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synarchy movement of empire book ii - Pierre Beaudry's Galactic ...

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oth the government and the High Command. De Gaulle had continued<br />

fighting to the very last minute.<br />

By March 21, 1940, the Chamber <strong>of</strong> Ministers overturned the Daladier<br />

Cabinet, and on the 23 rd Paul Reynaud formed the new government.<br />

Reynaud immediately summoned de Gaulle to him, but it was too late.<br />

Reynaud was being prepared for a fall, and the synarchists were lining up<br />

Laval and Petain to establish their fascist regime. De Gaulle made the<br />

comment that "if Reynaud fails, Laval will take power with Petain at his<br />

side. The Marshal is in fact, in a position to make the High Command accept<br />

an armistice." At the first sign <strong>of</strong> Hitler invading France, the beast-man<br />

Laval was ready to take over the government.<br />

7.2 DE GAULLE'S PARADOX OF {ASSAULT ARTILLERY}.<br />

Of the three military chiefs who fought the First World War, Marshal<br />

Foch, Marshal J<strong>of</strong>fre, and Marshal Petain, only Marshal Petain survived in<br />

the post <strong>of</strong> Commander in Chief <strong>of</strong> the French army during a thirteen year<br />

period <strong>of</strong> peace. Of all <strong>of</strong> the high command <strong>of</strong>ficers, Petain was the one<br />

dominating the military doctrine <strong>of</strong> France. General Maxime Weygand,<br />

known as a Catholic fanatic and a Monarchist, succeeded Petin, in 1931. The<br />

Chief <strong>of</strong> Staff was General Maurice Gamelin. Both Gamelin and Weygand<br />

were former aids <strong>of</strong> General Foch.<br />

By the time <strong>of</strong> the Depression <strong>of</strong> the early thirties, the French military<br />

budget had been slashed by 2 billion francs. In 1933, the budget called for<br />

cutting a sixth <strong>of</strong> the Officer's Corps and 5,000 out <strong>of</strong> the 30,000 men<br />

enlisted. This caused total panic in the High Command. Add to this the<br />

sclerosis <strong>of</strong> the High Command, and you have a strategic problem on your<br />

hands. The High Command had been brainwashed in either total <strong>of</strong>fensive or<br />

total defensive. After 1918, all <strong>of</strong> the top generals decided to close their<br />

minds, and rest on the laurels <strong>of</strong> their First World War victory. Petin even<br />

said explicitly before a parliamentary committee: "My military mind is<br />

closed."<br />

As an artillery <strong>of</strong>ficer, Marshal Petain had a traditional view <strong>of</strong> the<br />

role <strong>of</strong> artillery, and therefore could not understand de Gaulle's idea <strong>of</strong><br />

{assault artillery}. This was an axiom buster, because, for the traditional<br />

59

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