In advance, inflict pressure on most of French city to submit (9)

I believe the answer is:

preimpose

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'pressure on most of french city to submit' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'in advance inflict' is the wordplay.
'in advance' becomes 'pre' (prefix meaning 'before').
'inflict' becomes 'impose' (synonyms).
'pre'+'impose'='PREIMPOSE'

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I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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