La France, la Grèce et les Balkans dans les années trente

Abstract

The geographical position of the modest Balkan States gave them an
eminent importance as to the foreign relations of the Powers that led, or
believed they led, the affairs of Europe. This paper tries, through the example
of France, to answer this question: did Paris develop a coherent policy regarding
the Balkans in the interwar period? Studied on the basis of the Documents
Diplomatiques Français, the problem for France during the thirties was
to face the increasing German influence in both the economic and commercial
spheres, and to maintain its traditional alliances. In spite of critical observations,
a certain coherence can be observed in the French attitudes: a looseness,
without abandonment, towards its main alliances of the post-war period,
such as Yugoslavia and Romania; a shy expectary with Greece; a determined
and dogged quest for Turkish friendship that brought about a too late recovery
of what could have been a real Balkan policy. More, with the German-
Soviet pact of August 1939, France suddenly saw the strategic basis of its
main aims disappear. Finally, the area was to be reduced to a regional importance
in the coming war.