Small Powers in the Age of Total War, 1900-1940

Erscheinungsjahr 2011
ISBN: 978-90-04-20321-1
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 65, 372 Seiten, Format (B × H): 168 mm x 244 mm, Gewicht: 771 g

Reihe: History of Warfare

Usually it is a foreign military threat or the geopolitical position of a country that attracts the most attention as a factor to explain the emergence of the national security policies of small, neutral powers like the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland in the period 1900-1940. While these factors may explain the similarities between these small states, they fail to make clear why there were such great differences between them. The authors of this volume argue that the internal politics and the politico-military strategic cultures of the countries are vital keys to understanding their divergent reactions to similar, or at least comparable, foreign military threats: World War I and German expansionism in the second half of the 1930s.
The contributors are Maartje Abbenhuis, Michael Clemmesen, Kjeld Galster, Tom Kristiansen, Paul Moeyes, Williamson Murray, Michael Olsansky, Christian Paulin, Matthias Strohn, Anne Tjepkema, and Joost Vaessen.

Zielgruppe

All those interested in European military history of the 20th century and the history of international relations, in particular related to neutrality and small powers.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Amersfoort, Herman

Klinkert, Wim

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Militärgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Contributors.vii
Preface.xi
1. Introduction. Small States in a Big World.1
H. Amersfoort and W. Klinkert
2. ‘Too Good to Be True?’ European Hopes for Neutrality before 1914.27
M. M. Abbenhuis
3. Neutral Tones. Th e Netherlands and Switzerland and Th eir Interpretations of Neutrality 1914–1918.57
P. Moeyes
4. Fall K. German Off ensive Plans Against the Netherlands 1916–1918.85
W. Klinkert
5. German War Plans Against Denmark 1916–1918.119
C. Paulin
6. The Development of the Air Defence of Copenhagen.135
M. H. Clemmesen
7. The Debate on Denmark’s Defence 1900–1940.153
K. Galster
8. Small Nations under the Gun. Europe 1914–1940.183
W. Murray
9. The German Army in the Interwar Years.201
M. Strohn
10. Between Passéisme and Modernisation? The Case of the Belgian Fortification System 1926–1940.221
J. Vaesen
11. Give us Back our Field Army! The Dutch Army Leadership and the Operational Planning During the Interwar Years.251
H. Amersfoort
12. Neutrality Guard or Preparations for War? Th e Norwegian Armed Forces and the Coming of the Second World War.281
T. Kristiansen
13. The Development of the Swiss Army’s Combat Methods aft er the First World War.307
M. M. Olsansky
14. Strategic Dilemmas of a Small Power with Colonial Empire. The Netherlands East Indies, 1936–1941.321
A. C. Tjepkema

Bibliography.351
Name Index.363
Geographical Index.369

Über Autor(innen)

Herman Amersfoort, Ph.D. (1988) in History, University of Leiden, is Professor of Military History at the Netherlands Defence Academy and at the University of Amsterdam. He has published extensively on Dutch military history in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Wim Klinkert, Ph.D. (1992) in History, University of Leiden, is Associate Professor of Military History at the Netherlands Defence Academy and is Professor of Military History at the University of Amsterdam. His publications focus on Dutch military history between 1870 and 1945.