First World War trauma and French rearmament

The Dunkerque discussion widens from engineering to the damage France suffered in the First World War. Calling an entire generation simply 'destroyed' understates the continuing effect on survivors, who lived with physical injury, psychological scars, grief, and trauma. The battles around Verdun stand for a war that drained confidence and hope from French society. Successive governments then struggled with the scale of that national experience, adding to political instability and inconsistent policy. This places uneven naval rearmament support within the social and political aftermath of industrial war.