sentences:  At the conference Pétain met de Gaulle for the first time in two years.Pétain noted his recent promotion to general, adding that he did not congratulate him, as ranks were of no use in defeat.When de Gaulle protested that Pétain himself had been promoted to brigadier-general and division commander at the Battle of the Marne in 1914, he replied that there was "no comparison" with the present situation.