Main schools of geopolitical thought

DOWNLOAD REFERAT

Preview referat: Main schools of geopolitical thought

Despite the victory of the Allies in WWI, the French were concerned about the possible expansion of German power within Europe.
For the most part, France supported the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles that forces the Germans to abandon the colonies and the European territory to the Allies. Resting uneasily behind the Maginot Line (fortification system along the German frontier from Switzerland to Luxembourg built 1929-1936 under the direction of the war minister Andre Maginot.

In 1940 German forces succeeded to outflank the Maginot Line, passing over the Belgian border), France maintained different positions in contrast to Germany.
The French school of geopolitics was interested to establish the contrasts between West and East. The western tradition represented by France, Britain and the United States emphasized cooperation and flexibility. The east symbolized by Germany represented dictatorship and rigidity.

In the extent of the colonial empire, France surpassed Germany, that is why it regarded German views of territorial expansion with suspicion and alarm. As a result, France strongly endorsed the League of Nations and advocated expanded international cooperation to settle disputes.
The first French geopolitical study is considered to be "La France de l'Est" published in 1917 by Paul Vidal de la Blache (1845-1918).

He examined the whole question of the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by Germany in 1871, pleading strongly for the return of the provinces to France. Rejecting the German arguments of nationality based on race and language, he invoked the idea of "la geographie active" based on the importance of historical development in the formulation of both national and regional character. He did not accepted but partially the Ratzel's determinism and the organic view of a state, developing instead the idea of the state as a spatial unit in which the core. « mai multe referate din Stiinte Politice