ABSTRACT
Foreign policy was rendered instrumental and subordinate, making it of course impossible to rescue the pitiful remnants of the Versailles system. The gap between the claim to leadership in foreign policy and its economic foundation widened at a moment when German capatialism under the Nazi regime reached a new stage of its development with both concentration and monopolization increasing. The stagnation or even regression of the national economy due to internal and external factors, reciprocally influencing each other negatively, ultimately led to the weakening of France's position in foreign trade and payments, in both the monetary and the trade sector, particularly in respect to capital as the traditional tool to support one's authority in foreign affairs. The fundamental inconsistencies and weaknesses of the French position were revealed by the Depression. A final explanation for the development, however, requires a look at the transformation of the balance of power within French society.
