The Rhineland crisis and the case for early deterrence

One interpretation of the Rhineland crisis is that French resistance could have stopped German escalation before it grew into a larger war. Each unopposed gain encouraged another, while governments hoped that concessions would prevent a repetition of 1914. The comparison with the Cold War credits nuclear deterrence with preventing a major European war, even as fighting continued elsewhere. French mobilization alone is proposed as a probable means of inducing German withdrawal, without an invasion.