Evening star., 1945-07-20
(Second OF a Series.)
BY PAUL REYNAUD,
War Premier of France.

When became Premier OF
France, after seven months of
"phony war" I tried to resist the
plan agreed upon between the Al
lies, five months earlier, for taking
our army of defense out of its
trenches to advance into Belgium
and fight in the open country.
After the German Army launched
It's May 1940) offensive I watched
as head of the government the dra-
matte developments which point by
point had foretold in the French
Chamber of Deputies on March Is,
1935-five years earlier. d. .. The
Belgian Army, left isolated on the
Albert Canal, is driven back; our
open northern frontier Is attacked, |,
our front breaks, and becsuse we do
not possess what I called for in
1895, "a special armored corps cap
able of delivering a counterstroke
of smashing power equal to that OF
the attacker," what I then fore
told came about-"all will be lost.
"The unbroken front" which our
military leaders had proclaimed i'm
pregnable was smashed, our troops
were cut off from their general
staff, baf1ed, bewildered, dispersed,
exhausted. This is that "revolu-
ton in the art of war" which on
January 26, 1887, had described
to the Chamber, when, once more
pleading for an armored corps,
declared, I'VE have not single
day to lose!"
Wanted to Continue Fight.
On May 1S, 1910, when Gen.
Corap's Army had been smashed,
France invaded and German
armored corps already past st.
Quentin, the Allied armies in Bel
gium were threatened with i'm
mediate encirclement. 1t was then
that I appealed to Marshal Petain
and Gen. Weygand, as the last two
surviving heroes of the earlier war,
in whose patriotism I, like every
other Frenchman, believed.
Three weeks later, we had been
beaten on our home territory. But
we still had the second largest fleet
in Europe, and the second largest
colonial empire in the world.
We were bound by the pledge
between the Allies not to sign a
separate armistice.
1t was my intention to continue
the war an North Africa. I had
made arrangements there for this
purpose. AT the dramatic meetings
of the French cabinet in Touraine
and at Bordeaux I struggled for the
honor of France against the two
heroes" of the French Army. De-
spite our fleet, despite our empire.
despite the pledge which France had
given, Marshal Petain, Gen. Wey-
gand, Admiral Darlan, the army
chiefs and many Of the ministers
wanted to surrender. I preferred to
give up my Office rather than adopt
such a policy.
Refused Embassy Post.
Petain became my successor. He
urged me to accept the post of vice
president of the cabinet and later to
take over the French Embassy in
Washington. I refused both.
Georges Mandel and I were ar
rested on September 6, 1910, by de-
cree. We were confind In the castle
OF Chazeron with Edouard Daladier,
Leon Blum (former Premiers, also
accused by Petain of fostering the
war; and Gen. Maurice Gamelin
commander In chief of the French
Army during the early part of the
war;.
Petain intended to prosecute both
Mandel and me for the crime" of
having refused to surrender But he
came up against the conscientious
scruples of three lieutenant colonels
acting as secretaries of the courts
martial, who refused thus to dis
grace themselves.
Sentenced to Prison.
But Hitler insisted on our public
So at the instance
of one of Hitler's ministers, Petain
on October is, 1941, condemned
us by decree as being among those
responsible for French defeat
sentenced without being charged,
without being heard, without even
being told why.
The next year was spent In the