Avoiding Armageddon Avoiding Armageddon From the Great War to the Fall of France, 1918–40 Jeremy Black First published in Great Britain 2012 © Jeremy Black, 2012 The moral right of the author has been asserted No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the Publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright holders of material reproduced in this book, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the Publishers would be glad to hear from them. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square London WC1B 3DP www.bloomsbury.com Bloomsbury Publishing, London, Berlin, New York and Sydney A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: 978-1-4411-2387-9 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk, NR21 8NN For Stephen Cooper Contents Abbreviations ix Preface xi Introduction xv 1 The aftermath of the Great War 1 2 Imperial warfare 39 3 Warfare in the ‘Third World’ in the 1920s 63 4 Learning lessons 85 5 Naval developments 101 6 Air power 131 7 The 1930s: economic context 151 8 War in the Far East 157 9 Conflict and the Western Empires in the 1930s 187 10 The Third World in the 1930s 201 11 Politics and the military in the Europe of the 1930s 213 12 Preparing for war 235 13 Conclusions 253 Notes 259 Selected further reading 287 Index 289 Abbreviations Add. Additional Manuscripts BL. Department of Manuscripts, British Library, London CAB. Cabinet Office papers LH Liddell Hart Archive, King’s College, London MM Montgomery-Massingberd papers NA London, National Archives (formerly Public Record Office) Rutgers, Fuller Rutgers University Library, New Brunswick, papers of J. F. C. Fuller WO War Office papers