The Great Interwar Crisis and the Collapse of Globalization

by Boyce, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780230574786
• ISBN10: 0230574785
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-12-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Challenging the standard narrative of Interwar International History, this account establishes the causal relationship between the global political and economic crises of the period, and offers a radically new look at the role of ideology, racism and the leading liberal powers in the events between the First and Second World Wars.

Author Biography

ROBERT BOYCE  has taught International History at the London School of Economics for many years as well as at the University of Toronto and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. He is a member of the scientific committee of the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme at Dijon.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
The Liberal Powers, Peace-Making and International Security, 1914-19	p. 23
Introduction	p. 23
Britain and the deceptions of war	p. 24
France: Between realism and hope	p. 32
The United States: Returning from the crusade	p. 35
Clemenceau, Foch and French postwar security	p. 39
The preliminary peace conference and the League of Nations	p. 43
Security in the East	p. 48
Stability in the West	p. 55
Reparations, war debts and financial reconstruction	p. 62
The beginning of appeasement	p. 66
Security unravelled	p. 69
The Emasculation of International Security after the Great War	p. 77
Introduction	p. 77
The persistence of isolationism in postwar United States	p. 78
Postwar Britain: Internationalism and isolationism	p. 85
Postwar France: Liberty, normality, insecurity	p. 91
The breakdown of the Franco-British Entente	p. 94
The Ruhr crisis and international security	p. 119
Conclusion	p. 134
The Limits of Globalization	p. 142
Introduction	p. 142
British economic ambitions and the limits of leadership	p. 143
France, economic leadership and security: Monetary and financial relations	p. 153
France, economic leadership and security: Commercial relations	p. 165
The impact of American economic expansion	p. 178
The search for a 'third way' in international economic relations	p. 189
Conclusion	p. 202
The Crisis Begins, 1927-9	p. 205
Introduction	p. 205
Bankers and the crisis	p. 207
The contest over reparations	p. 222
Herbert Hoover: Aggressive isolationist	p. 230
The Wall Street Crash	p. 237
Conclusion	p. 243
The Crisis, September 1929-April 193	p. 247
Introduction	p. 247
French reactions to the dual crisis, September 1929-May 1930	p. 249
Britain's initial response to the dual crisis, June 1929 to July 1930	p. 258
Missed opportunities for international monetary reform, 1929-31	p. 272
The Austro-German customs union crisis and the future of Europe	p. 281
Conclusion	p. 292
In the Eye of the Storm, May 1931-February 1932	p. 298
Introduction	p. 298
Financial crisis in Central Europe and the divided creditor powers	p. 299
The contagion spreads to Germany	p. 304
The sterling crisis	p. 314
Crossing the Rubicon: Britain and the adoption of Imperial protectionism	p. 323
New challenges to the postwar security framework	p. 329
Conclusion	p. 341
The Collapse of the Postwar Order, 1932-4	p. 345
Introduction	p. 345
Disarmament and the European balance of power, February 1932-April 1934	p. 346
Reparations and international security, January-July 1932	p. 353
The failure of the regional projects	p. 365
The climax of American isolationism	p. 384
France: Depressed, disarmed, demoralized, 1932-4	p. 399
Conclusion	p. 421
Conclusion: From the Great Interwar Crisis to the Present	p. 425
Towards a new history of the interwar period	p. 425
Since the great interwar crisis	p. 439
Notes	p. 450
Bibliography	p. 553
Index	p. 585
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