Pierre Laval (June 28, 1883 –
October 15, 1945) was a French politician and thrice Prime Minister of France, the final time being under the
Vichy government. For his role in Vichy France during World War II, he was found guilty of high treason and executed after the war.
Career
He was born in Châteldon in the
Puy-de-Dôme département of the Auvergne Region. After earning a law degree, he worked as a lawyer, in
Paris from 1907. A socialist, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a member of SFIO in 1903. He did not serve in World War I but the
period saw a change to his politics as he moved towards the right. He lost the first post-war election. He became mayor of
Aubervilliers in 1924 and left the
socialist party; he was elected to the French Senate in 1927.
Laval was a prominent figure in the 1930s governments. He was frequently in cabinet
and was Prime Minister from January 27, 1931 to February
6, 1932 (succeeding André
Tardieu) and again from June 7, 1935. He was
named TIME magazine's 1931 Man of the Year.
During his second stint as Prime Minister in October 1935, together with the British
foreign minister, Samuel
Hoare, he proposed a solution to the Abyssinia crisis. Leaked
to the media in December, the realpolitik Hoare-Laval Pact was widely denounced as an appeasement to Benito Mussolini and Laval was forced to resign on January 22, 1936.
Out of politics, Laval returned to his business career, but soon had major political influence after he assembled an extensive
media empire through acquisitions of newspapers and radio. The victory of the Front Populaire in 1936 meant that Laval had a left-wing government as a target for his media. Following the German occupation, his publications and broadcasts outlets played a prominent part in forcing out the existing
government and then supporting the new government of Philippe
Pétain. On July 12, 1940, Laval became
vice-premier and named Fernand de Brinon to lead negotiations
with the Germans.
Laval was enthusiastically pro-Nazi; his demands for a Franco-German military alliance
led to him being sacked from the government and arrested in December 13,
1940. The German ambassador in France,
Otto Abetz, had him freed and moved to Paris. He was injured in an
assassination attempt on August 27, 1941 at
a Legion des Volontaires
Francais review but recovered and was recalled into the Vichy government on April 18, 1942. This time he became Prime Minister and succeeded Admiral François Darlan as the
leading figure in the regime after Pétain himself. Laval was largely blamed for the increase in anti-Jewish activities and the decision to send French workers to Germany through la releve and the later
the Service du Travail Obligatoire. The creation of the Vichy Milice, the
wartime secret police, in January, 1943 has also been credited to Laval.
Following the Allied invasion of France, the government moved from Vichy to Belfort and then to Germany and Sigmaringen in August, 1944. In May 1945 Laval fled. He first went to Spain but was deported and ended up in
Austria where he was given over to the Allied Forces. On July 30, 1945 he was handed over to the new French government. Charged with treason
and violating state security, Laval was tried and after being found guilty, was sentenced to death. After a failed attempt at suicide, he
was executed by firing squad at Fresnes prison, near Paris.
- Pierre Laval - President of the Council and Minister of the Interior
- Aristide Briand - Minister of Foreign Affairs
- André Maginot - Minister of War
- Pierre Étienne Flandin - Minister of Finance
- François Piétri -
Minister of Budget
- Adolphe Landry - Minister
of Labour and Social Security Provisions
- Léon Bérard - Minister of
Justice
- Charles Dumont - Minister
of Marine
- Louis de
Chappedelaine - Minister of Merchant Marine
- Jacques-Louis
Dumesnil - Minister of Air
- Mario Roustan - Minister of
Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Auguste Champetier de Ribes - Minister of Pensions
- André Tardieu - Minister of Agriculture
- Paul Reynaud - Minister of Colonies
- Maurice Deligne -
Minister of Public Works
- Camille Blaisot -
Minister of Public Health
- Charles Guernier -
Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
- Louis Rollin - Minister of
Commerce and Industry
- Pierre Laval - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- André Tardieu - Minister of War
- Pierre Cathala - Minister
of the Interior
- Pierre Étienne Flandin - Minister of Finance
- François Piétri -
Minister of Budget
- Adolphe Landry - Minister
of Labour and Social Security Provisions
- Léon Bérard - Minister of
Justice
- Charles Dumont - Minister
of Marine
- Louis de
Chappedelaine - Minister of Merchant Marine
- Jacques-Louis
Dumesnil - Minister of Air
- Mario Roustan - Minister of
Public Instruction and Fine Arts
- Auguste Champetier de Ribes - Minister of Pensions
- Achille Fould - Minister of Agriculture
- Paul Reynaud - Minister of Colonies
- Maurice Deligne -
Minister of Public Works
- Camille Blaisot -
Minister of Public Health
- Charles Guernier -
Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
- Louis Rollin - Minister of
Commerce and Industry
- Pierre Laval - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Jean Fabry - Minister of War
- Joseph Paganon - Minister
of the Interior
- Marcel Régnier -
Minister of Finance
- Ludovic-Oscar
Frossard - Minister of Labour
- Léon Bérard - Minister of
Justice
- François Piétri -
Minister of Marine
- Mario Roustan - Minister of
Merchant Marine
- Victor Denain - Minister of
Air
- Philippe Marcombes
- Minister of National Education
- Henri Maupoil - Minister of
Pensions
- Pierre Cathala - Minister
of Agriculture
- Louis Rollin - Minister of
Colonies
- Laurent Eynac - Minister of
Public Works
- Louis Lafont - Minister of
Public Health and Physical Education
- Georges Mandel - Minister
of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
- Georges Bonnet - Minister of Commerce and Industry
- Édouard Herriot - Minister of State
- Louis Marin - Minister of
State
- Pierre Étienne Flandin - Minister of State
Changes
- 17 June 1935 - Mario Roustan succeeds Marcombes (d.
13 June) as Minister of National Education. William Bertrand succeeds Roustan
as Minister of Merchant Marine.
- Pierre Laval - President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior, and Minister of
Information
- Eugène Bridoux -
Minister of War
- Pierre Cathala - Minister
of Finance and National Economy
- Jean Bichelonne -
Minister of Industrial Production
- Hubert Lagardelle - Minister of Labour
- Joseph Barthélemy
- Minister of Justice
- Gabriel Auphan - Minister
of Marine
- Jean-François Jannekeyn - Minister of Air
- Abel Bonnard - Minister of
National Education
- Jacques Le Roy
Ladurie - Minister of Agriculture
- Max Bonnafous - Minister of
Supply
- Jules Brévié - Minister of
Colonies
- Raymond Grasset -
Minister of Family and Health
- Robert Gibrat - Minister of
Communication
- Lucien Romier - Minister of
State
Changes
- 11 September 1942 - Max Bonnafous succeeds Le Roy Ladurie as
Minister of Agriculture, remaining also Minister of Supply
- 18 November 1942 - Jean-Charles Abrial succeeds
Auphan as Minister of Marine. Jean Bichelonne succeeds Gibrat as Minister of Communication, remaining also Minister of Industrial
Production.
- 26 March 1943 - Maurice Gabolde succeeds Barthélemy
as Minister of Justice. Henri
Bléhaut succeeds Abrial as Minister of Marine and Brévié as Minister of Colonies.
- 21 November 1943 - Jean Bichelonne succeeds Lagardelle
as Minister of Labour, remaining also Minister of Industrial Production and Communication.
- 31 December 1943 - Minister of
State Lucien Romier resigns from the government.
- 6 January 1944 - Pierre Cathala succeeds Bonnafous as
Minister of Agriculture and Supply, remaining also Minister of Finance and National Economy.
- 3 March 1944 - The office of Minister of
Supply is abolished. Pierre
Cathala remains Minister of Finance, National Economy, and Agriculture.
- 16 March 1944 - Marcel Déat succeeds Bichelonne as Minister of Labour and National Solidarity.
Bichelonne remains Minister of Industrial Production and Communication.
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