ABSTRACT
Such an extremity had to be warded off at any price. I explained my ideas to Daladier [French Prime Minister] on the morning of the 23rd after having summarized them for my colleagues at the Quai [the French Foreign Office]. I asked Daladier to call a meeting of the Committee for National Defence so that the leaders of our armed force could give us their advice on the capital question – ‘Given that the Russians fail us, what are our chances of winning a war? And, would it be wise to seek a peaceful compromise?’
