The Road to War

484 Pages·2000·61.339 MB·English

by  Richard Overy, Andrew Wheatcroft

THE ROAD TO
7
REVISED AND UPDATED EDITION
Boston Public Library
PENGUIN BOOKS
THE ROAD TO WAR
'For a brief and fair description of the origins of the conflict that
consumed the world from 1939 to 1945 - and even beyond - this
book could hardly be bettered' Modern HistoryReview
'The authors combine compassion with understanding, to make
sound historical sense' Economist
'Without reservation ... I rate this as one ofthe best books I have
read about this great conflict . . . meticulously researched ... It is
filled with eye-opening revelations and cleverly structured analyses
ofhow mankind's greatest tragedy came about' Military Review
'The Road to Waranswers many ofthe questions on the origins of
thewar well-argued, well-written andwell-researched. Both
. . . . . .
militarists andpacifists canputitsafely in their mental haversacks'
Desmond Albrow, CatholicHerald
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Richard Overy is Professor of Modern History at King's College,
London. His most recent books include Why the Allies Won, The
Penguin Atlas ofthe Third Reich and, also in Penguin, the highly
praised Russia's War. He is currently writing a history ofthe Nazi
economy and the Oxford historyofthe Second WorldWar.
AndrewWheatcroftwaseducatedatStJohn'sSchool,Leatherhead,
Christ's College, Cambridge, and the University of Madrid. He is
the author of many books on nineteenth- and twentieth-century
history,includingTheOttomans(Penguin,1995)andTheHabsburgs
(Penguin, 1996). HeisbasedinDumfriesshire,Scotland,andteaches
in theDepartmentofEnglish atthe University ofStirling.
RICHARD OVERY
WITH ANDREW WHEATCROFT
The Road War
to
Revised and updated edition
PENGUIN BOOKS
PENGUINBOOKS
PublishedbythePenguinGroup
PenguinBooksLtd,27WrightsLane,Londonw85TZ,England
PenguinPutnamInc.,375HudsonStreet,NewYork,NewYork10014,USA
PenguinBooksAustraliaLtd,Ringwood,Victoria,Australia
PenguinBooksCanadaLtd,10AlcornAvenue,Toronto,Ontario,CanadaM4V3B2
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PenguinBooksLtd,RegisteredOffices:Harmondsworth,Middlesex,England
FirstpublishedbyMacmillanLondonLtdandBBCBooks1989
SecondeditionpublishedinPenguinBooks1999
13579 8642
10
Copyright©RichardOverywithAndrewWheatcroft,1989,1999
Allrightsreserved
Themoralrightoftheauthorshasbeenasserted
Setin10/12.5MonotypeSabon
TypesetbyRowlandPhototypesettingLtd,BuryStEdmunds,Suffolk
PrintedinEnglandbyClaysLtd,StIvespic
ExceptintheUnitedStatesofAmerica,thisbookissoldsubject
totheconditionthatitshallnot,bywayoftradeorotherwise,belent,
re-sold,hiredout,orotherwisecirculatedwithoutthepublisher's
priorconsentinanyformofbindingorcoverotherthanthatin
whichitispublishedandwithoutasimilarconditionincludingthis
conditionbeingimposedonthesubsequentpurchaser
BR BR
D741
.085
1999
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
List ofMaps ix
List ofIllustrations xi
Preface XV
Preface to the Second Edition xviii
Introduction: 'Who Will Die for Danzig?' i
Germany
i 2-5
2 Great Britain 73
3 France IZI
4 Italy 164
5 The Soviet Union ZIO
6 Japan 258
7 The United States 298
Conclusion: 'A War ofGreat Proportions' 344
Appendix: Comparative Military Expenditure
and Military Strength 367
References 371
Select Bibliography 405
Index 427

Acknowledgements
In the course of writing this book we have accumulated a great
variety of debts which more than deserve our acknowledgement.
We owe a very great deal to Gill Coleridge, whose enthusiasm for
the project from the outset sustained us through its treacherous
foothills and beyond. Our editor, Adam Sisman, has shown the
sameenthusiasmand akeeneditorialeye, andthebookisthebetter
forhisgentlyprofferedrecommendations.MalcolmPorterdrewthe
maps under great pressure oftime, for which we are very grateful.
The book has grown side by side, in a happy symbiosis, with the
documentary series, which bears the same name and carries the
same structure as the book. A special acknowledgement must be
given to the BBC team on The Road to War who have turned a
complex academic conception into very watchable television; in
particular Tim Gardam and Peter Pagnamenta for launching the
series,andHughPurcell,DenysBlakeway,ChrisWarren,BillJones,
Richard Vaughan, Angus MacQueen, Marisa Apugliese and Sally-
Ann Kleibel for bringing it to fruition. We have argued points
backwards and forwards and the book has benefited a great deal
from the exercise. Any faults that remain are our own. The Road
to War is written with the co-operation of the BBC production
team but the views expressed in it are those of the authors. We
are grateful to the Imperial War Museum and the staff of the
Photographic Department for help in locating images and for per-
mission to reproduce them. We are also grateful to Birmingham
University Library forpermission to quote from the Neville Cham-
berlain papers.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work was divided on lines that followed our particular
expertise.RichardOverywrotechaptersi,2,3,5,7andtheintroduc-
tion and conclusion; Andrew Wheatcroft wrote chapter 6; chapter
4 was written jointly. The revisions for the second edition were
carried out by Richard Overy.