La discorde chez l'ennemi

by Charles de Gaulle

Originally published in 1924 and available here in English for the first time, "The Enemy's House Divided" is Charles de Gaulle's analysis of the major errors that led the Germans to disaster in World War I. Based partly on observations made during his internment as a prisoner of war from 1916 to 1918, it can be seen as the foundation for everything he wrote in the 1920s and 1930s in the shadow of German resurgence and for much of what he said and did after the Nazi victory in June of 1940.
To de Gaulle, the German conduct of the Great War and the debacle of 1918 was the greatest moral disaster ever to befall a modern civilized political community. He seeks to identify the internecine causes of the collapse of the German war effort in 1918 and of the subsequent dissolution of the German Empire. His diagnosis of the profound moral crisis that unfolded in Germany during World War I points forward to 1940, for de Gaulle understood the fall of France, above all, as a moral catastrophe for the French. His first book, it is also a key document of de Gaulle's "philosophy of action," introducing his statesmanship to the world with its deliberate and studied critique of the perils of Nietzsche's philosophical initiative.

186 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1924

About the author

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II and later founded the French Fifth Republic and served as its first President. In France, he is commonly referred to as Général de Gaulle or simply Le Général.

Reviews

[RobertL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charles DeGaulle - writes on World War 1!

Interesting book written based on DeGaulle's notes and reading while he was a prisoner of war. DeGaulle was monitoring the newspapers he was able to get as a prisoner.

He was able to piece together how several German philosophy's, personal ambition and decisions sabotaged the Germans efforts during the war.
- Generals that thought to was okay to disobey orders - based on their ideas in the field
- The ill informed / ill-fated decision to start Unlimited Submarine Warfare
- Lack of co-operation with their Austrian-Hungarian Allies
- Internal Politics to oust Chancellor Bethmann- Hollweg
- Not recognizing the mood of the German People

All these things certainly influenced DeGaulle's actions and strident opinions in World War 2 and beyond.

This is certainly good read if you want to understand Charles DeGaulle and some of the key things that shapped how he lead in World War 2 and beyond

[LECONTE · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il y a beaucoup de noms de personnages historiques à retenir. Les liens entre chacun d'entre eux sont à comprendre pour saisir les enjeux ou bien les réactions des personnages. C'est ce que j'ai trouvé difficile. Après le nom des villes allemandes ou russe, les anciens noms de pays c'était chouette à apprendre. J'ai beaucoup amélioré ma connaissance des pays d'Europe avec quelques passages. Mais bon je n'étais pas la cible du livre. J'ai trouvé ça long à lire et parfois intéressant et surprenant.

[Peter Rooijmans]

A perspicuous and highly readable analysis of the moral disintegration of the German leadership and people during the First World War.