oceans, and when ten million Italians had settled in them. In 1938, Italy demanded a sphere of influence in the Suez Canal in Egypt , specifically demanding that
8083-461: The German Reich by Czechoslovakia . Hitler thereupon declared that all of German Reich's territorial claims had been fulfilled. However, hardly six months after the Munich Agreement, in March 1939, Hitler used the smouldering quarrel between Slovaks and Czechs as a pretext for taking over the rest of Czechoslovakia as the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia . In the same month, he secured the return of Memel from Lithuania to Germany. Chamberlain
8220-641: The Irish Free State) were self-governing and gained semi-independence in the World War, while Britain still controlled foreign policy and defence in all except Ireland. The right of the Dominions to set their own foreign policy was recognised in 1923 and formalised by the 1931 Statute of Westminster . The Irish Free State effectively broke all ties with Britain in 1937, leaving the Commonwealth and becoming an independent republic . French census statistics from 1938 show an imperial population with France at over 150 million people, outside of France itself, of 102.8 million people living on 13.5 million square kilometers. Of
8357-405: The Jews. Hitler's diplomatic strategy in the 1930s was to make seemingly reasonable demands, threatening war if they were not met. When opponents tried to appease him, he accepted the gains that were offered, then went to the next target. That aggressive strategy worked as Germany pulled out of the League of Nations , rejected the Versailles Treaty , and began to rearm. Retaking the Territory of
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#17327720065048494-443: The League of Nations, which issued the Lytton Report in 1932, saying that Japan had genuine grievances, but it acted illegally in seizing the entire province. Japan quit the League, and Britain and France took no action. US Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson announced that the United States would also not recognise Japan's conquest as legitimate. Germany welcomed Japan's actions. The civilian government in Tokyo tried to minimise
8631-414: The Mediterranean": The bars of this prison are Corsica , Tunisia , Malta , and Cyprus . The guards of this prison are Gibraltar and Suez . Corsica is a pistol pointed at the heart of Italy; Tunisia at Sicily. Malta and Cyprus constitute a threat to all our positions in the eastern and western Mediterranean. Greece, Turkey, and Egypt have been ready to form a chain with Great Britain and to complete
8768-433: The Republican forces. The Soviet Union provided armaments but never enough to equip the heterogeneous government militias and the " International Brigades " of outside far-left volunteers. The civil war did not escalate into a larger conflict, but did become a worldwide ideological battleground that pitted all the Communists and many socialists and liberals against Catholics , conservatives and fascists. Worldwide there
8905-417: The Republican government, in which Italy agreed to support them to establish a pro-Italian government in Spain. In July 1936, Francisco Franco of the Nationalist faction in the Spanish Civil War requested Italian support against the ruling Republican faction, and guaranteed that, if Italy supported the Nationalists, "future relations would be more than friendly" and that Italian support "would have permitted
9042-399: The Rhineland, and Germany was not allowed to have a real army, navy, or air force. Reparations were demanded, especially by France, involving shipments of raw materials, as well as annual payments. When Germany defaulted on its reparation payments, French and Belgian troops occupied the heavily industrialised Ruhr district (January 1923). The German government encouraged the population of
9179-429: The Ruhr to passive resistance : shops would not sell goods to the foreign soldiers, coal mines would not dig for the foreign troops, trams in which members of the occupation army had taken seat would be left abandoned in the middle of the street. The German government printed vast quantities of paper money, causing hyperinflation , which also damaged the French economy . The passive resistance proved effective, insofar as
9316-421: The Saar Basin in the aftermath of a plebiscite that favoured returning to Germany, Hitler's Germany remilitarised the Rhineland , formed the Pact of Steel alliance with Mussolini's Italy, and sent massive military aid to Franco in the Spanish Civil War. Germany seized Austria , considered to be a German state, in 1938, and took over Czechoslovakia after the Munich Agreement with Britain and France. Forming
9453-399: The Soviet Union de jure recognition, and the two signatories mutually agreed to cancel all pre-war debts and renounced war claims. In October 1925 the Treaty of Locarno was signed by Germany, France, Belgium, Britain, and Italy; it recognised Germany's borders with France and Belgium. Moreover, Britain, Italy, and Belgium undertook to assist France in the case that German troops marched into
9590-414: The Soviet Union and Japan , leading to multiple clashes along the Soviet and Japanese occupied Manchurian border; fascist diplomacy, including the aggressive moves by Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany; the Spanish Civil War ; Italy's invasion and occupation of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in the Horn of Africa ; the appeasement of Germany's expansionist moves against the German-speaking nation of Austria ,
9727-438: The Soviet Union and Mexico. Led by Great Britain and France, and including the United States, most countries remained neutral and refused to provide armaments to either side. The powerful fear was that this localised conflict would escalate into a European conflagration that no one wanted. The Spanish Civil War was marked by numerous small battles and sieges, and many atrocities, until the Nationalists won in 1939 by overwhelming
9864-409: The Spanish and French for control of Morocco. The Spanish had faced unrest off and on from the 1890s, but in 1921, Spanish forces were massacred at the Battle of Annual . El-Krim founded an independent Rif Republic that operated until 1926, but had no international recognition. Eventually, France and Spain agreed to end the revolt. They sent in 200,000 soldiers, forcing el-Krim to surrender in 1926; he
10001-582: The United States or Japan, Britain opted not to renew the Anglo-Japanese Alliance and instead signed the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty , in which Britain accepted naval parity with the United States. The issue of the empire's security was a serious concern in Britain, as it was vital to the British pride, its finance, and its trade-oriented economy. India strongly supported the Empire in
10138-413: The armistice terms were too harsh; Jackson considers this to be wishful thinking. There were suggestions that Reynaud might have mustered a Cabinet majority for continuing the fight, but he later argued that he could not counter the political influence of the "softs", particularly Pétain and Weygand, France's leading military figures. Spears observed that Reynaud seemed relieved to be free of his burden. In
10275-455: The condition that the French fleet remained out of German hands. On the same day, Reynaud threw two glasses of water at de Portes during dinner after discovering a key telegram in her bed, which had gone missing. On 16 June, de Portes was frequently seen at Reynaud's office, leading US diplomats to suspect her presence was significant. President Roosevelt 's reply to Reynaud's inquiry, indicating limited assistance without Congressional approval,
10412-530: The demilitarised Rhineland. Locarno paved the way for Germany's admission to the League of Nations in 1926. Hitler came to power in January 1933, and inaugurated an aggressive power designed to give Germany economic and political domination across central Europe. He did not attempt to recover the lost colonies. Until August 1939, the Nazis denounced Communists and the Soviet Union as the greatest enemy, along with
10549-829: The devastation of the First World War and the destabilising effects of not just the collapse of the Russian Empire , but the destruction of the German , Austro-Hungarian , and Ottoman Empires , as well. There were numerous new or restored countries in Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, some small in size, such as Lithuania and Latvia , and some larger, such as Poland and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes . The United States gained dominance in world finance. Thus, when Germany could no longer afford war reparations to Britain, France and other former members of
10686-573: The dominant power in the Mediterranean that would be able to challenge France or Britain, as well as attain access to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans . Mussolini alleged that Italy required uncontested access to the world's oceans and shipping lanes to ensure its national sovereignty. This was elaborated on in a document he later drew up in 1939 called "The March to the Oceans", and included in
10823-519: The element of surprise. When the French Cabinet met in Bordeaux that afternoon, Reynaud presented the British union plan and, with Georges Mandel , declared his resolve to continue fighting. However, the proposal was no longer enough to sway the wavering ministers. Contrary to Lebrun's later recollection, no formal vote taken that day. The outcome was unclear: ten ministers wanted to continue
10960-451: The end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II (WWII). It was relatively short, yet featured many social, political, military, and economic changes throughout the world. Petroleum-based energy production and associated mechanisation led to the prosperous Roaring Twenties , a time of social and economic mobility for the middle class . Automobiles , electric lighting , radio , and more became common among populations in
11097-503: The expectations and failures of the League of Nations ; the relationships of the new countries to the old; the distrustful relations of the Soviet Union to the capitalist world; peace and disarmament efforts; responses to the Great Depression starting in 1929; the collapse of world trade; the collapse of democratic regimes one by one; the growth of efforts at economic autarky; Japanese aggressiveness toward China , occupying large amounts of Chinese land, as well as border disputes between
11234-428: The fans, in addition to palatial cinemas. The mechanisation of agriculture continued apace, producing an expansion of output that lowered prices, and made many farm workers redundant. Often they moved to nearby industrial towns and cities. The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place after 1929. The timing varied across nations; in most countries it started in 1929 and lasted until
11371-419: The few French commanders to achieve success against the Germans in May 1940, was promoted to brigadier general and appointed undersecretary of war. Reynaud wavered somewhat upon his return from London on 26 May but remained committed to continuing the fight. However, he was unable to convince enough of his colleagues to support this stance. Italy entered the war on 10 June, and on the same day, General Weygand,
11508-432: The fight from abroad. Pétain showed some sympathy for this idea, and he was sent to speak with General Weygand, who argued that this would be a dishonourable surrender. Chautemps then suggested a compromise of inquiring about terms, which the Cabinet approved by a vote of 13–6. Reynaud attempted to resign on the spot but was vehemently opposed by Lebrun. Admiral Darlan , who had previously opposed an armistice, agreed to it on
11645-587: The fight, seven, including Deputy Prime Ministers Pétain and Chautemps , favoured an armistice, and eight were undecided but ultimately leaned towards accepting an armistice. Lebrun reluctantly accepted Reynaud's resignation, and the French government, at this critical moment, fell into the hands of Pétain and those advocating for an armistice and collaboration with the German invader. De Gaulle later described Reynaud as "a man of great worth unjustly crushed by events beyond measure". Julian Jackson notes that Reynaud felt
11782-516: The immediate aftermath of his resignation, Reynaud appeared to be in denial, still hoping to meet Churchill at Concarneau on 17 June. However, Churchill, who was at Waterloo Station, had cancelled his travel plans upon learning of Reynaud's resignation. Jules Jeanneney and Édouard Herriot , Presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, respectively, urged President Lebrun to reappoint Reynaud as Prime Minister, as all four men wanted to continue
11919-657: The influence of Rome to prevail over that of Berlin in the future politics of Spain". Italy intervened in the civil war with the intention of occupying the Balearic Islands and creating a client state in Spain. Italy sought the control of the Balearic Islands due to its strategic position—Italy could use the islands as a base to disrupt the lines of communication between France and its North African colonies and between British Gibraltar and Malta . After
12056-555: The innovations of WWI and the interwar period would see a shift away from 'traditional' line- and front-based warfare and towards a significantly more mobile, mechanized, and asymmetric form of combat. Following the Armistice of Compiègne on 11 November 1918 that ended World War I, the years 1918–1924 were marked by turmoil as the Russian Civil War continued to rage on, and Eastern Europe struggled to recover from
12193-511: The late 1930s. It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. The depression originated in the United States and became worldwide news with the stock market crash of 29 October 1929 (known as Black Tuesday ). Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide GDP fell by an estimated 15%. By comparison, worldwide GDP fell by less than 1% from 2008 to 2009 during the Great Recession . Some economies started to recover by
12330-418: The laws of profits, individual risk, free markets, and growth by competition." With Reynaud as Minister of Finance, the confidence of the investors returned and the French economy recovered. Reynaud's reforms involved a massive austerity program (although armament measures were not cut). At the outbreak of war, however, Reynaud was not bullish on France's economy; he felt that the massive increase in spending that
12467-592: The lead. U.S. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes sponsored the Washington Naval Conference of 1921 in determining how many capital ships each major country was allowed. The new allocations were actually followed and there were no naval races in the 1920s. Britain played a leading role in the 1927 Geneva Naval Conference and the 1930 London Conference that led to the London Naval Treaty , which added cruisers and submarines to
12604-679: The list of ship allocations. However the refusal of Japan, Germany, Italy and the USSR to go along with this led to the meaningless Second London Naval Treaty of 1936. Naval disarmament had collapsed and the issue became rearming for a war against Germany and Japan. The Roaring Twenties highlighted novel and highly visible social and cultural trends and innovations. These trends, made possible by sustained economic prosperity, were most visible in major cities like New York City , Chicago , Paris , Berlin , and London . The Jazz Age began and Art Deco peaked. For women, knee-length skirts and dresses became socially acceptable, as did bobbed hair with
12741-690: The major Chinese cities and industrial areas. A puppet government was set up. In the U.S., government and public opinion—even including those who were isolationist regarding Europe—was resolutely opposed to Japan and gave strong support to China. Meanwhile, the Japanese Army fared badly in large battles with the Soviet Red Army in Mongolia at the Battles of Khalkhin Gol in summer 1939. The USSR
12878-547: The mid-1930s. However, in many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the beginning of World War II. The Great Depression had devastating effects in countries both rich and poor . Personal income , tax revenue , profits , and prices dropped, while international trade plunged by more than 50%. Unemployment in the United States rose to 25% and in some countries rose as high as 33%. Prices fell sharply, especially for mining and agricultural commodities. Business profits fell sharply as well, with
13015-437: The most advanced Western European models. They started with textiles, railways, and shipping, expanding to electricity and machinery. The most serious weakness was a shortage of raw materials. Industry ran short of copper, and coal became a net importer. A deep flaw in the aggressive military strategy was a heavy dependence on imports including 100 per cent of the aluminium, 85 per cent of the iron ore, and especially 79 per cent of
13152-509: The most. The Weimar Republic in Germany gave way to two episodes of political and economic turmoil, the first culminated in the German hyperinflation of 1923 and the failed Beer Hall Putsch of that same year. The second convulsion, brought on by the worldwide depression and Germany's disastrous monetary policies, resulted in the further rise of Nazism . In Asia, Japan became an ever more assertive power, especially with regard to China . Democracy and prosperity largely went together in
13289-491: The occupation became a loss-making deal for the French government. But the hyperinflation caused many prudent savers to lose all the money they had saved. Weimar added new internal enemies every year, as anti-democratic Nazis , Nationalists , and Communists battled each other in the streets. Germany was the first state to establish diplomatic relations with the new Soviet Union . Under the Treaty of Rapallo , Germany accorded
13426-674: The oceans. In the Balkans , the Fascist regime claimed Dalmatia and held ambitions over Albania , Slovenia , Croatia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Macedonia , and Greece based on the precedent of previous Roman dominance in these regions. Dalmatia and Slovenia were to be directly annexed into Italy while the remainder of the Balkans was to be transformed into Italian client states. The regime also sought to establish protective patron-client relationships with Austria , Hungary , Romania , and Bulgaria . In both 1932 and 1935, Italy demanded
13563-468: The official records of a meeting of the Grand Council of Fascism . This text asserted that maritime position determined a nation's independence: countries with free access to the high seas were independent; while those who lacked this, were not. Italy, which only had access to an inland sea without French and British acquiescence, was only a "semi-independent nation", and alleged to be a "prisoner in
13700-759: The oil supplies. It was one thing to go to war with China or Russia, but quite another to be in conflict with the key suppliers, especially the United States, Britain, and the Netherlands, of oil and iron. Japan joined the Allies of the First World War to make territorial gains. Together with the British Empire, it divided up Germany's territories scattered in the Pacific and on the Chinese coast ; they did not amount to very much. The other Allies pushed back hard against Japan's efforts to dominate China through
13837-573: The outbreak of World War II , Reynaud became the penultimate Prime Minister of the Third Republic in March 1940. He was also vice-president of the Democratic Republican Alliance center-right party. Reynaud was Prime Minister during the German defeat of France in May and June 1940; he persistently refused to support an armistice with Germany and unsuccessfully attempted to save France from German occupation in World War II, and resigned on 16 June. After unsuccessfully attempting to flee France, he
13974-516: The period would see a markedly rapid advance in technology which, alongside lessons learned from WWI, would catalyze new strategic and tactical innovations. While the period would largely see a continuation of the development of the technologies pioneered in WWI, debates emerged as to the most effective use of these advancements. On land, discussions focused on how armoured , mechanized , and motorized forces should be employed, particularly in-relation to
14111-409: The politico-military encirclement of Italy. Thus Greece, Turkey, and Egypt must be considered vital enemies of Italy's expansion ... The aim of Italian policy, which cannot have, and does not have continental objectives of a European territorial nature except Albania, is first of all to break the bars of this prison ... Once the bars are broken, Italian policy can only have one motto—to march to
14248-621: The region inhabited by ethnic Germans called the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia , the remilitarisation of the League of Nations demilitarised zone of the German Rhineland region, and the last, desperate stages of rearmament as the Second World War increasingly loomed. Disarmament was a very popular public policy. However, the League of Nations played little role in this effort, with the United States and Britain taking
14385-509: The request. That evening, Pétain, who strongly supported Weygand's call for an armistice, announced his intention to remain in France to share the suffering of the French people and begin a national renewal. President Albert Lebrun refused Reynaud's resignation on 13 June. Edward Spears noted that Reynaud was under immense stress starting the evening of 13 June. Paul Baudouin and Marie-Joseph Paul de Villelume, along with Reynaud's mistress,
14522-917: The total population, 64.7 million lived in Africa and 31.2 million lived in Asia; 900,000 lived in the French West Indies or islands in the South Pacific. The largest colonies were French Indochina with 26.8 million (in five separate colonies), French Algeria with 6.6 million, the French protectorate in Morocco , with 5.4 million, and French West Africa with 35.2 million in nine colonies. The total includes 1.9 million Europeans, and 350,000 "assimilated" natives. The Berber independence leader Abd el-Krim (1882–1963) organised armed resistance against
14659-427: The transfer of power the next day, and allocated money to de Gaulle. De Gaulle, accompanied by Edward Spears, flew to London at 9 a.m. on 17 June and made his famous broadcast the following day, declaring his intent to continue the fight. Although it has been suggested that Reynaud ordered de Gaulle to go to London, no written evidence has ever confirmed this. Reynaud later tentatively accepted Pétain's offer to become
14796-604: The turbulent politics of the French Fourth Republic were unsuccessful. Reynaud supported the idea of a United States of Europe , along with a number of prominent contemporaries. He was a member of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe for ten years, from 1949 to 1959, [3] where he worked alongside his old wartime allies Churchill , Spaak and others to build a united Europe as
14933-565: The victory by Franco and the Nationalists in the war, Allied intelligence was informed that Italy was pressuring Spain to permit an Italian occupation of the Balearic Islands . After Great Britain signed the Anglo-Italian Easter Accords in 1938, Mussolini and Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano issued demands for concessions in the Mediterranean by France, particularly regarding French Somaliland , Tunisia and
15070-705: The votes in Reynaud's favour came from the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) party. Given the significant support from the left and opposition from many right-wing parties, Reynaud's government faced considerable instability. Many on the right called for Reynaud to shift focus from Germany to the Soviet Union. Additionally, the Chamber mandated that Daladier, whom Reynaud personally blamed for France's weaknesses, serve as Reynaud's Minister of National Defence and War . One of Reynaud's initial actions
15207-533: The war alongside Britain. De Gaulle called Reynaud to inform him of the British Cabinet's agreement to the proposal, reporting that "a sensational declaration" was imminent. Time was critical, and de Gaulle dictated the "Declaration of Union" to Reynaud over the phone, enabling him to present it to his Cabinet that afternoon in an attempt to counter the armistice faction. Unknown to Reynaud, General Weygand had ordered his phone to be tapped, depriving Reynaud of
15344-428: The war effort combined with failures of the previous systems' of Government made it more difficult than hitherto to maintain that women were, both by constitution and temperament, unfit to vote. If women could work in munitions factories, it seemed both ungrateful and illogical to deny them a place in the polling booth. But the vote was much more than simply a reward for war work; the point was that women's participation in
15481-512: The war from North Africa. Lebrun felt compelled to appoint Pétain, who was prepared with a ministerial team, as Prime Minister. Pétain became the head of the new government—the last of the Third Republic—and signed the armistice on 22 June. De Gaulle returned to Bordeaux around 10 pm on 16 June and visited Reynaud, who still hoped to relocate to North Africa and declined to go to London. Reynaud retained control of secret government funds until
15618-452: The war helped to dispel the fears that surrounded women's entry into the public arena. In Europe, according to Derek Aldcroft and Steven Morewood, "Nearly all countries registered some economic progress in the 1920s and most of them managed to regain or surpass their pre-war income and production levels by the end of the decade." The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Greece did especially well, while Eastern Europe did poorly, due to
15755-603: Was Minister of Public Works in the second cabinet of Gaston Doumergue . He became Prime Minister in November 1934, but his premiership lasted only until June 1935. However, a number of important pacts were negotiated during his term: the Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935 , the Stresa Front and the Franco-Soviet Pact . Flandin was, at 45, the youngest prime minister in French history. Flandin
15892-471: Was a decline in pacifism and a growing sense that another world war was imminent, and that it would be worth fighting for. The changing world order that the war had brought about, in particular the growth of the United States and Japan as naval powers, and the rise of independence movements in India and Ireland, caused a major reassessment of British imperial policy. Forced to choose between alignment with
16029-623: Was also factionalised. Large-scale warfare, known as the Second Sino-Japanese War , began in August 1937, with naval and infantry attacks focused on Shanghai , which quickly spread to other major cities. There were numerous large-scale atrocities against Chinese civilians, such as the Nanjing massacre in December 1937, with mass murder and mass rape. By 1939 military lines had stabilised, with Japan in control of almost all of
16166-475: Was arrested by Philippe Pétain 's administration. Surrendering to German custody in 1942, he was imprisoned in Germany and later Austria until liberation in 1945, where he was released after the Battle of Itter Castle in which one of the leaders, German Major Josef Gangl , declared a hero by the Austrian resistance , took a sniper's bullet to save Reynaud. Elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1946, he became
16303-497: Was arrested on Pétain's orders and imprisoned at Fort du Portalet . Although Pétain chose not to charge Reynaud during the Riom Trial of 1942, he handed him over to the Germans. Reynaud was initially sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp and later transferred to Itter Castle near Wörgl , Austria. There, he remained with other high-profile French prisoners until the castle was liberated by Allied troops on 7 May 1945. During
16440-581: Was attending a meeting of the Anglo-French Supreme War Council in London on 28 March 1940. The meeting culminated in a declaration with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain , stating that neither country would seek a separate peace . The joint communiqué asserted, "Both Governments mutually undertake that during the present war they will neither negotiate nor conclude an armistice or treaty of peace except by mutual agreement. They undertake to maintain after conclusion of peace
16577-558: Was devalued, in a range between 25% and 34%, by the Popular Front government presided by Leon Blum on 1 October 1936. Reynaud returned to the cabinet in 1938 as Minister of Justice under Édouard Daladier . The Sudeten Crisis , which began not long after Reynaud was named Minister of Justice, again revealed the divide between Reynaud and the rest of the Alliance Démocratique; Reynaud adamantly opposed abandoning
16714-531: Was displeased at her relationship with a married man, actively seeking other suitors for her, and she was eventually persuaded to marry Comte Henri de Portes. After she had borne him two children, the marriage failed, and when Reynaud and his wife separated in 1938, Hélène de Portes was his mistress until her death in the road accident at Frontignan in 1940. Reynaud and his first wife were finally divorced in 1949. Reynaud then married Christiane Mabire (one of his former office assistants, who had voluntarily joined him at
16851-532: Was driving their Renault Juvaquatre , the car veered off the road and crashed into a plane tree at La Peyrade , near Sète . De Portes was almost decapitated in the accident, while Reynaud sustained relatively minor head injuries. While hospitalized in Montpellier , Reynaud reportedly told Bill Bullitt , the American ambassador, "I have lost my country, my honour, and my love." Upon his discharge, Reynaud
16988-612: Was exiled in the Pacific until 1947. Morocco was now pacified, and became the base from which Spanish Nationalists would launch their rebellion against the Spanish Republic in 1936. The humiliating peace terms in the Treaty of Versailles provoked bitter indignation throughout Germany, and seriously weakened the new democratic regime. The Treaty stripped Germany of all of its overseas colonies , of Alsace–Lorraine , and of predominantly Polish districts. The Allied armies occupied industrial sectors in western Germany including
17125-675: Was forced to acknowledge that his policy of appeasement towards Hitler had failed. In 1922, the leader of the Italian Fascist movement, Benito Mussolini , was appointed Prime Minister of Italy after the March on Rome . Mussolini resolved the question of sovereignty over the Dodecanese at the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne , which formalised Italian administration of both Libya and the Dodecanese Islands , in return for
17262-699: Was in the midst of a half-century of instability and the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang the Chinese Communist Party and many warlords. The empires of Britain , France , and others faced challenges as imperialism was increasingly viewed negatively and independence movements emerged in many colonies ; in Europe, after protracted low-level fighting most of Ireland became independent. The Russian , Ottoman , Austro-Hungarian , and German Empires were dismantled, with
17399-407: Was joined by Italy a year later in 1937 – Hitler felt able to take the offensive in foreign policy. On 12 March 1938, German troops marched into Austria, where an attempted Nazi coup had been unsuccessful in 1934. When Austrian-born Hitler entered Vienna , he was greeted by loud cheers. Four weeks later, 99% of Austrians voted in favour of the annexation ( Anschluss ) of their country Austria to
17536-421: Was not renewed in 1922 because of heavy pressure on Britain from Canada and the United States. In the 1920s Japanese diplomacy was rooted in a largely liberal democratic political system, and favoured internationalism. By 1930, however, Japan was rapidly reversing itself, rejecting democracy at home, as the Army seized more and more power, and rejecting internationalism and liberalism. By the late 1930s it had joined
17673-526: Was ousted by François Darlan in January 1941. After the Liberation of France , Flandin was put on trial for treason but the high court acquitted him. He was instead sentenced to 5 years in prison for “national unworthiness”, however his sentence was remitted due to his help of the resistance during the war. A street in Avallon was named in his honour. In May 2017, it was renamed in honour of
17810-473: Was received that morning. Churchill's telegram, also received on 16 June, proposed an armistice if the French fleet was moved to British ports—a condition unacceptable to Darlan, who feared it would leave France defenseless. That afternoon, de Gaulle was in London discussing a proposed Franco-British Union—a plan hastily put together by Churchill and his advisers to support Reynaud against those favouring an armistice and to keep France, especially its naval fleet, in
17947-643: Was still neutral at that time. Later that day, Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax met with Reynaud before his return to France. This marked the beginning of the British May 1940 War Cabinet Crisis , where Halifax supported what was known as "the Reynaud Option"—exploring negotiations with the Italians for acceptable peace terms, potentially involving concessions in the Mediterranean. However, Churchill ultimately overruled Halifax. On 28 May, Churchill sent
18084-522: Was taken by Greece to the League of Nations , where Mussolini was convinced by Britain to evacuate Royal Italian Army troops, in return for reparations from Greece. The confrontation led Britain and Italy to resolve the question of Jubaland in 1924, which was merged into Italian Somaliland . During the late 1920s, imperial expansion became an increasingly favoured theme in Mussolini's speeches. Amongst Mussolini's aims were that Italy had to become
18221-789: Was the French Foreign Minister when Adolf Hitler ordered the Wehrmacht to reoccupy the Rhineland on 7 March 1936. He attempted to organize a strong response but was unable to without British support. Supporting appeasement during the Munich crisis hurt his career. On 13 December 1940, Vichy Chief of State Philippe Pétain appointed Flandin Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister , replacing Pierre Laval . He occupied that position for only two months. He
18358-446: Was the best way for France to regain investors' confidence again and escape the stagnation its economy had fallen into. The collapse of Léon Blum 's government in 1938 was a response to Blum's attempt to expand the regulatory powers of the French government; there was therefore considerable support in the French government for an alternative approach like Reynaud's. Paul Marchandeau , Daladier's first choice for finance minister, offered
18495-475: Was too powerful. Tokyo and Moscow signed a nonaggression treaty in April 1941 , as the militarists turned their attention to the European colonies to the south which had urgently-needed oil fields. To one degree or another, Spain had been unstable politically for centuries, and in 1936–1939 was wracked by one of the bloodiest civil wars of the 20th century. The real importance comes from outside countries. In Spain
18632-718: Was under threat. On 15 May, just five days after the invasion began, Reynaud reached out to Churchill and famously remarked, "We have been defeated... we are beaten; we have lost the battle... The front is broken near Sedan ." The dire state of French equipment and morale was underscored by a postcard found on the body of an officer who had committed suicide in Le Mans . The postcard read: "I am killing myself Mr President to let you know that all my men were brave, but one cannot send men to fight tanks with rifles." On 18 May, Reynaud dismissed Commander-in-Chief Maurice Gamelin and replaced him with Maxime Weygand . On 26 May, Reynaud attended
18769-470: Was very similar to Reynaud's notion of deterrence. Reynaud, however, had always wanted the Finance ministry. He endorsed radically liberal economic policies in order to draw France's economy out of stagnation, centered on a massive program of deregulation, including the elimination of the forty-hour work week. The notion of deregulation was very popular among France's businessmen, and Reynaud believed that it
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