• Prime Minister of France Paul Reynaud, 1878
• Admiral of the French Navy Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu, 1889
• Admiral of the French Navy Émile Henry Muselier, 1882

Refusing to participate in the Vichy government, he resigned and was arrested in June 1940 by Philippe Petain's administration. First held at Fort du Portalet, Reynaud was transferred to German custody in 194x and held in Germany until the end of the war. Elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1946, he became a prominent figure again in French political life, serving in several cabinet positions. He favored a United States of Europe. He participated in drafting the constitution for the Fifth Republic and resigned from government in 1962.

Reynaud was born in Barcelonnette, Alpes - de - Haute - Provence. His father had made a fortune in the textile industry, enabling Reynaud to study law at the Sorbonne. He entered politics and quickly became active.

Reynaud was elected to the French Chamber of Deputies from 1919 to 1924, representing Basses - Alpes, and again from 1928, representing a Paris district. Although he was first elected as part of the conservative "Blue Horizon" bloc in 1919, Reynaud shortly thereafter switched his allegiance to the center - right Democratic Republican Alliance party. Reynaud later became the vice president of his party.

In the 1920s, Reynaud developed a reputation for laxity on German reparations, at a time when many in the French government backed harsher terms for Germany. In the 1930s during the Great Depression, particularly after 1933, Reynaud's stance hardened against the Germans at a time when all nations were struggling economically. Reynaud backed a strong alliance with the United Kingdom and, unlike many others on the French Right, better relations with the Soviet Union as a counterweight against the Germans.

Reynaud held several cabinet posts in the early 1930s, but he clashed with members of his party after 1932 over French foreign and defense policy. He was not given another cabinet position until 1938. Like Winston Churchill, Reynaud was a maverick in his party and often alone in his calls for rearmament and resistance to German aggrandizement. Reynaud was a supporter of Charles de Gaulle's theories of mechanized warfare in contrast to the static defense doctrines that were in vogue among many of his countrymen, symbolized by the Maginot Line. He strongly opposed appeasement in the run up to the Second World War.

He also clashed with his party on economic policy, backing the devaluation of the franc as a solution to France's economic woes. Pierre Étienne Flandin, the leader of the Democratic Republican Alliance, agreed with several of Reynaud's key policy stances, particularly on Reynaud's defense of economic liberalism.

Reynaud returned to the cabinet in 1938 as Minister of Finance under Édouard Daladier. The Sudeten Crisis, which began not long after Reynaud was named Minister of Justice, again revealed the divide between Reynaud and the rest of the Alliance Démocratique; Reynaud adamantly opposed abandoning the Czechs to the Germans, while Flandin felt that allowing Germany to expand eastward would inevitably lead to a conflict with the Soviets that would weaken both. Reynaud publicly made his case, and in response Flandin pamphleted Paris in order to pressure the government to agree to Hitler's demands. Reynaud subsequently left his party to become an independent. Reynaud still had Daladier's support, however, whose politique de fermeté was very similar to Reynaud's notion of deterrence.

Reynaud, however, had always wanted the Finance ministry. He endorsed radically liberal economic policies in order to draw France's economy out of stagnation, centered on a massive program of deregulation, including the elimination of the forty hour work week. The notion of deregulation was very popular among France's businessmen, and Reynaud believed that it was the best way for France to regain investors' confidence again and escape the stagnation its economy had fallen into. The collapse of Léon Blum's government in 1938 was a response to Blum's attempt to expand the regulatory powers of the French government; there was therefore considerable support in the French government for an alternative approach like Reynaud's.

Paul Marchandeau, Daladier's first choice for finance minister, offered a limited program of economic reform that was not to Daladier's satisfaction; Reynaud and Daladier swapped portfolios, and Reynaud went ahead with his radical liberalization reforms. Reynaud's reforms were successfully implemented, and the government stood down a one day strike in opposition. Reynaud addressed France's business community, arguing that "We live in a capitalist system. For it to function we must obey its laws. These are the laws of profits, individual risk, free markets and growth by competition."

Reynaud's reforms proved remarkably successful; a massive austerity program was implemented (although armament measures were not cut) and France's coffers expanded from 37 billion francs in September 1938 to 48 billion francs at the outbreak of war a year later. More importantly, France's industrial productivity jumped from 76 to 100 (base = 1929) from October 1938 to May 1939. At the outbreak of war, however, Reynaud was not bullish on France's economy; he felt that the massive increase in spending that a war entailed would stamp out France's recovery.

The French Right was ambivalent about the war in late 1939 and early 1940, feeling that the greater threat was from the Soviets. The Winter War put these problems into stark relief; Daladier refused to send aid to the Finns while war with Germany continued. News of the Soviet - Finnish armistice in March 1940 prompted Flandin and Pierre Laval to hold secret sessions of the legislature that denounced Daladier's actions; the government fell on 19 March. The government named Reynaud Prime Minister of France two days later.

Although Reynaud was increasingly popular, the Chamber of Deputies elected Reynaud premier by only a single vote with most of his own party abstaining; over half of the votes for Reynaud came from the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) party. With so much support from the left – and the opposition from many parties on the right – Reynaud's government was especially unstable; many on the Right demanded that Reynaud attack not Germany, but the Soviet Union. The Chamber also forced Daladier, whom Reynaud held personally responsible for France's weakness, to be Reynaud's Minister of National Defense and War. One of Reynaud's first acts was to sign a declaration with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain that neither of the two countries would sign a separate peace.

Reynaud abandoned any notion of a "long war strategy" based on attrition. Reynaud entertained suggestions to expand the war to the Balkans or northern Europe; he was instrumental in launching the allied campaign in Norway, though it ended in failure. Britain's decision to withdraw on 26 April prompted Reynaud to travel to London to personally lobby the British to stand and fight in Norway.

The Battle of France began less than two months after Reynaud came to office. France was badly mauled by the initial attack in early May 1940, and Paris was threatened. On 15 May, five days after the invasion began, Reynaud contacted his British counterpart and famously remarked, "We have been defeated... we are beaten; we have lost the battle.... The front is broken near Sedan." Charles de Gaulle, whom Reynaud had long supported and one of the few French commanders to have fought the Germans successfully in 1940, was promoted to brigadier general and named undersecretary of war. On 18 May Reynaud removed commander - in - chief Maurice Gamelin in favor of Maxime Weygand.

As France's situation grew increasingly desperate, Reynaud accepted Marshal Philippe Pétain as Minister of State. Pétain, an aged veteran of the First World War, advised an armistice. Soon after the occupation of Paris, there was increasing pressure on Reynaud to come to a separate peace with Germany. Reynaud refused to be a party to such an undertaking, and was among the few in the cabinet to support accepting the British proposal on 16 June to unite France and the United Kingdom to avoid surrender. Discouraged by the cabinet's hostile reaction to the proposal and its preference for an armistice, and believing that his ministers no longer supported him, Reynaud resigned that evening.

Pétain, who became the leader of the new government (the last one of the Third Republic), signed the armistice on 22 June. On 28 June, Reynaud and his mistress the Comtesse Helène de Portes were involved in a road accident in the south of France. The car Reynaud was driving left the road and hit a tree. De Portes was killed instantly; Reynaud suffered a head injury. It has been suggested they were fleeing to Spain, but were traveling to Reynaud's holiday home on the Riviera. Hospitalized at Montpellier, Reynaud allegedly told Bill Bullitt, American ambassador, 'I have lost my country, my honor and my love'. After his discharge from hospital, Reynaud was arrested on Pétain's orders and imprisoned at Fort du Portalet.

Pétain decided against having him charged during the Riom Trial, and transferred him to the Germans. They held him as prisoner until the end of the war. Reynaud was liberated by Allied troops with other French prisoners in the Itter Castle near Wörgl, Austria, on 7 May 1945.

After the war, Reynaud was elected in 1946 as a member of the Chamber of Deputies. He was appointed to several cabinet positions in the postwar period and remained a prominent figure in French politics. His attempts to form governments in 1952 and 1953 in the turbulent politics of the French Fourth Republic were failures.

Reynaud supported the idea of a United States of Europe, along with a number of prominent contemporaries. Reynaud presided over the consultative committee that drafted the constitution of France's (current) Fifth Republic. In 1962, he denounced his old friend de Gaulle's attempt to eliminate the electoral college system in favor of direct vote. Reynaud left office the same year.

Reynaud remarried in 1949 at the age of 71 and fathered three children.

He died on 21 September 1966 at Neuilly - sur - Seine, leaving a number of writings.

Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu was born in Brest on 7 August 1889, in a family of Navy officers. He joined the École navale (Naval Academy) at 17.

He served on the Du Chayla as a midshipman, taking part in the campaign in Morocco which led to the Treaty of Fez, in 1912. During the campaign, he was awarded the Legion of Honor, and befriended Hubert Lyautey, something that d'Argenlieu later recalled as one of the happy memories in his life.

During the First World War, he served in the Mediterranean; in 1915, he took his first steps toward joining a monastic order, while continuing to serve in the Navy; he was promoted to lieutenant de vaisseau in 1917. The next year, commanding officer of a patrol boat, the Tourterelle, he distinguished himself in the rescue of a troop transport.

At the end of the war, d'Argenlieu undertook theological studies in Rome, and joined the religious order of the Discalced Carmelites as Louis de la Trinité. He made his vow on 15 September 1921, and studied for four years in the Catholic university of Lille. In 1932, he was made Provincial Superior of Paris.

In September 1939, d'Argenlieu was mobilized as a reserve Navy officer, rising to the rank of capitaine de corvette in 1940. During the Battle of France, d'Argenlieu was captured as he was defending the arsenal of Cherbourg. After three days, he escaped from the prisoner train to Germany and joined Charles de Gaulle on the 30 June.

D'Argenlieu joined the Free French Forces, intending to serve as chaplain, but eventually took on the duties of a fighting naval officer, with a special authorization of his religious superiors, due to the small number of Navy officers in the Free French Naval Forces. He was made chief of staff in July.

He attempted to convince the then Vichy - loyal governor of Dakar to join De Gaulle, and was severely wounded when he was fired upon in his small and unarmed craft on 23 September 1940, during battle of Dakar. In November, he directed successful operations in Gabon.

D'Argenlieu was made a capitaine de vaisseau, and chancellor of the newly created Ordre de la Libération. In 1941, he rose to counter admiral; he undertook several missions to administer French colonies loyal to Free France.

In 1943, he was made commanding officer for the naval forces in Great Britain On 14 June 1944, he ferried de Gaulle to France aboard the Combattante, and entered Paris with him on the 25 August.

After the defeat of Japan, d'Argenlieu was sent to French Indochina as part of the French Far East Expeditionary Corps to restore the French colonial administration. In 1946, he was promoted to vice - amiral d'escadre, and soon later to admiral.

During the First Indochina War, the actions of d'Argenlieu grew more and more controversial, and he was replaced by Emile Bollaert in March 1947. Back to France, he was made inspector general of the Naval Forces, before retiring in a convent.

In 1958, sick, he resigned his position of chancellor of the Ordre de la Libération and withdrew to monastery life again. He died on 7 September 1964 in Brest and was buried in Avrechy.

Muselier's career started with a campaign in the Far East, several others in the Adriatic, one in Albania, which overlapped with a stay in Toulon. He also fought in Yser, Belgium, as the head of a troop of marine fusilliers.

Muselier received his first real command, of the aviso Scape, in April 1918. For his service in World War 1, Muselier was awarded the Navy Cross.

This was followed by the command of the destroyer Ouragan in 1925, that of armored cruiser Ernest Renan in 1927, then battleship Voltaire in 1930, and Bretagne in 1931.

In 1933, Muselier, by then promoted to rear admiral, became Major General of the port of Sidi - Abdalah in Tunisia, where he wrote social commentaries such as "La Mie de Pain" ("the breadcrumb"). In 1938, he received command of the Navy and the defense sector of the city of Marseilles.

Muselier had previously been attached to the cabinets of Painlevé and Clemenceau, then became chief of staff of the naval delegation to Germany.

On 10 October 1939 Muselier was promoted to vice admiral by Admiral Darlan, himself a former fellow student of the École Navale. Darlan retracted the promotion as of 21 November, following libelous charges ranged against Muselier. A similar incident occurred when Muselier was under the orders of General de Gaulle, whom he had rejoined as of 30 June 1940. He was, however, quickly cleared of the suspicions of treason which the British leveled at him on the base of false documents; this prompted the British Government to apologize.

On 1 July 1940, General de Gaulle named Muselier commander of the Free French naval forces and, provisionally, commander of the air force; these roles were later confirmed in 1941 with the creation of the Conseil national. The same day, Admiral Muselier wrote his own appeal, addressed to sailors and pilots. He assembled an embryonic General Staff with Ship - of - the - Line Captain (Capitaine de Vaisseau) Thierry d'Argenlieu and the ship Voisin, before leaving on a mission to Alexandria in order to attempt a coup d'état in Syria.

In 1940, the Vichy regime sentenced Muselier to death in absentia and confiscated all of his possessions. In 1941, it forfeited his French citizenship.

Under orders of General De Gaulle, Muselier led the conquest of Saint - Pierre and Miquelon on 24 December 1941, unloading three French corvettes and the submarine cruiser Surcouf from Halifax and installing the enseigne de vaisseau Alain Savary as Commissaire of Free France. This feat of arms angered Roosevelt. De Gaulle had initially declined the suggestion of invasion made by Muselier, but had desired to affirm French sovereignty after learning of Canadian and British desires for the archipelago. This eventually led the admiral to resign from his post of Commissaire.

Not especially loyal to De Gaulle, Admiral Muselier was let down two years later, in Algiers, because of serious political divergence. Preferring to answer under General Giraud, he served as the transitory civil and military person in charge of Algiers in June 1943, and had even appeared to act as the head of an anti - Gaullist putsch, before General De Gaulle became head of the French Committee of National Liberation (Comité français de la Libération nationale) on 3 June.

After having been the chief of the naval delegation to the military Mission for German Affairs, he retired from the navy in 1946.