Editing François Darlan (section)

==Early life and career==
Darlan was born in [[Nérac]], Lot-et-Garonne, to a family with a long connection with the French Navy. His great-grandfather was killed at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]].<ref name="korda">{{Cite book |title=Ike: An American Hero |last=Korda |first=Michael  |author-link=Michael Korda |year=2007 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=New York|isbn=978-0-06-075665-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ikeamericanhero00kord/page/325 325] |url=https://archive.org/details/ikeamericanhero00kord |url-access=registration |access-date=10 May 2013 }}</ref> His father, [[Jean-Baptiste Darlan]], was a lawyer and politician who served as [[Minister of Justice]] in the cabinet of [[Jules Méline]]. [[Georges Leygues]], a political colleague of his father who would spend seven years as [[List of Naval Ministers of France|Minister of the Marine]], was Darlan's godfather.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Auphan |first1=Paul |last2=Mordai |first2=Jacques |title=The French Navy in World War II |date=1959 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=9781682470602 |page=10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DKuqDAAAQBAJ|language=en}}</ref>

Darlan graduated from the ''[[École Navale]]'' in 1902. During World War I, he commanded an artillery battery that took part in the [[Battle of Verdun]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Horne |first=Alistair |title=The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 |year=1993 |publisher=Penguin |location=New York |isbn=978-0-14-017041-2 |page=248}}</ref> After the war Darlan commanded the training ships ''[[French cruiser Jeanne d'Arc (1899)|Jeanne d'Arc]]'' and ''[[French cruiser Edgar Quinet|Edgar Quinet]]'', receiving promotions to frigate captain in 1920 and captain in 1926.

Thereafter Darlan rose swiftly. He was appointed Chef de Cabinet to Leygues and promoted to ''[[rear admiral|contre-amiral]]'' in 1929. In 1930, he served as the French Navy's representative at the [[London Naval Treaty|London Naval Conference]], and in 1932 he was promoted to ''[[vice admiral|vice-amiral]]''. Subsequently, in 1934, he took command of the Atlantic Squadron at [[Brest, France|Brest]]. He was promoted to ''[[lieutenant admiral|vice-amiral d'escadre]]'' in 1936.