International Aftermath

France emerged from war as apparent victor but faced complex international realities. The alliance system that had saved France dissolved in peace. America retreated into isolationism, rejecting the League of Nations Wilson had championed. Britain, fearing French hegemony, distanced itself. Italy, dissatisfied with territorial gains, turned hostile. Soviet Russia, excluded from peace negotiations, remained dangerous unknown.

French security obsessions dominated foreign policy. Having twice in fifty years faced German invasion, France sought guarantees against repetition. The Rhine frontier, permanent German disarmament, and military alliances became French fixations. Yet each security measure alienated allies who feared French militarism. The Anglo-American guarantee of French security, promised during negotiations, evaporated when America rejected Versailles.

Colonial tensions emerged immediately. Ho Chi Minh petitioned for Vietnamese self-determination, citing Wilson's principles. Algerian veterans demanded political rights earned through blood. Syrian and Lebanese delegations rejected French mandates. The fiction of grateful colonial subjects accepting French rule died in peace negotiations. Force would be required to maintain empire expanded by war.

The League of Nations, headquartered partly in Paris, embodied hopes for international order. France participated enthusiastically, seeing collective security as supplement to military strength. Yet fundamental contradictions emerged. How could international law reconcile with colonial domination? Could peaceful resolution replace military force? French policy pursued both international cooperation and unilateral security, creating contradictions that would prove fatal.