This military history examines the development of French Army doctrine from the end of WWI to the disastrous German invasion of WWII.

The importance of military doctrine has never been more powerfully demonstrated than in May of 1940, when France suffered a swift collapse in the face of German aggression. Though the French had spent twenty years preparing for just such an event, their military was defenseless against the type of fighting they suddenly faced. Few defeats have been so unexpected.

In The Seeds of Disaster, military historian Robert Doughty examines the doctrinal origins of this historic failure. Doughty traces the development of the French Army’s military doctrine from 1919 to 1939, revealing how its fundamental misunderstandings of modern warfare led to an elaborate yet inept system of defense.