A collection of six essays contrasts two competing postwar visions for Europe: one seeking German predominance through territorial and political reordering, the other advocating the preservation and creation of independent national groupings to limit that power. The author examines how language, tradition, and historic memory define national identity, argues that wholesale annexation of European peoples is no longer a straightforward aim, and uses maps and practical illustrations to show how alternative arrangements of frontiers would reshape the continent and determine strategic and political outcomes.