War is not a military parade. The French know it. In May 1940, their dashing army on the Champs-Élysées collapsed in three weeks, the plans of the general staff crumbling into dust. The fault of Generalissimo Gamelin, graduated major of Saint-Cyr, Foch’s favorite student, Joffre’s right arm, the author of a very remarkable Philosophical study on the art of war and who fought brilliantly in 1914-1918 both in the trenches and in the corridors of power. A top talent, superior intelligence, a lot of subtlety. But a disaster facing Corporal Hitler. The Generalissimo was one war behind. And a fatal weakness of character. We don’t know if France has really recovered, but it has since been wary of the top of the class, especially when they put on a colorful uniform.
The Maginot line
The “coalition of the willing” that Emmanuel Macron brought together in Paris affirms that it is ready to provide security guarantees to Ukraine, once peace is signed. Strengthen the Ukrainian army to make the country “a steel porcupine”(dixit Ursula von der Leyen), deploy troops on the ground (but not the Germans, nor the Poles, nor the Italians…) as in the Black Sea, in air support and even in cyberspace: not a button was missing from this plan. We had to demonstrate to Donald Trump that Europe is resisting. That she is determined. Ready for all sacrifices. In concrete terms, not in a glorious din. It is only at this price that he plans to grant a form of reassurance to Europeans.
In the community hall of the Élysée, the flags of the 26 member countries of the coalition, plus the banners of NATO and the EU, made a decor as lively as a charge of hussars under the Empire. Except that most of the participants in the meeting were on video conference… The German, the Pole, the Italian had moved, without intending to risk a soldier on the ground. A priori, only the British and the French have an army worthy of the name that they could project there. A few thousand men, not 100,000 as envisaged last year. They would not be on the front line but in support, around forty kilometers behind. What’s the point in the age of drones? We think of the Maginot line. Generalissimo Gamelin has heirs… In any case, the Russians refuse any member of NATO.
Let the children fight?
Since the humiliating meeting at the White House, “the staffs worked hard”according to the timely expression of the French president. It’s still better than stepping on a mine and losing a leg, which is a real risk on a boundary line. Between the two Koreas, there are more than a million mines, as many as there are soldiers with their fingers on the trigger. With the support of the 2nd US Infantry Division for… 72 years. This also explains Washington’s reluctance.
“We are ready”hammered Emmanuel Macron alongside his friend Zelensky. He struggles to convince. Supported by his vice-president, the formidable J.D. Vance, Donald Trump stayed on the phone for two hours without giving the formal guarantees that the “volunteers” expected of him. A month later, we still don’t know what he dealt with Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Since this tête-à-tête, he has repeated that sometimes you have to let children fight before trying to separate them. Presidents Putin and Zelensky have still not made an appointment, negotiations are stagnating and, instead of a ceasefire, the Russians have launched their autumn campaign. In Paris, the bedroom war can continue.
