Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain (April 24, 1856 - July 23, 1951), generally
known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain, was a French soldier and
Head of State of Vichy France. He became a French hero because of his military leadership in World War I, yet he was tried and imprisoned for treason in his old
age because of his collaboration with the Germans in World War II.
Early life
Born in Cauchy-à-la-Tour (in the Pas-de-Calais département, in the north of
France) in 1856. He joined the French Army in 1876 and attended the St Cyr Military Academy and
the École Supérieure de Guerre (army war college) in Paris.
World War I
Pétain was a distinguished veteran of World War I, and in particular the
Battle of Verdun. As a result of his brilliant defence at Verdun,
he became known as the "saviour of Verdun" and hailed as a French hero. Verdun became a symbol of French determination, inspired
by Pétain’s declaration: "they shall not pass!"
Due to his remarkable ability and high prestige, Pétain rose to be Commander-in-Chief of the French army during World War I; it could be argued that because of his successful defensive strategy,
France survived the devastation of German invasion, thus led to the Allied victory in World War I.
Moreover, it was his advocacy of a defensive strategy that led, in large part, to the construction of the Maginot Line.
Between the wars
Pétain emerged from the war as a national hero. He was encouraged to go into politics, and although he had little interest in
running for an elected position in 1934 he was appointed to the French cabinet as Minister of War. The
following year he was promoted to Secretary of State.
World War II and Vichy France
In the spring of 1940 France was invaded by Nazi Germany. In an emergency session, the Chamber of Deputies appointed Pétain as Prime Minister of France and granted him extraordinary powers. The constitutionality of
these actions was later challenged by de Gaulle's regime, but at
the time Pétain was widely accepted as France's saviour. On June 22 he signed an
armistice with Germany that
gave the Nazis control over the north and west of the country, including Paris, but left the rest under an "independent" government that located its capital in the resort
town of Vichy.
Again the Chamber of Deputies had an emergency meeting, and voted to abolish the constitution of the Third Republic and make Pétain supreme dictator. As Pétain despised the republican form of government,
which he considered to be weak and responsible for France's failure in the war, he took "Head of the State" as his only tile, and abolished the positions of president and prime minister.
As leader of this semi-fascistic regime a personality cult was set up and Pétain's image was spread throughout France, portraying him as a
father figure to the nation (le Maréchal = "the Marshal"). Conservative factions within his government used the
opportunity as an occasion in which to launch an ambitious program known as the "National Revolution" in which much of the former
Third Republic's secular traditions were overturned in favor of the promotion of a more traditionalist, Catholic society.
Pétain refused the requests by the Germans and his Deputy Pierre Laval
to side with the Axis Powers. Pétain also at first resisted pressure to
deport large numbers of France's Jews to German concentration camps. He did provide the Axis with large supplies of manufactured goods and foodstuffs,
and also encouraged resistance by Vichy troops in France's
colonial empire.
On 11 November 1942 Germany invaded
the unoccupied zone in response to the Allied Operation Torch
landings in North Africa. Although Vichy France nominally remained in existence, Pétain became nothing more than a figurehead for
the Nazi regime. On September 7, 1944
he and other members of the Vichy cabinet fled to Sigmaringen and soon after
he resigned as leader.
Post war trial
In April 1945 he returned to France, where he was tried for collaboration (or treason), convicted
and sentenced to death by firing squad in July-August 1946. The sentence was commuted to
life imprisonment by Charles de Gaulle on August 17, 1946, on the grounds of his old age. He
died in prison on l'Île d'Yeu, an island off the coast of Brittany, in 1951.
Nowadays, in France, the word pétainisme suggests an authoritarian and reactionary
ideology, a nostalgy of a rural, agricultural, traditionalist, Catholic society.
- Philippe Pétain - President of the Council
- Camille Chautemps - Vice President of the Council
- Paul Baudoin - Minister of
Foreign Affairs
- Maxime Weygand - Minister of National Defense
- Louis Colson - Minister of
War
- Charles Pomaret -
Minister of the Interior
- Yves Bouthillier -
Minister of Finance and Commerce
- André Février - Minister
of Labour
- Charles
Frémicourt - Minister of Justice
- François Darlan - Minister of Military and Merchant Marine
- Bertrand Pujo - Minister of
Air
- Albert Rivaud - Minister of
National Education
- Jean Ybarnegaray -
Minister of French Family and Veterans
- Albert Chichery -
Minister of Agriculture and Supply
- Albert Rivière -
Minister of Colonies
- Ludovic-Oscar
Frossard - Minister of Public Works and Transmissions
Changes
- 23 June - Adrien Marquet and Pierre Laval enter the
Cabinet as Ministers of State
- 27 June 1940 - Adrien Marquet succeeds Pomaret as
Minister of the Interior. André
Février succeeds Frossard as Minister of Transmissions. Frossard remains Minister of Public Works. Charles Pomaret succeeds Février as
Minister of Labour.
- Philippe Pétain - Head of State and President of the Council
- Pierre Laval - Vice President of the Council
- Paul Baudoin - Minister of
Foreign Affairs
- Maxime Weygand - Minister of National Defense
- Louis Colson - Minister of
War
- Adrien Marquet - Minister
of the Interior
- Yves Bouthillier -
Minister of Finance
- René Belin - Minister of
Industrial Production and Labour
- Raphaël Alibert -
Minister of Justice
- François Darlan - Minister of Marine
- Bertrand Pujo - Minister of
Aviation
- Émile Miraud - Minister of
Public Instruction
- Pierre Caziot - Minister of
Agriculture and Supply
- Henry Lémery - Minister of
Colonies
- Jean Ybarnegaray -
Minister of Youth and Family
- François Piétri -
Minister of Communication
- Philippe Pétain - Head of State and President of the Council
- Pierre Laval - Vice President of the Council
- Paul Baudoin - Minister of
Foreign Affairs
- Charles Huntziger -
Minister of National Defense
- Marcel Peyrouton -
Minister of the Interior
- Yves Bouthillier -
Minister of Finance
- René Belin - Minister of
Industrial Production and Labour
- Raphaël Alibert -
Minister of Justice
- François Darlan - Minister of Marine
- Jean Bergeret - Minister of
Aviation
- Georges Ripert - Minister
of Public Instruction and Youth
- Pierre Caziot - Minister of
Agriculture and Supply
- Charles Platon - Minister
of Colonies
- Jean Berthelot - Minister
of Communication
Changes
- Philippe Pétain - Head of State and President of the Council
- François Darlan - Vice President of the Council, Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior, and Minister of Marine
- Charles Huntziger -
Minister of National Defense
- Yves Bouthillier -
Minister of Finance and National Economy
- Pierre Pucheu - Minister of
Industrial Production
- René Belin - Minister of
Labour
- Joseph Barthélemy
- Minister of Justice
- Jean Bergeret - Minister of
Aviation
- Jérôme Carcopino -
Minister of National Education and Youth
- Pierre Caziot - Minister of
Agriculture
- Jean-Louis Achard -
Minister of Supply
- Charles Platon - Minister
of Colonies
- Jacques Chevalier -
Minister of Family and Health
- Jean Berthelot - Minister
of Communication
- Henri Moysset - Minister of
Information
Changes
- 18 July 1941 - Pierre Pucheu succeeds Darlan as
Minister of the Interior. Darlan retains his other posts. François Lehideux succeeds Pucheu as Minister of Industrial Production.
- Philippe Pétain - Head of State and President of the Council
- François Darlan - Vice President of the Council, Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defense, and Minister of Marine
- Pierre Pucheu - Minister of
the Interior
- Yves Bouthillier -
Minister of Finance and National Economy
- François Lehideux
- Minister of Industrial Production
- René Belin - Minister of
Labour
- Joseph Barthélemy
- Minister of Justice
- Jean Bergeret - Minister of
Aviation
- Jérôme Carcopino -
Minister of National Education and Youth
- Pierre Caziot - Minister of
Agriculture
- Paul Charbin - Minister of
Supply
- Charles Platon - Minister
of Colonies
- Serge Huard - Minister of Family
and Health
- Jean Berthelot - Minister
of Communication
- Paul Marion - Minister of
Information and Propaganda
- Henri Moysset - Minister of
State
- Lucien Romier - Minister of
State
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