The Collapse of the Third Republic: An Inquiry Into the Fall of France in 1940

1085 Pages·1969·23.458 MB·English

by  William L. Shirer

Also by William L. Shirer
NONFICTION
Berlin Diary
End of a Berlin Diary
Midcentury Journey
The Challenge of Scandinavia
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
FICTION
The Traitor
Stranger Come Home
The Consul’s Wife
JUVENILES
The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler
The Sinking of the Bismarck
THE
COLLAPSE
OF THE
THIRD REPUBLIC
An Inquiry into the Fall of France in 1940
by
WILLIAM L. SHIRER
SIMON AND SCHUSTER • NEW YORK
All rights reserved
including the right of reproduction
in whole or in part in any form
Copyright © 1969 by William L. Shirer
Published by Simon and Schuster
Rockefeller Center, 630 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10020
SBN 671-20337-1
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 72-91306
Designed by Edith Fowler
Manufactured in the United States of America
To the memory of my brother John,
who died suddenly
as the last lines of this book
were being written

CONTENTS
Foreword 11
Prologue 19
1. Debacle! Summer 1940 21
Book One THE RISE OF THE
THIRD REPUBLIC 1871-1919
2. A Freakish Birth and Early Growing Pains 1871-1891 35
3. The Dreyfus Affair 1894-1906 48
4. The Consolidation of the Republic 1880-1914 70
5. Classes and Conflict 1875-1914 85
6. The Permanent Political Crisis 1875-1914 96
7. The Achievements of the Third Republic 1875-1914 105
8. The Coming of the First World War 1905-1914 112
9. The Third Republic’s Finest Hour 1914-1918 120
Book Two ILLUSIONS AND REALITIES OF
VICTORY 1919-1934
10. Victorious France—“The Greatest Power in Europe”
1919-1931 137
11. Decline, I: Political and Financial Chaos, and the Poincaré
Recovery 1924-1930 153
12. Decline, II: The Erosion of Military Power 1925-1934 172
7
8 CONTENTS
13. Decline, III: The World Depression Shakes the Third Republic
1931-1934 188
Book Three THE LAST YEARS OF THE
THIRD REPUBLIC 1934-1939
14. A Fateful Tinning Point February 6, 1934 199
15. Aftermath: Widening of the Gulf 1934-1936 231
16. Coup in the Rhineland: The Last Chance to Stop Hitler and
Avert a Major War March 1936 251
17. France Further Divided—the Front Populaire and the Spanish
Civil War 1936-1937 285
18. Dissension and Disarray: France and the Anschluss
March 1938 326
19. The Road to Munich, I: April 27-September 13, 1938 339
20. The Road to Munich, II: September 15-28, 1938 362
21. The Conference at Munich September 29-30, 1938 397
22. The Turn of Poland 1939 414
23. A Summer’s Interlude in Paris May-July 1939 436
24. The Talks with Russia Summer 1939 444
25. On the Eve of War August 23-31, 1939 471
26. The Launching of World War II September 1-3, 1939 498
Book Four THE WAR AND THE DEFEAT
1939-1940
27. La Drôle de Guerre September 3, 1939-April 9, 1940 519
28. On the Eve: The War in Norway, the Threat to Belgium and the
Crisis in Paris Spring 1940 561
29. The Battle of France, I: The Armies Close In
May 10-15, 1940 604
30. The Battle of France, II: Disaster at Sedan. The Breakthrough
at the Meuse May 13-16, 1940 641
31. The Battle of France, III: Disaster in Flanders and the Surrender
of Belgium May 16-June 4, 1940 688
32. The Fall of Paris June 5-14, 1940 757
33. The Flight to Bordeaux June 11-14, 1940 780
34. The Agony of Bordeaux. The Fall of Reynaud.
Pétain Takes Over June 14-16, 1940 803
35. Armistice! June 17-29, 1940 852
CONTENTS 9
Book Five THE COLLAPSE OF THE
THIRD REPUBLIC
The End at Vichy June-July 1940 903
Epilogue 947
Notes 949
Acknowledgments 993
Bibliography 997
Index 1011