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Between 1914 and 1918, in the French army, the war put several hundred men in a position – however fragile – of command. The unprecedented volume of the mobilised forces followed by the violence of combat created new conditions for the exercise of authority. These conditions led to expectations of obedience that were very remote from the ones proclaimed in the military regulations. Combat partly undid the reigning hierarchy in the units and produced a new disciplinary approach. Leadership figures emerged as the nature of hierarchical relationships underwent a profound change.