Strange Defeat
Encyclopedia
L'Etrange defaite is a book written in the summer of 1940 by French historian Marc Bloch
. The book was published in 1946; in the meanwhile, Bloch had been tortured and shot to death by the Gestapo
in June 1944, for participating in the French resistance
.
The book focuses on the causes of the French defeat in the Battle of France
in 1940, and in part uses a relatively long-term
view similar to that in his history scholarship (see Annales School
). The main thesis of the book is that the French leadership failed to recognize that, since World War I
, "the whole rhythm of modern warfare had changed its tempo."
There are only three chapters: Presentation of the Witness, being a short personal history of a life devoted to historical study and interrupted by World War I; One of the Vanquished Gives Evidence, a factual account of his experience in the battle of France; and A Frenchman Examines His Conscience, a biting analysis of the thinking and actions of the generation between the wars.
Bloch reports a harsh and forthright view of the cause of the defeat as he and fellow officers saw it at the time (p. 20 of the printed French edition, p. 45 of the manuscript, written between July and September 1940): "... whatever the deep-seated cause of the disaster may have been, the immediate occasion was the utter incompetence of the High Command."
In a subsequent revision, however, he added a footnote that broadened the blame to non-HQ officers (p. 68 of the printed French edition, p. 145 of the manuscript, footnote dated July 1942): "failures in the troop command were substantially less rare than I had wanted to believe in the aftermath of the defeat. ... Certainly a certain morality crisis in class groups (among reserves as well as active officers) was deeper than one dared imagine." Chapter III then expounded on more general institutional and societal failures that hindered France's response.
Marc Bloch
Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch was a French historian who cofounded the highly influential Annales School of French social history. Bloch was a quintessential modernist. An assimilated Alsatian Jew from an academic family in Paris, he was deeply affected in his youth by the Dreyfus Affair...
. The book was published in 1946; in the meanwhile, Bloch had been tortured and shot to death by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
in June 1944, for participating in the French resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
.
The book focuses on the causes of the French defeat in the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
in 1940, and in part uses a relatively long-term
Longue durée
The longue durée , is an expression used by the French Annales School of historical writing to designate their approach to the study of history, which gives priority to long-term historical structures over events— what François Simiand called histoire événementielle, "eventual history"— the short...
view similar to that in his history scholarship (see Annales School
Annales School
The Annales School is a group of historians associated with a style of historiography developed by French historians in the 20th century. It is named after its scholarly journal Annales d'histoire économique et sociale, which remains the main source of scholarship, along with many books and...
). The main thesis of the book is that the French leadership failed to recognize that, since World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, "the whole rhythm of modern warfare had changed its tempo."
There are only three chapters: Presentation of the Witness, being a short personal history of a life devoted to historical study and interrupted by World War I; One of the Vanquished Gives Evidence, a factual account of his experience in the battle of France; and A Frenchman Examines His Conscience, a biting analysis of the thinking and actions of the generation between the wars.
Bloch reports a harsh and forthright view of the cause of the defeat as he and fellow officers saw it at the time (p. 20 of the printed French edition, p. 45 of the manuscript, written between July and September 1940): "... whatever the deep-seated cause of the disaster may have been, the immediate occasion was the utter incompetence of the High Command."
In a subsequent revision, however, he added a footnote that broadened the blame to non-HQ officers (p. 68 of the printed French edition, p. 145 of the manuscript, footnote dated July 1942): "failures in the troop command were substantially less rare than I had wanted to believe in the aftermath of the defeat. ... Certainly a certain morality crisis in class groups (among reserves as well as active officers) was deeper than one dared imagine." Chapter III then expounded on more general institutional and societal failures that hindered France's response.