Audiobook4 hours
France 1940: Defending the Republic
Written by Philip Nord
Narrated by Sean Runnette
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5
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About this audiobook
In this revisionist account of France's crushing defeat in 1940, Philip Nord argues that the nation's downfall has long been misunderstood. Nord assesses France's diplomatic and military preparations for war with Germany, its conduct of the war once the fighting began, and the political consequences of defeat on the battlefield. Ultimately, he finds that the longstanding view that France's collapse was due to military unpreparedeness and a decadent national character is unsupported by fact.
Nord reveals that the Third Republic was no worse prepared and its military failings no less dramatic than those of the United States and other Allies in the early years of the war. What was unique in France was the betrayal by military and political elites who abandoned the Republic and supported the reprehensible Vichy takeover. Why then have historians and politicians ever since interpreted the defeat as a judgment on the nation as a whole? Why has the focus been on the failings of the Third Republic and not on elite betrayal? The author examines these questions in a fascinating conclusion.
Nord reveals that the Third Republic was no worse prepared and its military failings no less dramatic than those of the United States and other Allies in the early years of the war. What was unique in France was the betrayal by military and political elites who abandoned the Republic and supported the reprehensible Vichy takeover. Why then have historians and politicians ever since interpreted the defeat as a judgment on the nation as a whole? Why has the focus been on the failings of the Third Republic and not on elite betrayal? The author examines these questions in a fascinating conclusion.
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Reviews for France 1940
Rating: 3.227272745454546 out of 5 stars
3/5
11 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A much broader scope than just France in 1940. For such a concise volume it considers issues related both to pre and post- war France. A political rather than a military history.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5While many have attributed the fall of France in 1940 to the "decadence" of France during the inter-war years, the author looks at the military preparedness as well as the political leadership as being significant factors in the end of the Third Republic. Nolan, a Princeton history professor, has added a new outlook on the "quick victory" of the Germans in May of 1940.