The message reached Paris before sunrise.
By morning, the newspapers shouted it.
"HITLER REINTRODUCES CONSCRIPTION 550,000-MAN ARMY PLANNED"
"GERMANY SHREDS TREATY OF VERSAILLES"
Inside the Palais Bourbon, the mood was raw.
The emergency joint session had been called without ceremony, but word spread fast.
Deputies stormed in from every corner of the political spectrum, their breath fogging in the cold air, their nerves hotter than they let on.
President Albert Lebrun sat quietly at the head of the chamber, hands clasped.
Prime Minister Flandin stood near the podium, flanked by Jean Fabry, Minister of War, and General Beauchamp in full uniform.
No one spoke until the chamber was full.
Then.
Chaos
"Outrage!" someone bellowed. "An open declaration of war!"
"They promised us peace!" shouted a Radical deputy. "And we stood by like fools when they built their Luftwaffe!"
"Where the hell is London?" another voice cried. "We gave them guarantees, where is their protest?"
