Evening star., 1945-07-23
Memoirs of Paul Reynoud
Bv PAUL REYNAUD,
War Premier Of France.

By PAUL REYNAUD,
War Premier Of France.
Gen. Maxine Weygand, chief con-
spirator with Petain in the intrigues
which brought about the fall of my
government and the surrender of
France, is not an intelligent man.
But he talks well.
Marshals Joffre and Foch, heroes
of the last war, were poor at talking.
Foch's great brain, especially, was
subject to volcanic outbreaks which
baff1ed any listener who was not
used to them. You tell them, Wey-
gand," he would exclaim abruptly
on such occasions. (Weygand was
chief of Foch's general staff from
1914 to 1923.-Ed)
And then, in his fluent, clear
expressive voice, Weygand would
expound his chiefs ideas.
Weygand a Satellite.
Foch used to say in his lectures
on strategy in the staff college, let
us begin by learning to think" This
great warrior had the habit of
throwing light upon every subject
he touched. Weygand reflected this
light. He was a satellite.
Foch's eagle eye had seen where
the danger lay in the World War.
Did Weygand do as much before
the second?
Not only did Weygand fail to un-
derstand the revolution that had
been brought about by armored
forces and aircraft. but in brusque
tones he silenced men like Charles
de Gaulle (then a colonel, VINO
tried to open his eyes to the facts.
Weygand was completely blind to
the greatness of Republican ideals.
He had won a certain popularity in
the army by posing as the protector
of the officer against the politician.
He was an enthusiast for his pro-
fession, but he did not like the army
for itself. He looked upon it rather
as an instrument TO be used against
the regime and its supporters.
Mandel Reveals Deception.
Weygand stopped at nothing to
overthrow the ''ill-dispoSed'-that IS
to say, those who did not share mis-
violent prejudice. To hand out COM
mandS to the well disposed" seemed
to him much more important than
to create armored divisions.
When Georges Mandel minister
Of the Interior i'll the Reynaud cabi-
net-Ed) and l could at last get to-
gether at Portalet, after eight
months Imprisonment, I told him
how surprised had been by Wey-
gand's twisting of the truth during
the months following the armistice
Mandel replied: You would not
be so surprised If you knew this
story: In 1919, during a difficult mo-
ment in the Versailles Peace Confer
ence, Monsieur Clemenceau George
Clemenceau, French Premier of the
World War-EdD had to back down
about the clause dealing with the
occupation of the Rhineland.
"Foch protested, and the Matln
paris daily, conservative-EdD pub
lished an article which criticized the
policy the French government
Weygand on being asked to explain
expressly denied that Marshal Foch
or his staff had had anything to dc
with the article"
yet" he went on. "at that very
moment I had In my drawer the
manuscript of that article-Which
had been written by Weygand in his
own handwriting"
Scorned Bigger Army.
In 1884, Weygand told the Su-
preme War Council Of which he was
vice president, that the army
Daladier had given France was in
sufficient to protect the country
Yet, on October Is, 1886, after two
years of doing nothing, while our
adversaries had been making tre-
mendous progress in preparation fol-
war, he wrote and later republisheC
as a pamphlet an optimistic article
for the Revue Des Deux Mondes, in
which he stated: 1T is not neces-
sary to create any Of this digger
modernized army demandedD, be-
cause it already exists"
Weygand has an enduring hatred
for the French Republic. He be-
came still more bitter when, in 1885
he was not asked to carry on as
commander in chief. He hac
reached the age limit and Gamelir
succeeded him.
Yet the republic treated him very
handsomely, since he was kept un-
employed but on full pay. This
even involved a breach Of the law
for the fact of being nominally or
the active list should have disqual-
fed him from accepting any direc-
torship. Despite this, the republic
bestowed on Weygand the finest
present within its power to make
seat on the board of the Suez
Canal.
Assumed War Was Lost.
We know the sort of thing that
Petain said to Darlan, who came
of q Republican. family associated
with Freemasons. Qn France the
Masons are a fairly active political
force, resisting the authoritarian
policies of the church-Ed) What
would he have said to Weygand
who hated the Republican regime
so fiercely?
Did Petain promise to make him
like Darlan, first consul? Weygano
had not been as frank as Darlar
was. We can only note that he
obtained a high place in the gov.
ernment which Petain formed fol
the express purpose of seeking ar
armistice.
In May, 1910, shortly after Wey.
gand was appointed commando
in chief of the French Army, HI
was already assuming that the bat
tie of France would be lost. He
proposed to me that the govern
ment should await the arrival o1
the enemy in Paris. He knew very
well that If we had done so, the
enemy would have done away i'm.
mediately with the legal govern
ment of France and would substi.
tute a Quisling regime in which HI
| aypocfnd S1IppoSe that he anr