JOHN F. CADY. The Roots of French Im perialism in Eastern Asia. Pp. xii, 322. Ithaca, N. Y.: Cornell University Press, 1954. $5.00

• Author: William C. Johnstone
• Published date: 01 July 1955
• Date: 01 July 1955
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/000271625530000177
• Subject Matter: Articles

178

gain

away

hallowed

principles

for

a

truce

with

Revisionism&dquo;

(p.

111);

and

at

his

best-in

his

determined

stand

during

the

riots

caused

by

the

acceptance

of

repara-

tions

from

Germany,

in

1952

(p.

235).

Neither

does

the

careful

chronicler

try

to

gloss

over

the

dangers

that

beset

the

new

state.

&dquo;Today&dquo;

we

read,

&dquo;the

balance

of

power

in

the

Middle

East

is

heavily

loaded

against

Israel.

She

disposes

of

an

excel-

lent

army,

well-trained,

intelligent,

and

prepared

to

defend

the

state

and

the

cause

identified

with

it.

It

is

nevertheless

diffi-

cult

to

see

what

this

will

avail

against

a

synchronized

attack,

launched

by

air,

sea

and

land,

of

nations

sharing

the

humilia-

tion of

a

combined

defeat,

better

led

than

previously,

and

far

less

arrogant&dquo;

(p.

235).

In

other

words,

the

outcome

of

the

militant

and

militaristic

politics

may

prove

to

be

far

less

final

than

they

would

appear

to

be

in

the

light

and

glory

of

their

present

suc-

cess.

It

can

only

be

hoped

that

some

fortunate

turn

of

events

will

prevent

the

destruction

of

what

these

politics

so

spec-

tacularly

helped

to

create.

HENRIK

F.

INFIELD

Group

Farming

Research

Institute,

Poughkeepsie,

N.

Y.

JOHN

F.

CADY.

The

Roots

of

French

Im-

perialism

in

Eastern

Asia.

Pp.

xii,

322.

Ithaca,

N.

Y.:

Cornell

University

Press,

1954.

$5.00.

Eastern

Asia

of

the

nineteenth

century

still

offers

the

historian

a

fertile

field

for

research.

John

F.

Cady

has

demonstrated

this

by

his

detailed

study

of

the

bases

of

French

imperialism

in

this

area

during

the

three

decades

from

1830

to

1860.

This

book

is

important,

not

only

for

what

it

reveals

of

French

policy

and

the

motiva-

tions

for

French

expansionism,

but

also

for

its

excellent

synthesis

of

the

diplomacy

of

the

European

powers

with

respect

to

both

European

and

Asian

questions.

Professor

Cady

concludes

that

&dquo;the

tap-

root

of

French

imperialism

in

the

Far

East

from

first

to

last

was

national

pride-pride

of

culture,

reputation,

prestige

and

influ-

ence&dquo;

(p.

294).

The

conclusion

is

docu-

mented

in

detail

in

this

book

which

was

begun

before

World

War

II,

but

remained

unfinished

because

the

war

prevented

the

author’s

completion

of

his

archival

re-

search.

Although

access

was

not

obtained

to

the

archives

of

the

French

Ministry

of

Marine

and

Colonies,

it

is

probable

that

this

material

would

only

have

served

to

provide

more

detail

rather

than

modify

the

author’s

analysis

and

conclusions.

For

the

student

of

Eastern

Asia,

Profes-

sor

Cady’s

study

is

indispensable

mainly

because

through

it

he

will

be

able

to

grasp

the

principal

elements

in

the

very

tangled

relationships

of

the

European

powers

and

the

United

States

in

the

period

when

West-

ern

policies

towards

China

and

the

coun-

tries

of

Southeast

Asia

were

being

formed.

The

careful

analysis

of

French

support

of

their

missionary

efforts

in

the

area

involved

shows

that

such

support

was

not

always

consistent

and

was

frequently

the

result

of

factors

in

France

and

in

Europe

that

had

nothing

to

do

with

Asia.

The

role

of

French

missionaries

in

bringing

pressure

on

the

government

in

Paris

to

provide

them

protection

and

even

to

engage

in

terri-

torial

adventures

is

carefully

set

forth.

New

light

is

thrown

on

the

position

and

policies

of

successive

French

governments

and

their

representatives

with

respect

to

China

and

the

Chinese

treaty

ports

in

par-

ticular.

The

role

of

the

French

in

the

first

treaties

with

China

and

in

the

subsequent

treaty

settlements

is

made

clear

by

this

book

and

should

serve

to

correct

misstate-

ments

by

other

authors

who

have

not

done

the

detailed

research

in

the

relevant

ar-

chives.

Throughout,

the

importance

of

the

prestige

of

France

and

the

high

value

which

French

representatives

placed

upon

the

ex-

port

of

French

culture

is

clearly

shown.

It

is

ho.ped

that

the

author

may

continue

his

research

to

cover

subsequent

decades

of

the

nineteenth

century

or,

at

least,

that

his

book

will

stimulate

further

research

in

the

important

last

two

decades

of

that

cen-

tury

by

other

scholars,

for

France’s

role

in

Asian

international

relations

needs

to

be

understood.

WILLIAM

C.

JOHNSTONE,

JR.

School

of

Advanced

International

Studies

WENDELL

PHILLIPS.

Qataban

and

Sheba:

Exploring

the

Ancient

Kingdoms

on

the

Biblical

Spice

Routes

of

Arabia.

Pp.