In a confidential 90-page memorandum on the status of the French Navy written in the aftermath of the Fashoda Crisis, the Minister of Marine, Jean-Louis de Lanessan, sharply criticised French naval strategy as it had been practiced more or less since the establishment of the Triple Alliance. During these years it had been almost an absolute rule that one did not “take any interest in England. One dismissed any idea of war against this power, and consequently, one did not in any manner consider organising our navy with an eye to such a war [. . .]”, Lanessan argued.
Lanessan’s allegation that the French naval establishment had been almost single-mindedly occupied with the Triple Alliance as a potential enemy through most of the 1880s and 1890s was not unfounded. We have seen how Aube during his period as Minister of Marine encountered opposition when he attempted to draw up manoeuvres which designated Great Britain the enemy. As we shall see, the strategic considerations and the operational planning of the General Staff of the Ministry of Marine and the commanders in chief in Toulon and Brest also focused on the Triple Alliance well into the second half of the 1890s.
"Никакого интереса к Англии"! Возможно, лучший морской министр Франции и талантливый норвежский писатель сгущают краски. Идея о том, что на протяжении 80-х и 90-х годов XIX в. для французов противником №1 был флот итальянский - не британский - не относится к разряду широко известных за пределами узкого круга. Да, о том, что, например, программа 1890 г. предусматривала создание французского флота, равного по численности флоту Тройственного союза, можно прочитать даже на русском - спасибо Дмитрию Якимовичу - но в приведённом выше тексте акценты расставлены радикально. В общем, удивился. Комментарии специалистов приветствуются.