In The Collapse of the Third Republic: An Inquiry into the Fall of France in 1940, (written by the author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich), Mr. Shirer paints a fascinating picture of an incompetent regime struggling with the rise of a powerful and aggressive state across the Rhine River. The French failed diplomatically, in Europe and internationally, strategically, tactically, and in several ways morally, when the test finally came. As the end neared their democratic bodies threw away everything and France adopted a quasi-dictatorial form of government where individual liberty was smothered by a powerful police state led by one of their most famous generals.
The history of the Third Republic is a bit confusing, but Shirer manages to make some sense of it as he guides the reader toward the devastating end of the Republic’s history. In many ways the story is nearly comical, but the outcome was anything but funny. Thousands of men died trying to defend the Third Republic, but bungling at the highest levels of authority, and on the battlefields themselves, spelled defeat in every aspect of defense. As the leaders of the Republic fled before the Germans, the French premier’s whore was running the cabinet meetings and putting pressure on everyone to follow her ideology of defeat and submission. In the field, generals positioned to significantly hurt the Nazi advance failed to move. In the air, a critical front in the Second World War, the French air force did not show up. Many of her planes and pilots stayed on the ground while important battles were taking place. Shirer outlines all of this in his normally detailed manner.
Shirer likes to write about people and he spends his fair share of time in that endeavor. Most of the people prove interesting, but a few are corrupt beyond belief. The fellows from World War I just did not get it, plus, important leaders had separate political ambitions unknown to others. A few individuals making key decisions decided the outcome before the German attack began. Shirer covers these people in detail. Some, a few, were heroic; however, most of these so-called leaders turn out to be scum of the lowest order.
The Collapse of the Third Republic was written after the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and published in 1969. The research, as Shirer makes clear, was exhaustive. Nevertheless, he was stonewalled in many ways by the French government. It seems obvious the French would be concerned by his disclosures, and they should be, given the gravity of their errors.
Well written and enjoyable. I highly recommend the Collapse of the Third Republic.
AD2
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