The Misery of Victory: France’s Struggle for the Versailles Treaty

From 1920 to this day, French policy after Versailles has been termed unreasonable, but was it really? Britain and the United States thought so, and effectively deemed it simplest if France would accept defeat in the aftermath of deliverance. They mistakenly thought Germany wanted to forget the past, as they did, and they misread the power balance, exaggerating Germany's temporary prostration and France's fleeting ascendancy. Thus they feared French predominance.France worried about survival. She acted consistently to prevent a return of German predominance. France was realistic about the facts, if not always about her erstwhile allies. She was sometimes tactless and often disorganized; she clearly had failures of courage, will, propaganda, and economic insights. She knew, however, that she had not won the war and could not impose the peace alone against a largely intact Germany whose power position had been enhanced by the fragmentation of Europe. She saw that small-power alliances could not compensate for the Russian tie, that Germany was stronger, and that treaty clauses to offset that fact were mostly temporary. Thus France relied on Britain and the United States for security because without them she was lost, refusing to face mounting evidence that they were at best neutral, at worst in Germany's camp.Germany and France both concentrated on Britain in their efforts respectively to undo or preserve the Versailles treaty. Germany had the easier task, as Britain soon wanted to circumvent the treaty too. Preoccupied with imperial and economic problems, Britain feared German market competition to finance reparations and also France's dwindling military power; she was hostile to her historic foe and eager to be the fulcrum of the power balance again. Hence, seconded substantially by the United States, she tried to strengthen Germany at French expense ― a state of affairs which largely explains why France painfully progressed in five years from a determination to enforce key treaty clauses to defeated resignation.The chief battlegrounds of “the continuation of war by other means” were reparations and disarmament. The Ruhr conflict was the climax of the first battle, and the Dawes Plan embodied France's defeat. Locarno signalled both abandonment of requiring Germany's disarmament and her return to equality and diplomatic respectability. Thereafter a defeated France built the Maginot Line, tried with scant success to salvage something in the Young Plan, and clutched at straws, as in Briand's attempt to freeze the political status quo in his “European Union” scheme.France's failure stemmed partly from her own errors but primarily from Anglo-American defection. As admitting defeat or combining with Soviet Russia were politically unthinkable, she struggled on in vain, trying not to face facts. Yet her decision at the outset to accept a misnamed and fatefully moderate Armistice may have contributed to her eclipse, leaving France only the misery, not the grandeur, of victory.De 1920 jusqu'à nos jours, la politique française d'après Versailles a été jugée déraisonnable. Mais l'était-elle vraiment? La Grande-Bretagne et les États-Unis le croyaient et estimaient qu'il aurait été plus simple que la France accepte la défaite suite à la libération. Ils croyaient faussement que l'Allemagne voulait oublier le passé, comme ils l'avaient fait eux mêmes, et ils ont mal interprété l'équilibre du pouvoir, exagérant la prosternation temporaire de l'Allemagne et l'ascendance passagère de la France. Donc ils craignaient le prédominance française.La France s'inquiétait pour sa survie. Elle chercha à prévenir le retour de la prédominance allemande. La France était réaliste quant aux faits, même si elle ne l'était pas toujours face à ses alliés d'autrefois. Elle manquait parfois de tact et était souvent désorganisée; elle manqua de courage, de volonté, de propagande et de perspicacité économique. Elle savait, néanmoins, qu'elle n'avait pas gagné la guerre et qu'elle ne pouvait pas imposer la paix seule contre l'Allemagne presque intacte et dont la position de pouvoir avait été accrue par la fragmentation de l'Europe.Elle réalisait que des alliances avec plusieurs petits pays ne pouvaient compenser pour le lien avec la Russie, que l'Allemagne était plus forte et que les clauses du traité qui compensaient ce fait étaient temporaires pour la plupart. Ainsi la France comptait sur la Grande-Bretagne et les États-Unis pour sa sécurité parce que sans eux elle était perdue, elle refusait d'admettre les preuves toujours plus grandes de leur neutralité ou pire, de leur sympathie pour l'Allemagne.L'Allemagne et la France ont toutes deux misé sur la Grande-Bretagne dans leurs efforts respectifs de défaire ou de préserver le Traité de Versailles. L'Allemagne eut la tâche plus facile puisque la Grande-Bretagne eut tôt fait, elle aussi, de chercher à circonvenir au Traité. Préoccupée par des problèmes impériaux et économiques, la Grande-Bretagne craignait la concurrence du marché allemand pour financer les réparations et aussi la puissance militaire française qui s'effritait; elle était hostile à son adversaire historique et impatients d'être de nouveau au centre de l'équilibre du pouvoir. Désormais, secondée fortement par les États-Unis, elle essaya de renforcer l'Allemagne au dépens de la France, ce qui explique largement pourquoi la France progressa péniblement en cinq ans de sa détermination à faire respecter les principales clauses du Traité jusqu'à sa resignation à la défaite.Les principaux instruments pour « la poursuite de la guerre par d'autre moyens » étaient les réparations et le désarmement. Le conflit de la Ruhr fut le point culminant de la première bataille et le plan Dawes incarna la défaite de la France. Par la signature de Pacte de Locarno on cessait d'exiger que l'Allemagne se désarme et on consacrait son retour à l'égalité et à la respectabilité diplomatique. Par après, une France abattue construisit la ligne Maginot, tenta sans grand succès de récupérer un peu par le Plan Young et s'accrocha vainement, comme lors de la tentative de Briand de geler le statu quo en proposant son « Union Européenne ».L'échec de la France résulta en partie de ses propres erreurs, mais surtout de la défection anglo-américaine. Parce qu'il était politiquement inconcevable qu'elle admette la défaite ou qu'elle s'allie à la Russie soviétique, elle continua de lutter en vain, tentant de ne pas reconnaître les faits. Et pourtant par sa décision dès le départ d'accepter une armistice très modérée et qui d'ailleurs n'en était pas une vraiment, par cette décision donc, la France a peut-être contribué à sa propre déclin, ne récoltant que la misère plutôt que la grandeur de la victoire

Epidemiology of Haemophilus ducreyi Infections

The global epidemiology of Haemophilus ducreyi infections is poorly documented because of difficulties in confirming microbiological diagnoses. We evaluated published data on the proportion of genital and nongenital skin ulcers caused by H. ducreyi before and after introduction of syndromic management for genital ulcer disease (GUD). Before 2000, the proportion of GUD caused by H. ducreyi ranged from 0.0% to 69.0% (35 studies in 25 countries). After 2000, the proportion ranged from 0.0% to 15.0% (14 studies in 13 countries). In contrast, H. ducreyi has been recently identified as a causative agent of skin ulcers in children in the tropical regions; proportions ranged from 9.0% to 60.0% (6 studies in 4 countries). We conclude that, although here has been a sustained reduction in the proportion of GUD caused by H. ducreyi, this bacterium is increasingly recognized as a major cause of nongenital cutaneous ulcer

Stabilising urea nitrogen enhances flowering, nitrogen use efficiency, and growth habit for stress tolerance in ornamental plants

Purpose: Supplying plants with nitrogen in ammonium nitrate- or urea-based fertiliser is wasteful: much is degraded before acquisition, releasing environmental pollutants. Preventing urea degradation can reduce pollution and improve crop nitrogen use efficiency. We investigate benefits to ureic stabilisation, on flowering and stress tolerance, as organic nitrogen sources favourably alter biomass partitioning in this regard. Research Method: We test effects of adding chemically stabilised urea to soil, on the physical form and flowering of containerised, greenhouse-grown pelargonium, petunia, pansy and marigold, when transplanting seedlings to larger pots. Efficacies of stabilised urea, non-stabilised urea and industry standard fertiliser are compared under identical total nitrogen supply. The significance of treatment differences is calculated using a one-tailed t-test. Findings: Development is favourably altered by ureic stabilisation. Earliest changes measured are increased root lengths, leaf growth rates and chlorophyll concentrations. Plants then develop more shoots and 25-130% more flowers. Improvements arise partially through increased nitrogen longevity in soil, and partially through positive effects of urea itself on biomass partitioning between organs, and on plant physiology; giving rise to improved commercial attributes (more branches and flowers) and tolerance to stress (more root, less apical dominance, more chlorophyll). Research Limitations: Further research could measure leachate nitrogen content, and compare different methods of ureic stabilisation in more crops. Originality/Value: Urea stabilisation can increase fruit and flower yields, whilst reducing vulnerability to erratic climates, and fertiliser-derived pollution. We propose that urea’s effectiveness arises because plants have evolved strategies to proliferate whilst competing with micro-organisms for organic nitrogen

Ethanol consumption impairs vestibulo-ocular reflex function measured by the video head impulse test and dynamic visual acuity

Ethanol affects many parts of the nervous system, from the periphery to higher cognitive functions. Due to the established effects of ethanol on vestibular and oculomotor function, we wished to examine its effect on two new tests of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR): the video head impulse test (vHIT) and dynamic visual acuity (DVA). We tested eight healthy subjects with no history of vestibular disease after consumption of standardized drinks of 40% ethanol. We used a repeated measures design to track vestibular function over multiple rounds of ethanol consumption up to a maximum breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) of 1.38‰. All tests were normal at baseline. VOR gain measured by vHIT decreased 25% by the highest BrAC level tested in each subject. Catch-up saccades were negligible at baseline and increased in number and size with increasing ethanol consumption (from 0.13° to 1.43° cumulative amplitude per trial). DVA scores increased by 86% indicating a deterioration of acuity, while static visual acuity (SVA) remained unchanged. Ethanol consumption systematically impaired the VOR evoked by high-acceleration head impulses and led to a functional loss of visual acuity during head movement.NHMR

"Women's rights, the European Court and Supranational Constitutionalism"

This analysis examines supranational constitutionalism in the European Union. In particular, the study focuses on the role of the European Court of Justice in the creation of women’s rights. I examine the interaction between the Court and member state governments in legal integration, and also the integral role that women’s advocates – both individual activists and groups – have played in the development of EU social provisions. The findings suggest that this litigation dynamic can have the effect of fueling the integration process by creating new rights that may empower social actors and EU organizations, with the ultimate effect of diminishing member state government control over the scope and direction of EU law. This study focuses specifically on gender equality law, yet provides a general framework for examining the case law in subsequent legal domains, with the purpose of providing a more nuanced understanding of supranational governance and constitutionalism

Results of external quality assessment for proviral DNA testing of HIV tropism in the Maraviroc switch collaborative study

The Maraviroc Switch collaborative study (MARCH) is a study in aviremic patients on stable antiretroviral therapy and utilizes population-based sequencing of proviral DNA to determine HIV tropism and susceptibility to maraviroc. An external quality assessment (EQA) program was implemented to ensure competency in assessing the tropism of clinical samples conducted by MARCH laboratories (n = 14). The MARCH EQA has three prestudy phases assessing V3 loop sequencing and tropism determination using the bioinformatic algorithm geno2pheno, which generates a false-positive rate (FPR). DNA sequences with low FPRs are more likely to be from CXCR4-using (X4) viruses. Phase 1 of the EQA involved chromatogram interpretation. Phases 2, 2/3, and 3 involved patient and clonal samples. Clinical samples used in these phases were from treatment-experienced HIVinfected volunteers; 18/20 had viral loads o

Comparative efficacy of low-dose versus standard-dose azithromycin for patients with yaws: a randomised non-inferiority trial in Ghana and Papua New Guinea

Background: A dose of 30 mg/kg of azithromycin is recommended for treatment of yaws, a disease targeted for global eradication. Treatment with 20 mg/kg of azithromycin is recommended for the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem. In some settings, these diseases are co-endemic. We aimed to determine the efficacy of 20 mg/kg of azithromycin compared with 30 mg/kg azithromycin for the treatment of active and latent yaws. Methods: We did a non-inferiority, open-label, randomised controlled trial in children aged 6–15 years who were recruited from schools in Ghana and schools and the community in Papua New Guinea. Participants were enrolled based on the presence of a clinical lesion that was consistent with infectious primary or secondary yaws and a positive rapid diagnostic test for treponemal and non-treponemal antibodies. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either standard-dose (30 mg/kg) or low-dose (20 mg/kg) azithromycin by a computer-generated random number sequence. Health-care workers assessing clinical outcomes in the field were not blinded to the patient's treatment, but investigators involved in statistical or laboratory analyses and the participants were blinded to treatment group. We followed up participants at 4 weeks and 6 months. The primary outcome was cure at 6 months, defined as lesion healing at 4 weeks in patients with active yaws and at least a four-fold decrease in rapid plasma reagin titre from baseline to 6 months in patients with active and latent yaws. Active yaws was defined as a skin lesion that was positive for Treponema pallidum ssp pertenue in PCR testing. We used a non-inferiority margin of 10%. This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02344628. Findings: Between June 12, 2015, and July 2, 2016, 583 (65·1%) of 895 children screened were enrolled; 292 patients were assigned a low dose of azithromycin and 291 patients were assigned a standard dose of azithromycin. 191 participants had active yaws and 392 had presumed latent yaws. Complete follow-up to 6 months was available for 157 (82·2%) of 191 patients with active yaws. In cases of active yaws, cure was achieved in 61 (80·3%) of 76 patients in the low-dose group and in 68 (84·0%) of 81 patients in the standard-dose group (difference 3·7%; 95% CI −8·4 to 15·7%; this result did not meet the non-inferiority criterion). There were no serious adverse events reported in response to treatment in either group. The most commonly reported adverse event at 4 weeks was gastrointestinal upset, with eight (2·7%) participants in each group reporting this symptom. Interpretation: In this study, low-dose azithromycin did not meet the prespecified non-inferiority margin compared with standard-dose azithromycin in achieving clinical and serological cure in PCR-confirmed active yaws. Only a single participant (with presumed latent yaws) had definitive serological failure. This work suggests that 20 mg/kg of azithromycin is probably effective against yaws, but further data are needed