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022			_a9780700611096 (pbk.) :
100	1		_aKIESLING Eugenia C.
245			_aArming against Hitler : France and the limits of military planning / _cEugenia C. Kiesling
260			_aLawrence KS : _bUniversity Press of Kansas, _c1996
300			_axiv, 260 p.
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references and index
520			_aKiesling is the first to show why the French had good reason to trust that their prewar defense policies, military doctrine, and combat forces would preserve the nation. Kiesling argues that France's devastating defeat was a consequence neither of blindness to the German military threat nor of paralysis in the face of it. Grimly aware of the need to prepare for another war with its arch enemy, French leaders created defense preparations and military doctrines in which they felt confident. Rather than simply focusing on what went wrong, Kiesling examines the fundamental logic of French defense planning within its cultural, institutional, political, and military contexts. In the process, she provides much new material about the inner workings of the French military, its relations with civilian leaders, its lack of adaptability, and its overreliance on an army reserve that was poorly organized, trained, and led. Ultimately, she makes a persuasive case for France's defense options and offers a useful warning about the utility of the "lessons of history." The lesson for contemporary policymakers and strategists, Kiesling suggests, is not that the French made mistakes but that nations and armies make policy and strategy under severe constraints. Her study forcefully reminds us how hindsight can blind us to the complexities of preparing for every next war.
598			_aFRENCH DEFENCE PLANNING, MILITARY DOCTRINE, COMBAT FORCES, SECOND WORLD WAR
650			_aWORLD WAR, 1939-1945
650			_aFRANCE _xHISTORY _xMILITARY _x20TH CENTURY
650			_aMILITARY ART AND SCIENCE _xFRANCE
942			_2ddc _cBOOK
945			_i34733-1001 _rY _sY
945			_i34733-2001 _rY _sY
999			_c19861 _d19861