Historians of the Cold War, argues William Hitchcock, have too often overlooked the part that European nations played in shaping the post-World War II international system. In particular, France, a country beset by economic difficulties and political instability in the aftermath of the war, has been given short shrift.

With this book, Hitchcock restores France to the narrative of Cold War history and illuminates its central role in the reconstruction of Europe. Drawing on a wide array of evidence from French, American, and British archives, he shows that France constructed a coherent national strategy for domestic and international recovery and pursued that strategy with tenacity and effectiveness in the first postwar decade. This once-occupied nation played a vital part in the occupation and administration of Germany, framed the key institutions of the "new" Europe, helped forge the NATO alliance, and engineered an astonishing economic recovery. In the process, France successfully contested American leadership in Europe and used its position as a key Cold War ally to extract concessions from Washington on a wide range of economic and security issues.

[A] solidly researched study.

Charles S. Maier, Harvard University

A fine example of the new Cold War history that aims at transcending a purely US-Soviet framework.

Choice

Elegantly written and thoughtfully argued, Hitchcock's book will be indispensable for all future debates about postwar reconstruction policy in Europe.

Melvyn P. Leffler, University of Virginia

This is a first-rate study of French foreign policy during the early Cold War period.

Marc Trachtenberg, University of Pennsylvania

A valuable contribution to the University of North Carolina Press's 'New Cold War History' series.

American Historical Review

In an important revision of early Cold War history, Hitchcock restores France's central role in the post-World War II reconstruction of Europe. He focuses on French diplomacy toward the occupation of Germany, the economic reconstruction of the continent, and the crafting of the NATO alliance.

Contents

Foreword by John Lewis Gaddis

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Founding of the Fourth Republic and the Conditions for French Recovery

Chapter 2. The Limits of Independence, 1944-1947

Chapter 3. No Longer a Great Power

Chapter 4. The Hard Road to Franco-German Rapprochement, 1948-1950

Chapter 5. Sound and Fury: The Debate over German Rearmament

Chapter 6. The European Defense Community and French National Strategy

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Tables and Map

Tables

1. France's Balance of Payments, 1944-1949

2. Franc Zone Deficits with Dollar Zone, 1945-1949

3. Average Annual Growth in Gross Domestic Product, 1949-1970

4. American Aid to France, 1945-1952

Map

Germany under Occupation