{"product_id":"a-vision-of-europe-conan-fischer-9780199676293","title":"A Vision of Europe: Franco-German Relations During the Great Depression, 1929-1932","description":"It is commonly held that the inter-war era marked little more than a ceasefire between two world wars, with the improvement in German-Allied relations forged at Locarno in 1925 cut short by the global economic turmoil that followed the 1929 Wall Street Crash. \u003cem\u003eA Vision of Europe\u003c\/em\u003e challenges this\u003cbr\u003ereceived wisdom, offering a fundamental re-evaluation of inter-war Franco-German relations during the Great Depression and providing a fuller understanding of the historical origins of today's European Union. It demonstrates that rather than lapsing into mutual recrimination and national egotism, \u003cbr\u003eFrance and Germany engaged with the challenges of the post-1929 slump by way of plans for a Franco-German customs union and wider bilateral economic collaboration, whether across the Rhine, in the French Empire, or elsewhere in Europe. These plans were regarded as the initial steps on the road to a\u003cbr\u003eEuropean Union that would reconcile Berlin's search for national rehabilitation with France's need for national security, so providing a means of resolving the formidable legacies of the First World War and Versailles Peace Settlement. Their efforts culminated in September 1931 in a formal agreement\u003cbr\u003eto establish a Franco-German economic community, which included the institutional means to transform ambition into reality. Unlike comparable post-1949 diplomacy, however, these aspirations ended in failure, but they nonetheless provided an invaluable, if largely unacknowledged template for the\u003cbr\u003eprocess of (West)-European recovery in the aftermath of the Third Reich. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis finely-focused study of the exchanges between individual politicians and diplomats, whether domestically or across the Rhine, also examines the relationship between the official sphere, the press, and a range of cultural associations and initiatives. It also explores the role of key economic\u003cbr\u003eassociations and pressure groups whose energies were harnessed by Paris and Berlin in the cause of rapprochement. These were complex processes where success or failure could rest on particular personal exchanges, a badly-timed election, or unanticipated economic upsets that compromised diplomacy's\u003cbr\u003ebest-laid plans.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Conan Fischer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0199676291\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780199676293\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/09\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 222\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.05lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.10w x 0.70d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/01\/2018","brand":"Conan Fischer","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47419026112767,"sku":"9780199676293","price":130.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_5a2bf8cc-c79a-4c77-9a54-894cf9f321dc.jpg?v=1761508992","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-vision-of-europe-conan-fischer-9780199676293","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}