ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses upon the important part played by national values in determining France's grand strategy after World War II, and the process by which a strategy of grandeur was chosen over some alternatives. The very stability of French nuclear strategy has been rooted in this choice, and reflected in the means by which grand strategy was implemented through the 1950s and 1960s. At the root of France's strategy of grandeur have been two national values: a strong individualism, reflected both in the domestic and the international political context and an equally strong search for prestige. The origins of both grand and nuclear strategy must be sought in the Fourth Republic, from 1946 to 1958. The new substrategy of nuclear deterrence was announced in 1959, featuring prominently omnidirectional defense, or defense tous azimuts. Nuclear strategy, given its centrality to the grand strategy and its significance as a national symbol, remains very important.
