French Diplomacy of Daladier's Government

The Eve of the Second World War : International Relations in Summer, 1939

Abstract

This article, in which you can find the developments of French diplomacy, especially in 1939, is intended to make clear the policy for the European stabillity of Daladier's government.
After Munich, it was only by the détente among the Four Powers that France and Britain could have re-established the European security system so as to prevent Germany and Italy from attacking them. And with the Franco-German declation of December 1938, France tried to carry out a policy of which the aim might be to pursue the collaboration with the Reich and to look for a means of settling troubles with Italy, through the intermediation of Germany.
The German Occupation of Prague on 15 March 1939, however, introduced a New Diplomatic Policy of embarking on the negotiations with the Poles and the Soviet Union, but in vain. Indeed, this fiasco was due to the French recognition of them, which might be based on the notion of maintaining the West-European system by the Four Powers. From this point of view, naturally, Anglo-French relations had always been made much of by French leaders, even if it was Britain to have much more influence and there had been discords between the two democratic powers. But, after all, the absence of Anglo-French collaboration took the Europeans to the bankruptcy.
In addition, it was remarkable that there had been differences among the French leaders, but they seemed to share the idea that the détente among the Four Powers would be the sine qua non for the maintenance of world-wide stability.