Date of Award

Spring 5-1998

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

History

First Advisor

Dr. John D. Treadway

Abstract

This thesis sheds light on a hitherto neglected chapter in the life of Pierre Laval, one of France's most controversial political figures in the twentieth century. Widely remembered as Vice-Premier (Vice-President du Conseil des Ministres) of the Vichy government during World War II, Laval is less known as the premier (President du Conseil des Ministres) who attempted to solve the grave financial and diplomatic dilemmas dividing France, Great Britain, the United States, and Germany in 1931. In that year, he engaged in one last grand diplomatic effort, before Adolf Hitler came to power, traveling to London, Berlin and Washington, D.C., in order to solve the issues of the international war debt, the world economic crisis, and the rise of nationalism in Germany.

Included in

History Commons

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