Editing Maxime Weygand (section)

=== Interwar ===
==== Poland ====
[[File:Misja aliancka w Polsce (1920).jpg|thumb|right|Weygand, first row second from right, standing next to British [[Cabinet Secretary (United Kingdom)|Cabinet Secretary]] [[Maurice Hankey, 1st Baron Hankey|Marice Hankey]], serving as part of the [[Interallied Mission to Poland]]. August 1920.]]
[[File:Gare de l'Est - arrivée du général Weygand au retour de Pologne.jpg|thumb|Weygand at [[Gare de l'Est]] on his return from Poland in August 1920]]

During the [[Polish–Soviet War]], Weygand was a member of the [[Interallied Mission to Poland]] of July and August 1920, supporting the infant [[Second Polish Republic]] against the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]]. (He had not been on the 1919 [[French Military Mission to Poland]] headed by General [[Paul Prosper Henrys]].) The Interallied Mission, which also included French diplomat [[Jean Jules Jusserand]] and the British diplomat Lord [[Edgar Vincent D'Abernon]], achieved little: its report was submitted after the [[Polish Armed Forces (Second Polish Republic)|Polish Armed Forces]] had won the crucial [[Battle of Warsaw (1920)|Battle of Warsaw]]. Nonetheless, the presence of the Allied missions in Poland gave rise to a myth that the timely arrival of Allied forces saved Poland.{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=o3FWGRxVlSYC&pg=PA222 222]}}

Weygand travelled to [[Warsaw]] expecting to assume command of the [[Polish Armed Forces (Second Polish Republic)|Polish army]], yet those expectations were quickly dashed. He had no good reply for [[Józef Piłsudski]], who on 24 July during their first meeting asked "How many divisions do you bring?" Weygand had none to offer. From 27 July Weygand was an adviser to the Polish Chief of Staff, [[Tadeusz Rozwadowski]]. It was a difficult position; most Polish officers regarded him as an interloper, and spoke only Polish, which he did not understand. At the end of July he proposed that the Poles hold the length of the [[Bug River]]; a week later he proposed a purely defensive posture along the [[Vistula]] river; both plans were rejected. One of his few lasting contributions was to insist on replacing the existing system of spoken orders by written documents; he also provided advice on logistics and construction of modern entrenchments.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|p=49}} [[Norman Davies]] writes: "on the whole he was quite out of his element, a man trained to give orders yet placed among people without the inclination to obey, a proponent of defence in the company of enthusiasts for the attack".{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=o3FWGRxVlSYC&pg=PA222 222]}} During another meeting with Piłsudski on 18 August, Weygand became offended and threatened to leave, depressed by his failure and dismayed by Poland's disregard for the Allied powers.

At the station at Warsaw on 25 August he was consoled by the award of the [[Virtuti Militari]], 2nd class; at Paris on the 28th he was cheered by crowds lining the platform of the [[Gare de l'Est]], kissed on both cheeks by the premier, [[Alexandre Millerand]].{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=o3FWGRxVlSYC&pg=PA222 222]}} Promoted to ''général corps d'armée'' and advanced to ''Commandeur'' in the [[Legion of Honour]],{{sfn|Clayton|2015|p=50}} Weygand could not understand what had happened and admitted in his memoirs what he said to a French journalist already on 21 August 1920: "the victory was Polish, the plan was Polish, the army was Polish".<ref name="Drozdowski">{{cite news |title = Opinia gen. Weyganda o zwycięstwie pod Warszawą | last = Genty | newspaper = [[Kurier Warszawski]] | location = Warsaw | id = nr 232 | date = 22 August 1920 | page = 3 |trans-title=Gen. Weygand's view on the victory at Warsaw |language=pl}}, as cited in: {{cite book | editor = Marian Marek Drozdowski | others = Hanna Eychhorn-Szwankowska, Jerzy Wiechowski | title = Zwycięstwo 1920 |trans-title=Victory 1920 | year = 1990 | publisher = Editions Dembinski | isbn = 2-87665-010-X | oclc = 24085711 | page = 151 |language=pl}}, also reprinted in: {{cite news |title=Generał Weygand o zwycięstwie |url=http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/plain-content?id=162606 |newspaper=Gazeta Polowa |date=28 August 1920 |access-date=27 September 2011}}</ref> As Norman Davies notes: "He was the first uncomprehending victim, as well as the chief beneficiary, of a legend already in circulation that he, Weygand, was the victor of Warsaw. This legend persisted for more than forty years even in academic circles".{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=o3FWGRxVlSYC&pg=PA222 222]}}

==== Levant and ''CHEM'' directorship ====
[[File:French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon map en.svg|thumb|right|The French mandate in Syria was reorganised into two major divisions centred on [[Damascus]] and [[Aleppo]], with a special district reserved for [[Alawites]], during Weygand's tenure.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|p=53}} ]]

Weygand returned from Poland to his duties with the interallied council overseeing the implementation of the Versailles treaty and the [[Treaty of Lausanne|renegotiation of peace]] with [[Turkey]] after they rejected the [[Treaty of Sèvres]]. Weygand declined to serve on a proposed French occupation force to occupy the Ruhr valley after Germany refused to meet reparation payments; he similarly refused appointment to Poland.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|p=51}}

In 1922, the Poincaré ministry appointed Weygand [[High Commissioner of the Levant]] to govern the [[Mandate for Syria and Lebanon|French mandate in Lebanon and Syria]], replacing [[Henri Gouraud]]. Putting an end of Gouraud's coercive pacification campaigns, Weygand was largely conciliatory and devolved most policing responsibilities to local gendarmes. He also supervised infrastructure projects to support export of cotton and silk, reformed the school system, and established [[Damascus University]] in June 1923.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|p=53}}<ref>Arguing that a university had existed in Damascus since 1919, but that Weygand joined three separate departments into what was then called the Syrian University: {{cite journal |last=Mubayed |first=Sami |title=The founding of Damascus University 1903–1936: an essay in praise of the pioneers |journal=Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies |volume=18 |year=2018 |pages=179–200 |doi=10.5617/jais.6715 |url=https://journals.uio.no/JAIS/article/download/6715/5759/20565 }}</ref> Administration in the mandate was also reformed and the basis for the modern borders of Syria and Lebanon established. Weygand's wife Renée joined him there and they enjoyed their time in Beirut. However, with the left-wing victory in the May 1924 elections, Weygand was recalled in place of [[Maurice Sarrail]] that December.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|pp=53–54, noting Sarrail was promptly removed after he shelled Damascus during the [[Great Syrian Revolt]]}}

[[File:Turenne-Weygand-a-01.jpg|thumb|right|A cover of Weygand's biography of [[Turenne]], pictured above. The book was first published in 1929.<!-- Weygand was elevated to the Academie in 1931; this cover, given the sub nomine, must postdate that -->]]

Weygand returned to France in 1925 embittered, seeing his recall as the product of political machinations and intra-army rivalries. Regardless, he was awarded the [[Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor]].{{sfn|Clayton|2015|p=54}} Denied command in Morocco against the [[Rif War]] out of fear for his success, command in Syria since it would embarrass the government, and command in Germany due to his closeness with Foch, he was made director of the ''Centre de Hautes Etudes Militaries'' (Center for Higher Military Studies) from 1925 to 1930.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|p=55, 56–57}} While Weygand supported development of a doctrine of rapid armoured assault with close air support, the government's view – which feared professionalisation of the army as a threat to regime stability and saw investment in tanks as financially ruinous – prevailed.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|pp=55–56 (noting the left-wing government's fear of a professional military and opposition to French military adventurism), 57–58 (noting Weygand's article in 1921 "in which he foresaw armoured divisions composed of fast tanks and self-propelled artillery... supported by aircraft strikes" as well as Weygand's doubts over tank speed and reliability in 1926)}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Weygand |first=Maxime |title=La Cavalerie de la " Revue de Cavalerie " |year=1921 |volume=31 |issue=1 |journal=Revue de Cavalerie |pages=2–9 |quote=La guerre de demain sera plus encore que celle d'hier une guerre de machinisme... Que la cavalerie aille donc vers la machine, convaincue, par ailleurs, que celle-ci n'est pas pour la faire disparaître, mais pour lui donner un supplément de force |trans-quote=The war of tomorrow will be even more than that of yesterday a war of machinery... Let the cavalry therefore go towards the machine, convinced that this is not to end it, but to strengthen it }}</ref> The further programme to shorten conscripts' service was voted through in the late 1920s to Weygand's disapproval: he feared that the left was intending to replace the professional army with a purely defensive national guard while drowning units in basic training, making it impossible to train for large unit operations.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|p=58}} Settling at [[Morlaix]] in [[Brittany]] near Foch, the five years at the ''Centre'' also gave him time to write two books, biographies of French marshals Foch and [[Turenne]].{{sfn|Clayton|2015|pp=58–59}}

==== Head of the army ====
[[File:Maxime Weygand, Joseph Paul-Boncour, Maurice Gamelin, 1932.jpg|thumb|Weygand, second from left, with Gamelin, on right, in 1932.]]

The opening of the question of succession as chief of the general staff from 1927 placed Weygand again in the spotlight: Foch, for his part, supported his protégé and made his views clear before his death in 1929. The left-wing war minister [[Paul Painlevé]] supported [[Louis Maurin]]. But after Petain's announced his support for Weygand and buttressed it with the recommendation that Weygand should be further appointed inspector-general on Petain's retirement (designating Weygand as commander-in-chief on mobilisation), the topic of the appointment became thoroughly politicised.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|pp=59–60}} The end of Briand's government in November 1929 led to a right-wing government under [[André Tardieu]] until February 1930 that made [[André Maginot]] war minister. Attacked as a right-wing Catholic cavalry officer with aristocratic haughtiness and designs against the Third Republic with profligate plans for military expenditure in a time of austerity, Weygand was forced to disavow in a statement to Parliament any political activities and affirm his loyalty to the republican regime.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|pp=60–61}} The eventual compromise saw Weygand made chief of staff with the more politically-safe [[Maurice Gamelin]] as deputy; Weygand was appointed chief of staff on 3 January 1930 at the age of 63.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|p=61}}<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6584966q/f13.image |title=Décret portant affectation d'un officier général |journal=Journal officiel de la République française. Lois et décrets |volume=62 |issue=2 |page=101 |language=fr |date=3 January 1930 |via=Gallica }}</ref> On Petain's retirement to the post of air defence inspector on 10 February 1931, Weygand took up the vice presidency of the ''[[Conseil supérieur de la guerre]]'' as well as inspector-general of the army; Gamelin was appointed chief of staff in his place.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65429912/f72.image |title=Conseil supérieur de la guerre et inspection général de l'armée |date=10 February 1931 |language=fr |journal=Journal officiel de la République française. Lois et décrets |volume=63 |issue=34 |page=1776 |via=Gallica }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65429912/f72.image |title=État-major général de l'armée |date=10 February 1931 |language=fr |journal=Journal officiel de la République française. Lois et décrets |volume=63 |issue=34 |page=1776 |via=Gallica }}</ref>

Weygand's remained as vice president of the ''Conseil'' until his mandatory requirement at the age of 68 in February 1935.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|p=70}}<ref name="generals.dk">{{cite web  |title=Biography of General Maxime Weygand |website=Generals.dk |url=http://www.generals.dk/general/Weygand/Maxime/France.html |access-date=2007-07-30 }}</ref> During his years in charge of the military, he attempted to push for military modernisation and increased service requirements to match the threat posed by Germany. However, the [[Great Depression in France|Great Depression]] came with substantial political instability, including street violence, and fourteen prime ministers between January 1930 and 1935. Attempts to broker international disarmament agreements were collapsed and the politicians were unwilling in depressed economic conditions to invest in new equipment or expand military pay.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|pp=63–66}} Amid the breakdown in French civil-military relations in the 1930s, Weygand was neutral and "never indicated any support for any such projects" to replace the republican system with a military dictatorship.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|p=69}} He was, however, able to successfully lobby for creation of a [[Division Legere Mecanique|light mechanised division]] as well as creation of a seven motorised infantry division in the early 1930s; he was also able to lobby for extension of conscripts' service to two years in 1934.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|pp=67, 70}}<ref>{{cite web |last=House |first=Jonathan M |title=Toward combined arms warfare: a survey of 20th-century tactics, doctrine, and organization |year=1984 |publisher=Combat Studies Institute |url=https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/house.pdf |page=61 |quote=Chief of Staff Maxime Weygand took significant steps towards motorization and mechanization during the early 1930s... seven infantry divisions became motorized... In 1934, Weygand continued the trend towards armored cavalry by forming the first "light mechanized division" (Division Légère Mèchanique, or DLM...) }}</ref>

==== Retirement and return to the Levant ====
From 1931 he had been admitted to the [[Académie Française]] as Seat 35 in place of Joffre, deceased.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|p=73}} On his retirement he was retained on the active list at full pay but was unassigned. This allowed him leave to travel: as an administrator of the [[Suez Canal Company]] he visited Egypt and the court of [[Fuad I of Egypt|Fuad I]]; he travelled also to eastern Europe and Britain on military matters.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|p=74}} He spent some of this time writing articles in military journals on the state of the army, arguing that the now-superior German army could be held back by a well-equipped defence before motorised units would be eventually able to start a counteroffensive. However, he disagreed with [[Charles de Gaulle]]'s arguments for a centralised armour force on the grounds that it would undermine troop cohesion and greatly stress French industrial capacity. While he never criticised his successor Gamelin, he published a short book ''La france, est-elle défendue?'' [''France, is it defended?''] in 1937 warning of German military superiority and the possibility of a sudden attack.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|pp=70–71, noting also on p. 72 that France had by the late 1930s come into a serious population disadvantage vis-à-vis Germany }}<ref>{{cite book |last=Weygand |first=Maxime |title=La France, est-elle défendue? |publisher=Flammarion |year=1937}}</ref> His thoughts in the years before [[Invasion of Poland|Hitler's invasion of Poland]] saw him again press for further material rearmament even as his views on the need for a fully-professional army softened; he also wrote a book called ''Histoire de l'armée française'' in 1938 arguing against the prevailing defensive strategy and expressing fear over the reliability of colonial troops in metropolitan France.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|pp=73, 74}}

Weygand was recalled for active service in August 1939 by [[Édouard Daladier]]'s government and appointed again to the Levant, resigning his position in the Suez Canal Company. The government may have sought to keep him away from Gamelin's command. Regardless, he was officially dispatched to negotiate with Turkey, Greece, and Romania for French security interests. He also was tasked with inspecting and training the colonial garrisons.{{sfn|Clayton|2015|pp=75–76}}