I Saw France Fall, Will She Rise Again? [Paperback]

Rene De Chambrun (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 2005

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing, LLC (May 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417992247
• ISBN-13: 978-1417992249
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,403,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a first hand account that explains how the "Popular Front" led France to defeat in WWII., January 3, 2009

By 

B. Yager (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Saw France Fall, Will She Rise Again? (Hardcover)

Unlike modern historians who critique France's defeat by Nazi Germany in World War II, Rene de Chambrun provides his own unique detailed account during the coming of German occupation in France in I Saw France Fall: Will She Rise Again? Rene de Chambrun is a direct descendant of Marquis de Lafayette and the son in law of Pierre Laval. He served as a lawyer prior to World War II and was a captain and diplomat during the war. Chambrun's book attempts to explain how France was defeated through his own personal account along with his understanding of French politics.

Chambrun is very critical of the Popular Front's policies, which eventually led to France being conquered by Nazi Germany. He uses specific policies to back up his claim. For example in 1936, a law was passed that reduced military factory working hours from 54 hours to 40 hours a week, which lowered total output and reduced the size of France's military equipment (192). However, in 1937, the Popular Front increased funds for aviation that would increase their monthly airplane manufacture output to 37 a month compared to Germany's 800-1,000 planes (194). They also failed to effectively rebuild the agricultural and industrial sectors that were in critical condition from World War I (14-15). Blum and Daladier, who were leaders of the Popular Front, voted against appropriations for building the Magniot Line (38). There was also no anti-tank ditches built before the war in case of a German invasion. The Popular Front's policies weakened the French military in an effort to make France a socialist country.
Chambrun argues that the Popular Front wanted votes rather than strengthening France. In the 1930s, Popular Front leaders such as Blum, Daladier, and Thorez were elected because they advocated peace, higher wages, and less working hours. The Popular Front leaders refused to expand their military because they believed it was a characteristic of fascism. They also thought anybody who saw Germany as a threat and wanted to mobilize was a fascist (76). The Popular Front thought their policies of peace and neutrality would prevent a war with Germany (195). According to Rene de Chambrun:
"[The Popular Front] encouraged the legends of the German tanks made out of pasteboard, the widespread starvation of the people [,] and the ever-growing unpopularity of Hitler. Every day a new legend was created of fights and quarrels between the Fuehrer and his army, Goering and Goebbels, Hitler and Ribbentrop. It was then that our leaders evolved the theory that Germany was bluffing and that one had only to call the bluff in order to achieve victory. All these lies led to the war of tracts and `wait and see, we can't lose.' It may even be that because they sincerely believed in the inherent weakness of [the] German dictatorship our leaders thought we could win the war by dropping a few pamphlets and tracts over five or six German cities" (195).
Rene de Chambrun believes this form of thinking put France at a significant disadvantage. Germany had a ten to one advantage in equipment and had a two to one advantage of troop strength (196). The Popular Front also mismanaged the military. In one case, they ordered 500,000 men to attack German tank units without anti-tank guns (194). Rene de Chambrun effectively argues that the Popular Front played the biggest role in France's defeat.

Overall, Rene de Chambrun's I Saw France Fall: Will She Rise Again? is a well thought out book, which he argues rightly the case against the Popular Front. The author's statistical data demonstrates that the Popular Front did not do enough to protect France from defeat. Most historians such as Robert Paxton and Julian Jackson have tried to justify the Popular Front's policies as being good for the nation, however, Chambrun noted that socialism is good to a point and there are times when people need to sacrifice their own interest for the security of the nation. This book is a must read for anyone who is looking for a counterpoint to the mainstream perspective of Robert Paxton.

5.0 out of 5 stars René de Chambrun's "I Saw France Fall", December 31, 2011

By 

Kim Burdick (NEWARK, DE, US) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: I Saw France Fall, Will She Rise Again? (Hardcover)

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Written in 1940 by a French soldier of the Blitzkrieg, René de Chambrun's book is a powerful primary document.

Daladier, Blum and Thorez's Liberal campaign slogan in the last election was "high salaries, low hours of work, peace and liberty." Once elected they terminated construction on the Maginot Line as it reached the Belgian border. Their assumption was that it was expensive, Belgium was stable, the Ardennes forest impenetrable, and Germany's newly-emerging power was a bluff.

Chambrun wrote: They got the vote but have given the people war defeat and foreign domination.

Between the wars, ignored by most of Europe and the United States, Hitler had calmly conquered Austria, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania, Denmark and Norway. In 1939 Germany and the Soviet Union made a pact to carve up Poland between them. Militarily unprepared and trusting in the magic of the Maginot Line, Great Britain and France declared war in defense of Poland.

On May 10, 1940 the Germans simultaneously blasted Luxembourg, Holland, Belgium and France, making an end-run through Belgium and around the Maginot Line into France. The elected officials of the Third Republic evacuated, leaving 84 year old Phillipe Petain, a WW1 war hero, as acting Head of State.

Captain René de Chambrun was stationed on the Maginot Line and at Dunkirk where French troops covered the retreat of their British comrades:

"On September 3, 1939, the men of Châteldon left their homes...Their leaders had promised that they would achieve victory at a very low cost"..."Today I believe that most of them feel that these leaders were as much responsible for their defeat as the German tanks and planes. For years they had listened complacently to the voices of those who promised prosperity and happiness; today they hear the very grave voice of the leader of the State talking about their miseries, their sorrows, their sufferings."

The moral of the story is, "never assume anything."

This manuscript is a must-read.

For more on René de Chambrun and his family, see also "Americans in Paris" by Charles Glass.

Kim Burdick
Stanton, Delaware