Appointment Despite Reynaud's growing popularity, the Chamber of Deputies elected him as Premier by a narrow margin of just one vote, with most of his own party abstaining. Notably, over half of the votes in Reynaud's favour came from the
French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) party. Given the significant support from the left and opposition from many right-wing parties, Reynaud's government faced considerable instability. Many on the right called for Reynaud to shift focus from Germany to the Soviet Union. On 15 June 1940, the French cabinet rejected a British proposal—conceived by Jean Monnet and supported by De Gaulle—for a union between France and Britain. Reynaud abandoned the idea of a "long war strategy" based on attrition. To divert German attention from France, Reynaud considered expanding the war to the Balkans or Northern Europe. He played a key role in initiating the
Allied campaign in Norway, although it ended in failure. Following Britain's decision to withdraw on 26 April, Reynaud travelled to London to personally urge the British to continue their fight in
Norway. to let you know that all my men were brave, but one cannot send men to fight tanks with rifles." On 18 May, Reynaud dismissed Commander-in-Chief
Maurice Gamelin and replaced him with
Maxime Weygand. On 26 May, Reynaud attended a meeting in London with Churchill. During the meeting, Churchill informed the War Cabinet that Reynaud had declared the French military situation as hopeless. Reynaud stated he had no intention of signing a separate peace with Germany but might be compelled to resign, leaving the possibility that others in the French government could sign such a treaty. Churchill also mentioned that he did not rule out talks with
Mussolini, who was still neutral at that time. Later that day, Foreign Secretary
Lord Halifax met with Reynaud before his return to France. This marked the beginning of the British
May 1940 War Cabinet Crisis, where Halifax supported what was known as "the Reynaud Option"—exploring negotiations with the Italians for acceptable peace terms, potentially involving concessions in the Mediterranean. However, Churchill ultimately overruled Halifax. On 28 May, Churchill sent a telegram to Reynaud confirming that there would be no immediate approach to Mussolini, although the option remained open. Mussolini had already rejected an overture by
President Roosevelt based on suggestions from Britain and France. It was also revealed on 28 May that Italy was preparing to enter the war on Germany's side, which would occur on 10 June. Italy entered the war on 10 June, and on the same day, General Weygand, the Commander-in-Chief, stormed into Reynaud's office and demanded an armistice. That night, around 11 pm, Reynaud and de Gaulle left Paris for Tours, with the rest of the government following the next day. De Gaulle was unable to persuade Reynaud to dismiss Weygand. At the Anglo-French conference held at the Château du Muguet in Briare on 11–12 June, Churchill urged the French to continue fighting, either from Brittany, French North Africa, or through guerrilla warfare. However, he faced strong resistance from Deputy Prime Minister
Marshal Pétain. By the Cabinet meeting on the evening of 12 June, it was evident that a significant faction was pushing for an armistice, leading to the decision to relocate the government to
Bordeaux rather than retreat to a fortified Brittany. On 14 June, Villelume and de Portes met with American diplomat
Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr. and stated that France had no choice but to seek an armistice, although Biddle was sceptical of their claims. and he was sent to speak with General Weygand, who argued that this would be a dishonourable surrender. Chautemps then suggested a compromise of inquiring about terms, Contrary to Lebrun's later recollection, no formal vote taken that day.) before fleeing to North Africa. On 28 June, while Reynaud was driving their
Renault Juvaquatre, the car veered off the road and crashed into a
plane tree at
La Peyrade, near
Sète. De Portes was killed (and almost decapitated) in the accident, while Reynaud sustained relatively minor head injuries. While hospitalized in
Montpellier, Reynaud reportedly told
Bill Bullitt, the American ambassador, "I have lost my country, my honour, and my love." Upon his discharge, Reynaud was arrested on Pétain's orders and imprisoned at
Fort du Portalet. Although Pétain chose not to charge Reynaud during the
Riom Trial of 1942, he handed him over to the Germans. Reynaud was initially sent to
Sachsenhausen concentration camp and later transferred to
Itter Castle near
Wörgl, Austria. There, he remained with other high-profile French prisoners until the castle was liberated by Allied troops on 7 May 1945. During the
Battle for Castle Itter on 5 May 1945, Major
Josef Gangl, a
Wehrmacht officer who had joined the anti-Nazi
Austrian resistance, was killed by a sniper's bullet while attempting to protect Reynaud and other prisoners. ==Post-World War II career==