On 20 January 1920 Alexandre Millerand succeeded Georges Clemenceau as Prime Minister of France. On 31 January he attended the first meeting of the Conseil supérieur de la guerre since the armistice and enquired whether the French Army was capable of occupying the Ruhr. Edmond Buat, the Chief of Staff of the French Army, replied this would only be possible with the mobilisation of reserves.[1]