André François-Poncet was a French politician and diplomat whose post as ambassador to Germany allowed him to witness first-hand the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, and the Nazi regime's preparations for World War II.

Émile Mireaux was a French economist, journalist, politician and literary historian. In the 1930s, he edited Le Temps and contributed to other right-leaning journals. He became a senator in 1936, and briefly served as a minister in 1940. From 1940 until his death, he held a chair in political economy, statistics and finance at the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques.