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Political Parties and the French Army since the Liberation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 July 2011
Extract
In a recent article in Le Monde, a military writer remarked that ‘A country has the army it merits.”1 The expression is an old one. For a hundred years at least, French politicians and French military personnel have been quoting one another to the effect that the army is but the reflection of the state. But in a democracy, the strength of an army is not so much a question of merit as one of desire, desire as expressed by the people through the votes of their representatives. Certainly, it has little or nothing to do with international necessity.
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- Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1950
References
1 Le Monde, Feb. 11, 1950.
2 Quoted in Journal Officiel, Débats, Assemblée nationale constituante, Dec. 31, 1945, p. 704. (Hereinafter cited as J. O., Déb., Ass. nat. const., and after 1945 as J. O., Déb., Ass. nat.)
3 This was in accordance with the plan developed in May and adopted in June, 1945 by the National Defense Committee. For details see Revue de Défense nationale, January-June, 1946, p. 249. In 1946 there developed another stronger argument for an army: military writers and others emphasized that the industrial potential of Germany was greater than had been thought. See, for example, Aubert, Louis F., Sécurité de l'occident—Ruhr, Rhin, Paris, 1946Google Scholar; Magnin, L. E., “Aspects présents du problème militaire français,” Les Cahiers politiques, May 1946Google Scholar; Delage, Edmond, article in Le Monde, March 20, 1946Google Scholar, in which he takes for granted the necessity for an army. There was also, undoubtedly, a considerable body of opinion in France which felt that an army was “necessary to the general spiritual, moral, and material equilibrium of a nation.” For a restatement of this long-prevalent belief, see Gen. Larminat, Edgard de, L'Armée dans la nation, Paris, 1944, p. 1.Google Scholar
4 Rémy Roure, The French Army of Tomorrow, Doc Série II, No. 2785E, The French Press and Information Service, Sept. 12, 1945.
5 J. O., Déb., Ass. nat. const., Jan. 31, 1945, pp. 695 ff. See also Leferreux, J., “Naissance et vicissitudes de l'armée nouvelle”, Esprit, July 1945, p. 187.Google Scholar For an interesting contrast from the point of view of the military, see Gen. Lattre, de, “L'Armée française de transition,” La Revue Hommes et Mondes, November 1946, pp. 1 ff.Google Scholar
6 Reprinted in full in Gen. Jousse, Germain, Considérations sur l'armée de demain, Paris, 1946.Google Scholar This book is the best statement of what the Communists say they want the army to be. But see the speech of Thorez at the Party Rally at Ivry, Jan. 21–23, 1946, as reported in L'Humanité, and that of François Billoux at Issy-les-Moulineaux as reported in L'Humanité, April 26, 1946, just before he resigned his position as Minister of National Defense.
7 Chévigné, Pierre de, J. O., Déb., Ass. nat const., Jan. 31, 1945, p. 699.Google Scholar
8 In addition to the debate cited above, see the party platform as quoted in Siegfried, André, ed., L'Année politique 1944–1945, Paris, 1946, p. 383.Google Scholar
9 There is still a considerable number led by Pierre Villon on the large, unwieldy Commission of National Defense of the Assembly.
10 J. O., Déb., Ass. nat., Jan. 28, 1947, p. 50.
11 See, for example, the speech of Pierre Girardot, J. O., Déb., Ass. nat., (2e séance, Aug. 6, 1948).
12 The Revue militaire d'information usually carries a notation of the literature banned.
13 Vayo, Del, “Can the Left Make a Come-Back?” Nation, Jan. 21, 1950.Google Scholar
14 Documents parlementaires, Assemblée nationale (hereinafter referred to as Docs, paris., Ass. nat.), Session of 1948, Annexe no. 4377, June 1, p. 1083. In a series of excellent articles, “Les Socialistes et la Défense nationale,” Le Populaire, Mar. 19–26, 1948, Pierre Métayer argued the Socialist position on the army.
15 Informations militaires, July 1, 1947, p. 3.
16 Gaulle, Charles de, Vers l'armée de métier, 2d ed., Paris, 1944Google Scholar; Reynaud, Paul, Le Problème militaire en France, Paris, 1945.Google Scholar The influence of these two books may be seen in Gen. E. de Larminat, op. cit., and Vallet, Albert, Le Problème militaire de la IVe République, Lyon, 1947.Google Scholar
17 Le Monde, Jan. 2, 1948.
18 Docs. paris., Ass. nat. (Session de 1947, Annexe no. 2922, 2e séance, Dec. 18).
19 Jean Planchais in Le Monde, March 2, 1949.
20 For a summary of these reforms see Géraud, André, “Insurrection Fades in France,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. XVIII, No. 1 (October 1949).Google Scholar
21 Queuille, Henri, J. O. Déb., Ass. nat. (2e séance, Aug. 6, 1948), p. 4849.Google Scholar Gen. Revers, in a bitter New Year's message in 1949, commented that despite “the absurd allegations of the press” the military budget, instead of increasing, had actually decreased since the war.—Revue militaire d'information, Jan. 1, 1949, p. 5.
22 Docs, parís., Ass. nat., (Session de 1948, Annexe no. 4719, 2e séance, June 25.). The quotation is from the interesting introduction to the air section of the budget.
23 “Problèmes de l'aviation de transport française,” Le Monde, Feb. 23, 1950.
24 Since this article was written, the voting of the military budget for the year 1950 has come before the National Assembly, and the air force has again come out on the short end. Six and a half billions more than in 1949 have been allotted to it, but whether, in view of higher maintenance costs and higher prices in general, this represents a real increase is debatable. At any rate, Jean Moreau, reporter for the Commission of Finances on the air force budget, feels that this sum is totally inadequate for any true remaking of the French air force. Le Monde, May 11, 1950.
25 See the bitter remarks made by M. Diori Hamani of the G.R.D.A. (Groupe du Rassemblement Démocratique Africain), J. O., Dé b., Ass. Nat., June 10, 1949, p.3281.
26 See, for example, Kahan, Théo and Magnan, Claude, L'énergie atomique et ses applications, Paris, 1949Google Scholar, Chapter 12; and also Thibaud, Jean, Puissance de l'atom, Paris, 1949.Google Scholar
27 Le Monde, Feb. 10, 1950. This is, of course, one of the points which the Communists have been making, particularly by quoting U. S. Representative Cannon. See Malleret-Joinville, Alfred, J. O., Déb., Ass. nat. (2e séance, June 9, 1949), p. 3239.Google Scholar The same argument, but from a different tack, is that of Schreiber, J.-J. S., “La Paix americaine, est-elle possible?” (Le Monde, Feb. 19, 20, 1950)Google Scholar, in which he maintains that Americans seem to be in the grip of the “Munich” psychology.
28 American newspapers made much of this stand taken by conservative, semiofficial Le Monde during the last few weeks of the month of February 1950. The question was opened in 1949 by the Academician Etienne Gilson. Now as then the rebuttal is being led by Ramond Aron of figaro, but unfortunately Aron, despite the high esteem in which he is held, has a reputation of standing alone.
29 For example, when signing an economic accord with Germany in November 1949, the French Assembly, and, more particularly, the Council of the Republic, reaffirmed its position that the Germans should not be admitted to the Atlantic Community.
30 See his lettter of resignation in Le Monde, Feb. 9, 1950. He is at present working on a book, Le Temps du choix, parts of which have appeared in Le Monde.
31 XXX, “Un cri d'alarme; où va l'armée française?” Le Monde, (Feb. 11, 13,1950), two typically dismal articles.