FORE WORD<br > THE halhnark of the period since World War II has been drasnc<br > change in the domestic order and international position of countries<br > all over the world. Ii1 the vast regions of Asia， Africa， and Latin<br > America this period has seen the birth of some fifty new nations and<br > the beginning of an epic drive to modernize traditional societies.<br > But the mature societies of Vestern Europe， hmg at the hub of<br > international affairs， have also felt the impact of radical change. In<br > !css than two decades Europe has gone through a cycle from the<br > V~stwar stagnation to the current dynamism. Diverse pressures have<br > bccn reshaping societies， economies， and external relations. The na-<br > tions of Vcstern Europe have rapidly adapted to the conditions of<br > the postwar world and are on the road to the creation of a Euro-<br >: pcan C(nnmt nltv. These domestic and external changes are as<br > s~ecpm~ ，， as anything happening in the emerging continents of<br > Asia and Africa.<br > The study of change in Western Europe， as in the developing<br > countries， has been a part of the research prograln of the Harvard<br > (]enter for International Affairs since its inception. It was early<br > realized that a penetrating analysis of the interacting changes af-<br > fecting Europe would require the pooling of the knowledge and in-<br > sights of experts in domestic politics and foreign relations， econo-<br > n~ists， social historians， and sociologists. It was also fclt that one<br > fruitful approach， though not the (rely one， would be to analyze<br > the experience (，f individual countries. The choice of France for<br > the first such study was prompted by the presence in the Cambridge<br > area of a number of well qualified specialists from different disci-<br > plines who were eager to undertake it together. Each， in the course<br > (~f his (m n work， had come to feel the nccd for a reappraisal of<br > ~.{ ! 1. ?，<br > the changing French situation. All recognized that shocks from<br > outside France~the war， the defeat of x94o， the occupation and<br > liberation~had shaken the foundations of pre-~939 France and<br > had released forces pent-up for some years. But many questions re-<br > vii<br >