The Eisenhower administration, the European Defence Community and German rearmament, 1952-1955

This thesis explores how the Eisenhower administration attempted to convince France to ratify the European Defence Community, EDC, why its ratification policies ultimately failed and why the Eisenhower administration was so slow to develop an acceptable formula for German rearmament.;The failure of the Eisenhower administration to secure French support for the EDC and its inability to resolve the crisis in the western alliance after the French rejection of the EDC was the result of improper policy planning, the lack of diplomatic consultation, an inability to adjust its policies to meet developments quickly enough to seize advantage and an interventionist and heavy-handed relationship with its European allies that was counterproductive. This thesis suggests that the recent historical revisionism of the Eisenhower presidency needs to be "rolled back" because historians have been so anxious to correct the mistaken notions about Eisenhower that they have assigned him powers of political perception and wisdom that he did not possess and they have also overlooked setbacks in his foreign policy. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...