The Lights that Failed: European International History 1919-1933

Description

The peace treaties represented an almost impossible attempt to solve the problems caused by a murderous world war. In The Lights that Failed: European International History 1919-1933, part of the Oxford History of Modern Europe series, Steiner challenges the common assumption that the Treaty of Versailles led to the opening of a second European war. In a radically original way, this book characterizes the 1920s not as a frustrated prelude to a second global conflict but as a fascinating decade in its own right, when politicians and diplomats strove to re-assemble a viable European order. Steiner examines the efforts that failed but also those which gave hope for future promise, many of which are usually underestimated, if not ignored. She shows that an equilibrium was achieved, attained between a partial American withdrawal from Europe and the self-imposed constraints which the Soviet system imposed on exporting revolution. The stabilization painfully achieved in Europe reached it fragile limits after 1925, even prior to the financial crises that engulfed the continent. The hinge years between the great crash of 1929 and Hitler's achievement of power in 1933 devastatingly altered the balance between nationalism and internationalism. This wide-ranging study helps us grasp the decisive stages in this process. In a second volume, The Triumph of the Night , Steiner will examine the immediate lead up to the Second World War and its early years. CONTENTS List of Maps and Figures List of Tables Prologue Part I. The Reconstruction of Europe, 1918–1929 1. The Hall of Mirrors: Peacemaking in the West 2. Distant Frontiers: Peacemaking in the East 3. The Missing Party: The Soviet Union and the Post-War Settlements 4. The Primacy of Economics: Reconstruction in Western Europe, 1919–1924 5. The Primacy of Nationalism: Reconstruction in Eastern and Central Europe 6. Revolution from the Right: Italy, 1919–1925 7. The Geneva Dream: The League of Nations and Post-War Internationalism 8. New Dawn? Stabilization in Western Europe After Locarno 9. Faltering Reconstruction: Cracks in the Locarno Façade 10. Troubled Waters: Uncertainties in Italy, Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union 11. Faltering Internationalism: Disarmament and Security after Locarno Conclusion: Europe Reconstructed? Part II. The Hinge Years, 1929–1933 12. The Diplomacy of the Depression: The Triumph of Economic Nationalism 13. The Manchurian Crisis: The European Powers and the Far East 14. The Poisoned Chalice: The Pursuit of Disarmament Conclusion: The Hinge Years, 1929–1933 Appendices A. Statistical Tables B. Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers of selected European Powers C. Chronology of International Events, 1918–1933 Bibliography Primary Sources Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z