Historically, French diplomatic strategy in the Interwar period was based on two pillars:
a)Attempting to contain Germany
b)Preserving an alliance or at least entente with the United States and particularly the United Kingdom
The end result of this was arguably successful, in that despite a setback in 1940, the French managed to maintain the second part of their objective and won the war, secured a place in the post-war world, and Germany's threat was permanently ended. Of course, the cost along the way was significantly greater than the French diplomats and politicians had expected. Part of this was that the two pillars were inherently in contradiction: the United Kingdom and United States displayed little interest in French security and were willing to prioritize German complaints over French fears, which meant that France was often placed into a situation of diplomatic isolation and couldn't carry out their objectives to contain Germany and enforce the Treaty of Versailles as they desired.
So what might be an alternate French diplomatic strategy for the Interwar, replacing either a), b), or both? I can see basically them attempting one or more of the following 1)A stronger attachment to the Eastern Alliances(Poland, Little Entente), 2)Intensified efforts to secure an alliance with Italy, and 3)Attempts at reconciliation with Germany to satisfy them within an international framework (historically they had a scheme for European integration in the late 1920s that might have succeeded, it partly died due to British influence although it is a lot more complicated than that), 4)More diplomatic energy for collective security through the League of Nations.
All of these were pursued to varying degrees OTL, and might represent more feasible alternate diplomatic strategies if the French concentrated on them instead of the United Kingdom and the United States. But are any of them enough to replace the original French diplomatic strategy and to better guarantee French security, influence, and autonomy?
a)Attempting to contain Germany
b)Preserving an alliance or at least entente with the United States and particularly the United Kingdom
The end result of this was arguably successful, in that despite a setback in 1940, the French managed to maintain the second part of their objective and won the war, secured a place in the post-war world, and Germany's threat was permanently ended. Of course, the cost along the way was significantly greater than the French diplomats and politicians had expected. Part of this was that the two pillars were inherently in contradiction: the United Kingdom and United States displayed little interest in French security and were willing to prioritize German complaints over French fears, which meant that France was often placed into a situation of diplomatic isolation and couldn't carry out their objectives to contain Germany and enforce the Treaty of Versailles as they desired.
So what might be an alternate French diplomatic strategy for the Interwar, replacing either a), b), or both? I can see basically them attempting one or more of the following 1)A stronger attachment to the Eastern Alliances(Poland, Little Entente), 2)Intensified efforts to secure an alliance with Italy, and 3)Attempts at reconciliation with Germany to satisfy them within an international framework (historically they had a scheme for European integration in the late 1920s that might have succeeded, it partly died due to British influence although it is a lot more complicated than that), 4)More diplomatic energy for collective security through the League of Nations.
All of these were pursued to varying degrees OTL, and might represent more feasible alternate diplomatic strategies if the French concentrated on them instead of the United Kingdom and the United States. But are any of them enough to replace the original French diplomatic strategy and to better guarantee French security, influence, and autonomy?
