The Trenches, 1915

The sixth volume of Poincaré's memoirs as President of the French Republic, and the second to deal with the Great War, from the beginning of 1915 to midsummer. There is stalemate on the western front, the Russians are retreating on the eastern front and British and French governments are scanning the horizon to seek out new fronts to open, to try desperately to break the deadlock. Poincaré is as ever, treading a difficult and narrow path of constitutional responsibility, and at the same time having to deal with the ever more turbulent politics of war: both internally, with a cantankerous and touchy parliament and the many critics of the government's handling of the crisis, notably the old Tiger of French politics, Georges Clemenceau; and externally with the competing interests of the belligerent powers coming into inevitable conflict with those of the neutral countries, whose territory is up for grabs in the formation of new alliances, with tempting offers arriving from all sides. But the problem of reconciling the allies own conflicting interests must also be settled, often in the crudest of horse-trading of peoples and nations. There are also the problems of lack of men, guns and shells, and the growing crisis of how to pay for it all. A fascinating view of the world of French politics, European diplomacy and the the conduct of the war by the French government.