It was still early when the headline hit Paris.
"APPEASEMENT IS NOT PEACE.
A FRENCH SOLDIER'S WARNING"
The bold black type screamed across the front page of Le Figaro, delivered with the morning bread.
It wasn't an editorial, nor a leaked intelligence memo.
It was something rarer, an open letter to the Republic, written not by a politician or pundit, but by a serving officer.
By noon, it had crossed cafés, barracks, ministries, and classrooms.
By night, it was burning like a signal fire across Europe.
But it hit hardest at home.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Laval stood at his window overlooking the Seine.
A folded copy of the newspaper rested on his desk, the final paragraph underlined in pencil:
"We are not witnessing peace. We are witnessing preparation."
His aide hovered in the doorway, uncertain whether to speak.
Laval waved him in.
"He signed it?"
"Yes, sir. In full. Rank and name."
