1st Edition
The Decision to Disarm Germany British Policy Towards Postwar German Disarmament, 1914-1919
Originally published in 1985 The Decision to Disarm Germany offers a fresh approach to Britain’s First World War and Paris Peace Conference policy on the question of German military disarmament. It offers interpretations based on extensive research into unpublished records and private papers and provides important new conclusions about British policy. The book shows the interaction of domestic concerns and strategic considerations in the wartime development of British thinking on the issue of post-war German disarmament and in the post-Armistice formulation and implementation of Britain’s German disarmament policy. It establishes the crucial interrelationship in British thinking and policy between German disarmament and general disarmament. It also shows the interwar consequences of wartime attitudes and peace conference policy.
Preface
Introduction
1 Destroying Prussian Militarism
2. British War Aims and German Disarmament
3. The Future of German Military Power
4. The Question of General Disarmament
5. Armistice: The Disarmament Debate
6. The Aftermath of Victory
7. The Election Campaign
8. The Decision to Disarm Germany
9. Peace Conference Policy: Drafting the Military Causes of the Treaty
10. Peace Conference Policy: The Politics and Strategy of Moderation
Conclusion
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
Biography
Lorna S. Jaffe