In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( or ) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. An officer so promoted was referred to as being brevetted (for example, "he was brevetted major general"). The promotion would be noted in the officer's title (for example, "Bvt. Maj. Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain" or "Bvt. Col. Arthur MacArthur"). It is not to be confused with a Brevet d'état-major in Francophone European military circles, where it is an award, nor should it be confused with temporary commissions. France In France, brevet is a word with a very broad meaning, which includes every document giving a capacity to a person. For instance, the various military speciality courses, such as military parachutism, are ended by the award of a brevet. The more important brevet in the French military is the one of the École de guerre (lit. "school of war"), the French Staff College. Between 1870 and 1940, an officier breveté was a graduate of the École supérieure de guerre. Nowadays, while many officers still attend the école de guerre, they do not use the term officier breveté. The French military does not use brevets to give officers a higher standing, employing temporary commissions instead. As an example, Charles de Gaulle was promoted "provisional brigadier general" (général de brigade à titre provisoire) in 1940 when he was commander of an armoured division. Germany In the Prussian and German army and navy, it was possible to bestow a Charakter rank on officers that was in many respects similar to a brevet rank. For example, an Oberst could receive the Charakter als Generalmajor. Very often, German officers would be promoted to the next higher Charakter rank on the day of their retirement. Spain It was not uncommon during the 19th century to distinguish between empleo ("employed") rank and graduación ("grade") being the effective command position. In the 1884 rank regulations (which with minor modifications were in force during the Spanish–American War) stars marked the rank whilst the actual post was reflected in gold lace on the cuffs. As in practice both situations coincided the system was dropped in 1908 leaving only the starred system of denoting rank. Nevertheless, during the Spanish Civil War the system was revived in the Nationalist side