Small powers in the age of total war, 1900-1940 / edited by Herman Amersfoort, Wim Klinkert.

• Superior document: History of warfare, v. 65
• TeilnehmendeR: Amersfoort, H. 1951-; Klinkert, W.
• Year of Publication: 2011
• Language: English
• Series: History of warfare ; v. 65.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (384 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

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 1930's. 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.

Table of Contents

Introduction : small states in a big world / H. Amersfoort and W. Klinkert -- 'Too good to be true?' : European hopes for neutrality before 1914 / M.M. Abbenhuis -- Neutral tones : the Netherlands and Switzerland and their interpretations of neutrality, 1914-1918 / P. Moeyes -- Fall K. German offensive plans against the Netherlands 1916-1918 / W. Klinkert -- German war plans against Denmark, 1916-1918 / C. Paulin -- The development of the air defence of Copenhagen / M.H. Clemmesen -- The debate on Denmark's defence, 1900-1940 / K. Galster -- Small nations under the gun : Europe, 1914-1940 / W. Murray -- The German army in the interwar years / M. Strohn -- Between passeisme and modernisation? : the case of the Belgian fortification system , 1926-1940 / J. Vaesen -- Give us back our field army! : the Dutch army leadership and the operational planning during the interwar years / Herman Amersfoort -- Neutrality guard or preparations for war? : the Norwegian armed forces and the coming of the Second World War / T. Kristiansen -- The development of the Swiss army's combat methods after the First World War / M.M. Olsansky -- Strategic dilemmas of a small power with colonial empire : the Netherlands East Indies, 1936-1941 / A.C. Tjepkema.