A question of balance : how France and the United States created Cold War Europe / Michael Creswell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Creswell, Michael, 1958- author.

Series:

Harvard historical studies ; v. 153.

Harvard Historical Studies; ; v.153

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cold War.

France--Foreign relations--United States.

France.

United States--Foreign relations--France.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (257 pages)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, [2006]

Summary:

Challenging standard interpretations of American dominance and French weakness in postwar Western Europe, Michael Creswell argues that France played a key role in shaping the cold war order. In the decade after the war, the U.S. government's primary objective was to rearm the Federal Republic of Germany within the framework of a European defense force--the European Defense Community. American and French officials differed, however, over the composition of the EDC and the rules governing its organization and use. Although U.S. pressure played a part, more decisive factors--in both internal French politics and international French concerns--ultimately led France to sanction the plan to rearm West Germany. Creswell sketches the successful French challenge to the United States, tracing the genuine, sometimes heated, debate between the two nations that ultimately resulted in security arrangements preferred by the French but acceptable to the Americans. Impressively researched and vigorously argued, A Question of Balance advances significantly our understanding of power politics and the rise of the cold war system in Western Europe.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction: Who Created the Cold War Order in Europe?

Chapter one From Hot War to Cold War

Chapter two A Year of Living Dangerously

Chapter three Washington Pulls, London Follows, Paris Accepts, Bonn Hesitates

Chapter four Progress, Promises, and Problems

Chapter five New Faces, Similar Policies

Chapter six The Death of Stalin

Chapter seven The End of the Affair

Conclusion: Passions and Interests

Notes

Sources

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [171]-227) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780674271661

0674271661

OCLC:

1282007805