GAULLE Charles de. Set of 11 letters: 5 from Charles de Gaulle (L. A., 2 L.S. and 2 copies), 4 from Marshal Pétain (2 L. A. S. and 2 L.S.), and 2 from third parties, August-October 1938; all in a cardboard folder with an autograph note from de Gaulle: "Lettres de Maréchal Pétain / Affaire de "La France et son Armée"". Interesting exchange concerning the publication of La France et son armée, its dedication, and the final falling out between the Marshal and his former collaborator. * Charles de Gaulle. L. A. (minute), Metz 2 August 1938, to Marshal Pétain (2 p. in-4 headed 507th Tank Regiment. The Colonel). [LNC, I, p. 856]. "I have the honour of informing you of the forthcoming publication of a work by yours truly: La France et son armée (France and its Army). In it I have endeavoured to carry out the synthesis which you once asked me to do, and which General Weygand has also sought to achieve in his recent book. At other times, Monsieur le Maréchal, I might have hoped for a more brilliant destiny for this study. But the past twelve years have led me to give up. Moreover, the attitude of impassive reserve that you have adopted with regard to the Great War would make it inconceivable that the old project could be completed. The fact remains, Mr Marshal, that this work was undertaken at your instigation. Perhaps you would agree to this being stated, for example in the form of a foreword, for which I am submitting to you, herewith, a draft"... * Philippe Pétain. L.S., Paris 4 August 1938, to Colonel de Gaulle (4 p. in-8 on his letterhead). He is astonished by the announcement of his "dear de Gaulle", and points out that in 1925 he had taken "the decision to write a work entitled Le Soldat (The Soldier) intended to leave a trace of my personal ideas on tactics and the conduct of men", that he had chosen de Gaulle and had him assigned to his staff: "When the Marshal proposed that Payot publish the work, "you declared that the work was your literary property, and that it was my duty to announce, either on the cover or in a warning, your part in the writing of the work. Faced with this attitude, I decided to keep the manuscript in my drawers. And this false situation has lasted for 11 years. Today, you are proposing to resolve it by using the 1925-1927 work under your personal signature. Pétain considered that this work belonged to him "personally and exclusively", and objected to its publication by de Gaulle. * Charles de Gaulle. Typed letter (double carbon), with some corrections and the autograph mention "to be copied", Metz 18 August 1938, to Marshal Pétain (3 p. in-fol.). [LNC, I, p. 858]. "The work I plan to publish on La France et son Armée is to consist of some 600 pages in two volumes. 480 of these pages, which deal with: the origins, the Hundred Years' War, the Permanent Army (from Charles VII to Louis XIV), the pre-war period (1871-1914), the Great War, the post-war period, the present and the future, are the fruit of studies and reflections made by me long after I had left your office. The rest (about 120 pages) relate, it is true, to historical subjects that I had to work on when I was with you. But the chapters in question have been radically altered in form and content from the texts you once examined and amended. As far as the content is concerned, I have left almost entirely untouched the path you once intended to take with Le Soldat. And, after quoting two extracts from Pétain's letters, de Gaulle continued: "I have therefore, precisely, accentuated the historical and philosophical character of this quarter of my book and, on the contrary, erased almost everything that had to do with strategy and tactics. On the other hand, I have significantly altered my original text and radically renounced - not, of course, without damage to the work - the corrections, observations and suggestions that you had made [...Without in any way underestimating, Marshal, the role played in the development of part of my book by the impetus you had once given me and the atmosphere in which you had placed me, I cannot, I confess, imagine that this impetus and this atmosphere would be enough to make such a synthesis 'a staff work'. Its literary, historical and philosophical nature, the extremely personal turn of thought and style, the fact that it is essentially concerned with the 17th and 18th centuries, and not with the events in which your military activity has been so gloriously deployed, nor with the current problems of national defence which fall within the remit of your high office, give the study in question a character quite different from that which is and should be a staff work. [...] Without going into the reasons which led you, eleven years ago, to put an end to my collaboration, it will certainly not escape you that during these eleven years the elements of this affair have changed as far as I am concerned. I was 37; I am now 48. Morally, I have been wounded - even by you, Mr Marshall - I have lost illusions and ambitions. From the point of view of ideas and style, I was ignored, and I began to no longer be. [The fact remains, Marshal, that you were at the origin of this work and that in many respects your influence was exerted on a large part of the first volume (which deals with the past). I would like nothing more than to acknowledge this clearly and publicly. If it were stated - for example in a foreword - (or in any other form that you would consider preferable) that this first volume was undertaken on your initiative, built according to a plan decided by you, composed in the spirit that is yours and, for several chapters, with the benefit of your directives and observations, it seems to me that your share would be safeguarded. [...] The fact that you would appear to be sponsoring a talent, and not absorbing it, would be regarded as a skilful and generous discretion that would meet with everyone's approval"... * Philippe Pétain. L. A. S., Les Eaux-Bonnes 22 August 1938, to Ch. de Gaulle (3 p. in-8). He reproaches Ch. de Gaulle for presenting him with a fait accompli, and offers to entrust him with "your work for a few days, which would enable me to appreciate the part that could be attributed to me in the preparation of your work"... * Philippe Pétain. L. A. S., Paris 5 September 1938, to Ch. de Gaulle (2 p. in-8 on his letterhead, envelope). He sends him "a draft dedication" to be printed at the head of the volume: "I was anxious to spare your sensibilities and the draft only refers to "advice" for the "preparation" of the work"... With the "Draft dedication. To Mr Maréchal Pétain - who was kind enough, during the years 1925-1927, to help me with his advice on the preparation of chapters II to V of this volume (Ancien Régime, Révolution, Napoléon, D'un désastre à l'autre) - I offer the homage of my gratitude". * Philippe Pétain. L.S., Paris 6 October 1938, to Colonel de Gaulle (1 p. ¼ in-4 on his letterhead). Receiving La France et son armée, he is unhappy that the dedication he had written has not been printed; he rejects the terms of the book's dedication, demanding that the text sent on 5 September be substituted. * Daniel Rops. L.A.S., 6 October 1938, to Colonel de Gaulle (1 p. in-4). Plon has received a visit from an officer "protesting, on behalf of the Marshal, against the wording of your dedication, and asking for another wording. This is of limited importance and I think it is a case of an old man turning round under the influence of his entourage". He would like to know de Gaulle's position. * Charles de Gaulle. L.S., 7 October 1938, to Maurice Bourdel, Librairie Plon (1 p. in-fol. dactyl. with autograph additions) [LNC, I, p. 868]. About the dedication, which the Marshal would like replaced. "In reality, this is nothing more than the result of a little intrigue between friends, which could not have much impact. Nevertheless, in my opinion, it would be appropriate for you to respond to the approach that the Marshal has made to you, in a manner that is very emphatic in form but evasive in substance. If you were to publish my book again, it would be time to adopt a new dedication text, in order to comply with the Marshal's so-called wish. In the meantime, all you have to do is 'drown the fish'"... * Charles de Gaulle. L.S. "signed: de Gaulle" (double carbon), Metz 7 October 1938, to Marshal Pétain (1 p. in-fol.). [LNC, I, p. 867]. He did not feel he had to "reproduce word for word the 'draft' you sent me, and I did not think that the dedication, which appeared on the first page of my book, was likely to meet with your disapproval. But, of course, your wishes are my orders. I am therefore going to make the change you have requested, and I am writing to Plon today to ensure that copies not yet distributed, and in any case those of a later print run, are rectified accordingly"... * Maurice Bourdel. L.S., Paris 10 October 1938, to Colonel de Gaulle (1 p. in-4 on Librairie Plon letterhead). At the Marshal's insistence, he is going to "have a new dedication printed on a sheet which would be stuck at the bottom in place of the current dedication"... * Charles de Gaulle. Typed letter (double carbon), 11 October 1938, "to M.M. Bourdel Librairie Plon" (autograph note in pencil at head) (1 p. in-fol.) [LNC, I, p. 868]. He asks that the dedication be replaced by the one written by the Marshal.