Sunday, March 1, 2009

Phyrric Victory

oh yeah, I ordered a book called "Phyrric Victory:  French Strategy and Operations in the Great War"

most histories of World War One (aka "the Great War") focus almost exclusively on the British.  there are some books that cover the United States and it's delayed involvement in the war--but the vast preponderance of literature is Anglo-centric.  we can't ignore the new influx of German-based books in the English language (Jack Sheldon is probably the leading exponent of improving WWI scholarship in English on this matter)... but the French have been largely ignored.

it's a shame, really, because the French sacrificed more than any other Allied nation during WWI.  certainly it made far more of a contribution than the British or the Americans--and yet, most histories in English act as though it was the British and the Americans that won the war.

the Germans get mentioned, but frequently so as to point out how glorious the Allied victory was.  

the French have generally been cast in a VERY POOR light in modern military history-- but part of the problem with that is that they couldn't have won the war without outside help.  truth be told, NONE of the Allied nations could have done it alone.  England certainly couldn't defeated Germany alone--not when it was being sent supplies and technology from American and France!

I'm rambling--but I'm looking forward to learning more about the French contribution to the Great War.  too much time has been spent rehashing the British and American perspectives at the great expense of the French, Italians, and Russians.

No comments: