Messimy and Poincaré had studied the decrees of 1913 and agreed that in wartime the Commander-in-Chief had "extended powers" across the whole country and "absolute power", including over the civilian authorities, in the Zone of the Armies.
Messimy now learned that his job was at risk as the price of getting Millerand back into the government (Delcassé was also getting back his old job as Foreign Minister in place of Doumergue).