A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
De Petsamo à Narvik: opérations périphériques dans le Nord de l'Europe, décembre 1939-avril 1940
Authors: Louis Clerc
Publisher: Presses Universitaires de France
Publishing place: Paris
Publication year: 2018
Journal: Guerres mondiales et conflits contemporains
Issue: 1/269
First page : 15
Last page: 32
Number of pages: 18
ISSN: 0984-2292
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/gmcc.269.0015
Web address : https://www.cairn.info/revue-guerres-mondiales-et-conflits-contemporains-2018-1-p-15.htm
Abstract
From Petsamo to Narvik: Péripheral Operations in Northern Europe, December 1939 - April 1940Following
the Soviet attack in November 1939 on neutral Finland, the French
Government decided to intervene in Northern Europe. While this
intervention was wrapped in the rhetoric of aid to Finland, more
concrete factors were at stake, most notably the opening in Northern
Sweden and Norway of a new front against Germany. Altogether, the
decision was a sharp break in French policy since the 1920s toward
Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea region. This article examines how this
policy mixed long-term concerns into the context of the “Phoney War” in
France and the role of the Scandinavians themselves. This decision would
end up by involving France in Northern Europe, with consequences seen
in the resignation of Daladier and the military operations in Norway in
May-June 1940.
Français
Alors que l’URSS attaque en novembre 1939 la Finlande neutre, le
gouvernement français décide de s’impliquer dans le Nord de l’Europe,
ostensiblement aux côtés des Finlandais mais en fait dans le but de
prendre contre l’Allemagne des positions au Nord de la Suède et de la
Norvège. Dans les modalités et dans le contenu, cette décision est une
rupture radicale avec la politique menée par la France envers la
Scandinavie et la zone baltique depuis les années 1920. Dans cette
décision se mêlent le contexte de long terme, l’état de la société
française en guerre, et le rôle des Scandinaves eux-mêmes. Une fois
prise dans le cadre de la guerre finno-soviétique, la décision
d’impliquer la France dans le Nord de l’Europe se révèle un engrenage
dont le jeu va entraîner la démission d’Édouard Daladier et les combats
en Norvège de mai-juin 1940.
English
From Petsamo to Narvik: Péripheral Operations in Northern Europe, December 1939 - April 1940Following
the Soviet attack in November 1939 on neutral Finland, the French
Government decided to intervene in Northern Europe. While this
intervention was wrapped in the rhetoric of aid to Finland, more
concrete factors were at stake, most notably the opening in Northern
Sweden and Norway of a new front against Germany. Altogether, the
decision was a sharp break in French policy since the 1920s toward
Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea region. This article examines how this
policy mixed long-term concerns into the context of the “Phoney War” in
France and the role of the Scandinavians themselves. This decision would
end up by involving France in Northern Europe, with consequences seen
in the resignation of Daladier and the military operations in Norway in
May-June 1940.
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