Summary of Barbara W. Tuchman's The March of Folly

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 The pursuit by governments of policies that are contrary to their own interests is a phenomenon that has occurred throughout history. Man makes a poorer performance of government than any other human activity.
#2 Government can be conducted for four types of reasons: tyranny, excessive ambition, incompetence, and perversity. Perversity is when a policy is pursued that is contrary to the self-interest of the state.
#3 The French Revolution, great example of populist government, reverted quickly to autocracy once it acquired an able administrator. The revolutionary regimes of Jacobins and Directorate could manage their own followers enough to keep order, but they could not collect taxes or install a competent administration.
#4 The classic case of wooden-headedness was Plan 17, the French war plan of 1914, which concentrated on a French advance to the Rhine. The assumption was that the Germans could not deploy enough manpower to extend their invasion around through western Belgium and the French coastal provinces.

Sujets

• Vietnam War

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 24 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669363637
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Barbara W. Tuchman's The March of Folly
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The pursuit by governments of policies that are contrary to their own interests is a phenomenon that has occurred throughout history. Man makes a poorer performance of government than any other human activity.

#2

Government can be conducted for four types of reasons: tyranny, excessive ambition, incompetence, and perversity. Perversity is when a policy is pursued that is contrary to the self-interest of the state.

#3

The French Revolution, great example of populist government, reverted quickly to autocracy once it acquired an able administrator. The revolutionary regimes of Jacobins and Directorate could manage their own followers enough to keep order, but they could not collect taxes or install a competent administration.

#4

The classic case of wooden-headedness was Plan 17, the French war plan of 1914, which concentrated on a French advance to the Rhine. The assumption was that the Germans could not deploy enough manpower to extend their invasion around through western Belgium and the French coastal provinces.

#5

Individual sovereignty was government’s normal form for so long, it exhibits the human characteristics that have caused folly in government since the beginning. Rehoboam, King of Israel, son of King Solomon, succeeded his father at the age of 41 in approximately 930 B. C. , about a century before Homer composed the national epic of his people.

#6

The kingdom of Judah, which contained Jerusalem, was never reunited with the kingdom of Israel. The twelve tribes were split by their conflict, and they could not maintain the empire that David and Solomon had established. They were reduced and divided, and they were less able to withstand aggression by their neighbors.

#7

The Aztec state of Mexico was rich, sophisticated, and predatory. It was surrounded by mountains on a plateau in the interior. The Aztec rulers were advanced in the arts and sciences, and they conducted annual campaigns to capture slave labor and victims for sacrifice from neighboring tribes.

#8

When the Spanish arrived in Mexico, they were greeted with ceremony and brought to the palace. Montezuma, the emperor, did not try to stop them or bar their way. He sent magnificent gifts that displayed his wealth, and letters urging the visitors to turn back that indicated his weakness.

#9

The category of wooden-headedness is when a person’s beliefs become a delusion that is maintained against natural evidence, and this can lead to negative consequences for all parties involved.

#10

The Visigoths, a group of Gothic tribes that had invaded the Roman empire in the 4th century, had established themselves in control of most of Iberia by the end of the 5th century. They were the first to recognize that for a ruler opposed by two inimical groups, it is folly to continue antagonizing both at once.

#11

The Spanish monarchy, having failed to develop a workable government, was overthrown by the Moors in 711. The country was in disarray, and government began to develop as a recognized function with recognized principles, methods, and agencies.

#12

Solon was the sixth archon, or chief magistrate, in the 6th century B. C. He was chosen to save the state from economic distress and social unrest. He abolished slave labor, extended suffrage to the plebeians, and reformed the currency to encourage trade.

#13

The product of a new nation, George Washington was a leader who shines among the best. Around him in extraordinary fertility, political talent bloomed. The Founding Fathers were fearless, high-principled, and deeply versed in ancient and modern political thought.

#14

The French, Russian, and Chinese revolutions were all caused by the need for change, and the American system was created because of it. However, between flashes of good government, folly has its day.

#15

The Huguenots were a Protestant sect that were being persecuted by the Catholics. The King decided to banish them, and the persecution began in 1681.

#16

The Edict of Nantes, which allowed the Huguenots to practice their religion freely, was revoked in 1685. The Huguenots were a valuable resource for France’s enemies, who recognized this and welcomed them into their states.

#17

The Huguenot emigration, which took place during the reign of Louis XIV, was a disaster for France. It weakened the state, and the Protestant faith was reinvigorated by persecution.

#18

The last French Bourbon to reign, Charles X, was the brother of the guillotined Louis XVI and of his brief successor, Louis XVIII. Charles was determined to rule, and he manipulated elections to get what he wanted. When opposition in the Assembly grew, he dissolved the session and bribed voters with threats and other pressures.

#19

The German decision to resume unrestricted submarine warfare in 1916 was a policy decision that led to the sinking of thousands of merchant ships without warning. The practice had been halted in 1915 after the frenzy over the Lusitania, but Germany did not have enough submarines on hand to guarantee decisive effect if they forced the issue.

#20

The German government was debating whether or not to resume unrestricted submarine warfare against the United States. The war party, which included the Junkers and court circle, the expansionist war-aims associations, and the right-wing parties, wanted to resume it.

#21

The German government decided that they would stop the war, and on 9 January 1917, presented a 200-page compilation of statistics on tonnage entering British ports, freight rates, cargo space, rationing systems, food prices, and everything down to the calorie content of the British breakfast. They swore that their submarines could sink 600,000 tons a month, forcing England to capitulate.

#22

In 1941, Japan faced a similar decision. Her plan of empire, called the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, with the subjugation of China at its core, was a vision of Japanese rule stretching from Manchuria through the Philippines, Netherlands Indies, Malaya, Siam, Burma to (and sometimes including) Australia, New Zealand and India.

#23

The Japanese were planning to attack America at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in order to take the vital resources of the Netherlands Indies. They believed that if they moved to gain their first objective, the Americans would go to war against them.

#24

The Japanese decision to go to war with America was made in a climate of doubt and fear, but also one of cultural ignorance. The Japanese assumed that the American government could take the nation into war whenever it wanted, when in reality, the American people were strongly isolationist.

#25

The policy of the victors after World War II in contrast to the Treaty of Versailles and the reparations exacted after World War I is an example of learning from experience and putting what was learned into practice. The occupation of Japan according to a post-surrender policy drafted in Washington, approved by the Allies and largely carried out by Americans, was a remarkable exercise in conqueror’s restraint, political intelligence, reconstruction, and creative change.
Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The Trojan War is the most famous story of the Western world, and it has been inspiration for many writers and artists since. It speaks to us of ourselves, and how we have always been prone to pursue things that are against our own interests.

#2

The story of the Trojan War, which was the result of a dispute between Paris and the goddess of love, was told by the Greeks. The gods were on the side of the Greeks, because they were jealous of Paris’ choice of the most beautiful woman in the world.

#3

The Greeks built a large wooden horse, which they presented to Athena, the goddess of their city, as an offering. They hid armed men inside, and hoped that she would help them take Troy.

#4

The Trojans were initially against the Greeks sending the Horse into their city, but a fearful portent convinced them that Laocoon was wrong.

#5

The legend of Laocoon and the serpents is a prime example of how mankind can be blind to his own destruction. The Trojans believed that the serpents were sent by Apollo to warn them of the approaching doom, but in reality, they were sent by Athena to prove that Poseidon’s animus against the Trojans was equal to hers.

#6

The Trojans celebrate, and the Greeks fall upon them, slaughtering and looting. The dark blood flows, and the crackle of flames rises over the shrieks and groans of the wounded and the wailing of women. The tragedy is total.

#7

The Trojan epic is based on fact, as archaeologists have found evidence of a Bronze Age city on the Asian shore of the Hellespont, opposite Gallipoli, that was sacked and rebuilt many times. The overlord of the several communities of the Greek peninsula could have gathered allies for a concerted attack on Troy.

#8

The period following the Mycenaean collapse is a shadowy void of around two centuries called the Greek Dark Ages, during which written language disappeared completely. The Greeks began to recover around the 10th century B. C. and their epic poems began to be written down.

#9

The Greeks believed that the gods were responsible for the Trojan War, and they used this belief to explain the war’s strange and irregular events. The gods were a concept of the human mind, and they were needed to give meaning and purpose to life on earth.

#10

The Greeks had a goddess named Atē, daughter of Zeus, who was the goddess of Infatuation, Mischief, Delusion, and Blind Folly. She was the original cause of the Trojan War, which was a major struggle in the ancient world.

#11

The Trojan War w