Book Reviews : The French Labor Movement. By VAL R. LORWIN. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1955. Pp. xix, 346. $6.00.)

• Author: John P. Roche
• Published date: 01 March 1956
• Date: 01 March 1956
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295600900127
• Subject Matter: Articles

191

the

Drei

Kaiser

Bund

of

the

seventies

through

the

organization

of

a

Drei

Kaiser

Alliance

(18$1-87),

and

after

the

collapse

of

the

latter,

the

projec-

tion

of

an

Entente

Cordiale

with

Russia

(Reinsurance

Treaty).

Holstein’s

appraisal

of

Kaiser

Wilhelm

II

is

interesting

and

challenging.

Writing

in

1909,

he

says:

&dquo;That

the

Kaiser,

who

was

well

beyond

the

age

of

youthful

exuberance ...

lacked,

and

one

must

regretfully

say

still

lacks,

all

sense

of

what

is

fitting,

is

a

misfortune

both

for

him

and

for

the

German

Reich.

Future

German

historians

will

compile

a

long

list

of

the

Kaiser’s

sudden

impulses

in

conversation,

in

writing,

in

telegrams,

which

collectively

and

singly

have

had

the

effect

of

gradually

diminishing

the

prestige

of

the

Kaiser

and

the

Reich,

of

wrecking

diplomatic

negotiations

and

even

of

provoking

immediate

danger

of

war.&dquo;

This

lack

of

discretion

Holstein

believes

to

be

the

major

factor

in

the

deterioration

of

German-British

relations

which

began

with

the

unfortunate

Kr3ger

telegram

in

1896.

&dquo;England,

that

rich

and

placid

nation,

was

goaded

into

her

present

defensive

attitude

toward

Germany

by

continuous

threats

and

insults

on

the

part

of

the

Germans.&dquo;

But

Holstein

fails

to

emphasize

as

significant

causes

of

Anglo-German

estrangement

such

other

factors

as

the

rise

of

Pan-Germanism,

the

Morocco

question,

the

Boer

War,

and

more

important

still,

the

vigorous

Anglo-German

naval

rivalry

which

began

in

1905.

Holstein

devotes

considerable

attention

to

the

German

Crown

Prin-

cess,

whom

he

characterizes

as

&dquo;a

constant

irritant,&dquo;

in

the evolution

of

anti-British

opinion

in

Germany.

&dquo;She

had

come

to

Berlin

firmly

bent

on

reforming

Prussia

to

her

own

taste,

that

is

on

English

lines.&dquo;

But

she

suc-

ceeded

only

in

antagonizing

the

German

people.

In

addition

to

copious

notes

throughout

the

volume,

there

is

an

excel-

lent

introduction

by

the

editors.

University

of

Utah.

L.

H.

CREER.

The

French

Labor

Movement.

By

VAL

R.

LORWIN.

(Cambridge:

Harvard

University

Press.

1955.

Pp.

xix,

346.

$6.00.)

The

French

labor

movement,

though

organizationally

ineffective

when

compared

with

the

British

T.U.C.

or

the

unions

of

Scandinavia,

and

politi,

cally

unstable

by

comparison

with

the

union

movement

of

democratic

Ger-

many,

has

long

proved

a

fertile

field

for

American

scholarship.

The

latest

book

on

this

topic

is

based

on

careful

historical

analysis

and

personal

ob-

servation.

Dr.

Lorwin

has

broken

his

material

down

under

three

main

headings:

first,

an

abbreviated

history

of

the

origins

and

development

of

French

unionism

through

1944;

second,

a

close

examination

of

the

critical

years

1944-53,

which

saw

the

reunification

in

the

Confédération

G~n~rale

du

Travail

of

the

Communists

purged

in

1940,

and

the

subsequent

bolt

of