Avoiding Armageddon: From the Great War to the Fall of France, 1918-40

327 Pages·2012·2.57 MB·English

by  Jeremy Black

Avoiding
Armageddon

Avoiding
Armageddon
From the Great War to the Fall of
France, 1918–40
Jeremy Black
First published in Great Britain 2012
© Jeremy Black, 2012
The moral right of the author has been asserted
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission from the Publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
articles or reviews. Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright holders
of material reproduced in this book, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the
Publishers would be glad to hear from them.
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square
London WC1B 3DP
www.bloomsbury.com
Bloomsbury Publishing, London, Berlin, New York and Sydney
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-4411-2387-9
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk, NR21 8NN
For
Stephen Cooper

Contents
Abbreviations ix
Preface xi
Introduction xv
1 The aftermath of the Great War 1
2 Imperial warfare 39
3 Warfare in the ‘Third World’ in the 1920s 63
4 Learning lessons 85
5 Naval developments 101
6 Air power 131
7 The 1930s: economic context 151
8 War in the Far East 157
9 Conflict and the Western Empires in the 1930s 187
10 The Third World in the 1930s 201
11 Politics and the military in the Europe of the 1930s 213
12 Preparing for war 235
13 Conclusions 253
Notes 259
Selected further reading 287
Index 289

Abbreviations
Add. Additional Manuscripts
BL. Department of Manuscripts, British Library, London
CAB. Cabinet Office papers
LH Liddell Hart Archive, King’s College, London
MM Montgomery-Massingberd papers
NA London, National Archives (formerly Public Record
Office)
Rutgers, Fuller Rutgers University Library, New Brunswick, papers of
J. F. C. Fuller
WO War Office papers