Maxime Weygand

And he's quite aggressive in his treatment of the French army.

So particularly Maxime Weygand, who is brought back as commander really at the very last moment when they decide that Gamlin, his predecessor, is insufficiently aggressive.

Maxime Weygand, de Gaulle actually thinks about dismissing him.

And Maxime Weygand is 73 years old, the most senior general in the French army.

And Charles de Gaulle is 49 years old and the most junior general in the French army, but has this political authority which he tries to use or considers using against Weygand.

So in that sense, de Gaulle kind of takes some very dramatic measures or thinks about some very dramatic measures during his very brief period in the last government of the Third Republic.

He was self-consciously a man of the left.

He had been appointed to the new Cartel de Gauche government in late 1924 to replace the Catholic Maxime Weygand, an act roundly criticised by the French right, was driven only by party considerations.

And indeed, within days of his arrival in Beirut, Sorel had alienated Lebanese Christians.

Determined to follow a policy of impartiality, which was read on the right as pro-Muslim, Sorel promised free elections, which allowed parties to form, leading to the swift emergence of a Syrian People's Party under the leadership of Abd al-Rahman Shabandar, former minister, In the Faisal government.