Beyond the Balance of Power

This is a major new study of French foreign and security policy before, during and after the First World War. Peter Jackson examines the interplay between two contending conceptions of security: the first based on traditional practices of power politics and the second on internationalist doctrines that emerged in the late nineteenth century. He pays particular attention to the social and political context in which security policy was made and to the cultural dynamics of the policy-making process. The result is a comprehensive reassessment of France's security policy in the era of the Great War. The book reconsiders the evolution of French war aims and reinterprets the peace policy of the Clemenceau government in 1919. It also provides a new perspective on the foreign policy of successive French governments in the early 1920s. It shows that internationalist ideas were far more influential over this entire period than is commonly understood. 'By emphasizing the political, social, and cultural contexts of foreign policy decision-making and the clash between balance of power and internationalist security doctrines, Peter Jackson offers a provocative new interpretation of French security policy and international politics in the era of the First World War. In the process he engages some central debates in international relations theory. Beyond the Balance of Power is a major contribution with an interdisciplinary appeal, and essential reading for students of both the history and theory of security policy.' Jack S. Levy, Board of Governors' Professor, Rutgers University 'Why is France repeatedly cast as the villain when it comes to the ultimate failure of international initiatives and transnational efforts to re-order world affairs after the First World War? Answering this fundamental question animates Peter Jackson's panoramic study of French security policy before, during and after the Great War. Rare are the historians capable of integrating international relations theory and sociologies of power into their assessments of the past. Jackson not only does so, he makes the conceptual thinking of politicians, diplomats, soldiers and civil society activists his critical explanatory tool in digging for answers to France's security dilemmas of the early twentieth century. Untangling the political, cultural and, above all, the juridical roots of French ideas about peace, war, and international obligation, the result is breathtaking: a transformative work in an otherwise crowded historical field. The book is sure to become a classic.' Martin Thomas, Professor of History, Exeter University 'Peter Jackson has written a highly original and dramatically different account of French diplomacy in the critical war and post-war years. It is not only based on extensive work in the archives but moves beyond both national and theoretical boundaries to provide challenging portraits of the makers of policy as well as the consequences of their assumptions about the role of France in a multipolar international system.' Zara Steiner, University of CambridgeIntroduction; Part I. The Sources of French Security Policy: 1. The social dynamics of security policy making; 2. Two approaches to security; Part II. War and the Politics of National Security, 1914-1918: 3. The primacy of the balance of power, 1914-1916; 4. The coming of a new world order, 1917; 5. National deliverance and post-war planning; Part III. Peace and Security, 1918-1919: 6. The political contexts of peacemaking; 7. Towards a post-war security order; 8. The Rhineland settlement and the security of France; Part IV. Imposing Security: 9. Post-war dilemmas: enforcement or engagement?; 10. Briand and the emergence of a multilateral alternative; 11. The politics of confrontation; Part V. The Cartel des Gauches and the 'Internationalisation of Security': 12. A new approach: arbitration, security, disarmament; 13. Locarno; Conclusion.