by Jeffry Babb
Germany had been the dominant power in Europe since the Franco-German War (1870-1871). The French were defeated despite the confident assertion of superiority in weapons and manpower. The war was a blow to French pride from which it never really recovered. The Germans had well-defined strategic aims, which they achieved. This was the first German war in the West.
The cause of the second war in the West, the Great War (1914-1918) is usually ascribed to a failure in “balance…