Page 154 - Was Hitler a Riddle?

The French Diplomats 141

the post, louis Barthou took charge as foreign minister. Barthou was a
creative and diligent official who perceived Germany as the “enemy” and
sought to form new alliances for France and to invigorate existing ones,
only to be rebuffed by Britain, which opposed the isolation of Germany.
in any case, his tenure in office was cut short after only eight months when
he was assassinated together with King alexander of Yugoslavia, who was
visiting France. the next foreign minister, Pierre laval (from mid-Octo-
ber 1934 until late January 1936), claimed to be following Barthou’s policy,
but he was devious and his unpredictable behavior did much to confuse
the public about the threat emanating from Germany. Moreover, he did
not take his work seriously, evidenced most dramatically by his failure to
prepare himself for meetings with major foreign leaders, among them Mus-
solini. during the requisite planning sessions, Foreign Office officials spent
much of their time telling anecdotes and jokes. such irresponsible behavior
was not rare. 104
the mood of the French people was also not conducive to the pursuit of
a robust foreign policy. the average person was most concerned with the
impact on France of the world depression, which did not hit the country
until 1931, but when it did, it proved in some respects to be more damag-
ing than in other industrial countries. it lingered for an exceptionally long
time; France was the only major industrial power that did not regain its
1929 level of production until after World War ii. the economic situation
was so dire that between 1931–32 and 1935, just when Hitler was intensifying
Germany’s rearmament program, France reduced its military budget by 32
percent. the historian Julian Jackson has argued convincingly that France’s
failure to resist Germany’s march into the rhineland should be attributed
in large measure to the country’s economic decline. Not until 1935 did
105
France increase its spending on the military, but even then outlays were
“faltering” and insufficient to alarm the Nazis.
there were other reasons for the widespread pessimism and political
lethargy in France. Proportionately, the country had suffered more casual-
ties during World War i—some 1.3 million deaths—than any other nation,
and after the conflict ended, the birthrate declined sharply. despite the re-
covery of alsace-lorraine in 1918, the country’s population between 1911
and 1920 fell by two million. to many people, the thought of another
106
military conflict was anathema. Not surprisingly, this heightened atmo-
sphere of anxiety and helplessness was fertile ground for the emergence of
numerous groups advocating one form or another of pacifism. to be sure,
the pacifist movement was not as large and well organized in France as in