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Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain (Maréchal Pétain), was a French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France
Marshal of France

The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements....
, later Chief of State
Head of State

Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchic or republican nation-state, federation, commonwealth or any other political state....
 of Vichy France
Vichy France

Vichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944. This government, which succeeded the French Third Republic, officially called itself the French State , in contrast with the previous designation, "French Republic." Marshal of France Philippe P?tain pro...
 (Chef de l'État Français), from 1940 to 1944. Pétain, who was 84 years old in 1940, ranks as France's oldest head of state ever.

Due to his outstanding military leadership in World War I, particularly during the Battle of Verdun
Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun was one of the most critical List of World War I Battles in World War I on the Western Front . It was fought between the German Army and France armies, from 21 February to 15 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun in northeastern France....
, he was viewed as a hero in France.






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Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain (Maréchal Pétain), was a French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France
Marshal of France

The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements....
, later Chief of State
Head of State

Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchic or republican nation-state, federation, commonwealth or any other political state....
 of Vichy France
Vichy France

Vichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944. This government, which succeeded the French Third Republic, officially called itself the French State , in contrast with the previous designation, "French Republic." Marshal of France Philippe P?tain pro...
 (Chef de l'État Français), from 1940 to 1944. Pétain, who was 84 years old in 1940, ranks as France's oldest head of state ever.

Due to his outstanding military leadership in World War I, particularly during the Battle of Verdun
Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun was one of the most critical List of World War I Battles in World War I on the Western Front . It was fought between the German Army and France armies, from 21 February to 15 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun in northeastern France....
, he was viewed as a hero in France. However, during the 1920s and 1930s, while remaining the highest ranking military authority, he neglected to modernize French military capability with the sole exception of the Maginot Line
Maginot Line

The Maginot Line , named after French Minister of Defence Andr? Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defenses, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in the light of experience from World War I, and in the run-up to World War II....
 which later proved to be useless. After the French defeat in June 1940, Petain was legally voted in as Head of State (Chef de l'Etat) by the French Parliament. However, Petain surrendered France to Germany and, along with his cabinet, including later on Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval

Pierre Laval was a France politician. He served four times as Prime Minister of France of the Third French Republic, thrice consecutively. Following France's Armistice with Germany in 1940, he served twice in the Vichy Regime as head of government....
, transformed the French State into a dictatorship administered from the town of Vichy
Vichy

Vichy is a Communes of France in the Departments of France of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It is known as a Spa town and resort town....
 in central France. As the war progressed, the Vichy Government sank deeper into collaboration with the German occupiers which finally took control of the totality of metropolitan France. Petain's actions during World War II resulted in a conviction and death sentence for treason
Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of loyalty to one's sovereignty or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife ....
, which was commuted to life imprisonment by Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle

Charles Andr? Joseph Marie de Gaulle , , was a French people general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President of France from 1959 to 1969....
. In contemporary France, he is generally considered a traitor, and pétainisme is a derogatory term for certain reactionary
Reactionary

Reactionary refers to any movement or ideology that opposes change or progress in society, and which seeks a return to a previous state . The term originated in the French Revolution, to denote the Counter-revolutionary who wanted to restore the real or imagined conditions of the Monarchy Ancien R?gime....
 policies. Due to his treason conviction, French historians refer to him by his name only – Philippe Pétain – without the title.

Early life

Pétain was born in Cauchy-à-la-Tour
Cauchy-à-la-Tour

Cauchy-?-la-Tour is a Communes of France in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France....
 (in the Pas-de-Calais
Pas-de-Calais

Pas-de-Calais is a Departments of France in northern France. Its name is the French language equivalent of the Strait of Dover, which it borders....
 département in the north of France) in 1856. He joined the French Army
French Army

The French Army, officially the Arm?e de Terre , is the Army component of the Military of France and its largest. As of 2007, the army employs 134,000 regular soldiers, 15,500 reservists, and 25,750 civilians....
 in 1876 and attended the St Cyr Military Academy
École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr

The ?cole Sp?ciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr is the foremost France military academy. It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr. Its motto is "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre": literally "They study to vanquish." or "Training for victory"....
 in 1887 and the École Supérieure de Guerre (army war college) in Paris. His career progressed very slowly, as he rejected the French Army
French Army

The French Army, officially the Arm?e de Terre , is the Army component of the Military of France and its largest. As of 2007, the army employs 134,000 regular soldiers, 15,500 reservists, and 25,750 civilians....
 philosophy of the furious infantry assault, arguing instead that "firepower kills". His views were later proved to be correct during the First World War. He was promoted to Captain in 1890 and Major (Chef de Bataillon) in 1900, but unlike many French officers, served only in mainland France, never in Africa or Indochina. As a Colonel
Colonel

Colonel is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country in the world. It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures....
 he commanded the 33rd Infantry Regiment at Arras from 1911; the young lieutenant Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle

Charles Andr? Joseph Marie de Gaulle , , was a French people general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President of France from 1959 to 1969....
, who served under him, later wrote that his "first colonel, Pétain, taught (him) the Art of Command". In the spring of 1914 he was given command of a brigade (still with the rank of Colonel
Colonel

Colonel is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country in the world. It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures....
), but having been told he would never become a general, had bought a house pending retirement - he was already fifty-eight years old.

World War I


Pétain distinguished himself in World War I, and was hailed as a French hero and the "Saviour of Verdun".

At the end of August 1914 he was quickly promoted to Brigadier-General and given command of the 6th Division in time for the First Battle of the Marne
First Battle of the Marne

The First Battle of the Marne was a World War I battle fought between the 5th and 12th of September 1914. It resulted in a France-United Kingdom victory against the German Empire Wehrmacht under Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke the Younger....
; little over a month later, in October 1914, he was promoted again and became XXXIII Corps commander. After leading his corps in the Spring 1915 Artois Offensive, in July 1915 he was given command of the Second Army
Second Army (France)

The Second Army was a Field army of the French Army during World War I and World War II. The Army became famous for fighting the Battle of Verdun in 1916 under Petain....
, which he led in the Champagne Offensive that autumn. He acquired a reputation as one of the more successful commanders on the Western Front.

Pétain commanded the Second Army
Second Army (France)

The Second Army was a Field army of the French Army during World War I and World War II. The Army became famous for fighting the Battle of Verdun in 1916 under Petain....
 at the start of the Battle of Verdun
Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun was one of the most critical List of World War I Battles in World War I on the Western Front . It was fought between the German Army and France armies, from 21 February to 15 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun in northeastern France....
 in February 1916. During the battle he was promoted to Commander of Army Group Centre, which contained a total of 52 divisions. Rather than holding down the same infantry divisions on the Verdun battlefield for months, akin to the German system, he rotated them out after only two weeks on the front lines. His decision to organize truck transport over the "Voie Sacrée
Voie Sacrée

Voie Sacr?e is the name given to the road between Bar-le-Duc and Verdun, because of the vital role that it played in the Battle of Verdun during World War I in France....
" to bring a continuous stream of artillery, ammunition and fresh troops into besieged Verdun also played a key role in grinding down the German onslaught to a final halt in July 1916. In effect he had applied the basic principle that was a mainstay of his teachings at the "École de Guerre" ( War College) before WW-1 : " le feu tue ! " or "firepower kills !" which in this case was French field artillery which delivered well over 15 million shells on the German assailants during the first five months of the battle. Although Pétain did say "On les aura!" (roughly: We'll get them!), the other famous quotation "Ils ne passeront pas!" (They shall not pass
They shall not pass

"They shall not pass" is a propaganda slogan used to express determination to defend a position against an enemy. It was most famously used during the Battle of Verdun in World War I by French General Robert Nivelle ....
!) often attributed to him, is actually from Robert Nivelle
Robert Nivelle

Robert Georges Nivelle was a French artillery officer who served in the Boxer Rebellion, and the First World War. He took command of one of the main French armies engaged in the Battle of Verdun, leading it during its successful counter-strokes against the Germans, but was accused of wasting French lives during some of his attacks....
, who had succeeded him in command of the Second Army
Second Army (France)

The Second Army was a Field army of the French Army during World War I and World War II. The Army became famous for fighting the Battle of Verdun in 1916 under Petain....
 at Verdun. At the very end of 1916, Nivelle was promoted over him to replace Joseph Joffre
Joseph Joffre

Joseph Jacques C?saire Joffre was a France general who was Commander-in-Chief of the French Army between 1914 and 1916 during the First World War....
 as French Commander-in-Chief.

Due to his high prestige as a soldier's soldier, Pétain served briefly as Army Chief of Staff (from the end of April 1917). He then became Commander-in-Chief
Commander-in-Chief

A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function....
 of the French army, replacing general Nivelle who had failed the Chemin des Dames offensive in April 1917, provoking widespread mutinies in the French Army . Pétain put an end to the mutinies by selective punishment of ringleaders, but also by improving soldiers' conditions (eg. better food and shelter, and more leave), and promising that men's lives would not be squandered in fruitless offensives. Pétain conducted some successful but limited offensives in the latter part of 1917, unlike the British who had stalled in an unsuccessful offensive at Passchendaele that autumn. Petain, instead, held off from major French offensives until the Americans arrived in force on the front lines, which would not happen until the early summer of 1918. He was also waiting for the new Renault FT17 tanks to be introduced in large numbers, hence his statement at the time : " I am waiting for the tanks and the Americans".

The year 1918 saw major German offensives on the Western Front. The first of these, "Michael" in March 1918, threatened to split the British and French forces apart, and, after he had threatened to retreat on Paris, Petain came to the aid of the British and secured the Front with Forty French divisions. Petain proved a capable opponent of the Germans both in defense and through counter-attack. The crisis led to the appointment of Ferdinand Foch
Ferdinand Foch

Ferdinand Foch . Order of Merit List of honorary British knights was a France soldier, military theorist, and writer credited with possessing "the most original and subtle mind in the French Army" in the early 20th century....
 as Allied Generalissimo, initially with powers to co-ordinate and deploy Allied reserves where he saw fit. The third offensive, "Blücher" in May 1918, saw major German advances on the Aisne
Aisne

Aisne is a departments of France in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River....
, as the French Army Commander had ignored Pétain's instructions to defend in depth, and had instead allowed his men to be hit by the initial massive German bombardment. By the time of the last German offensives, Gneisenau and the Second Battle of the Marne
Second Battle of the Marne

The Second Battle of the Marne, or Battle of Reims was the last major German offensive on the Western Front . It failed when an Allied counterattack led by French forces overwhelmed the Germans, inflicting severe casualties....
  Petain was able to defend in depth and actually launch counter offensives, with the new French tanks and the assistance of the Americans. Later in the year Pétain was stripped of his right of appeal to the French Government, and told to take his orders from Foch, who increasingly assumed direction of the Allied offensives. Pétain was made Marshal of France
Marshal of France

The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements....
 in November 1918.

Between the wars


Unlucky in love early in life, Pétain was a bachelor until his sixties, and famous for his womanising - women were said to find his piercing blue eyes especially attractive. At the opening of the Battle of Verdun he is said to have been fetched during the night from a Paris hotel by a staff officer who knew which mistress he could be found with. After the war Pétain married an old lover, Madame Hardon, then widowed; although the couple were too old to have children, they remained married until the end of Pétain's life.

Pétain emerged from the war as a national hero and was made a Marshall of France. He was encouraged to go into politics although he protested that he had little interest in running for an elected position. He continued to play a military role, commanding French troops during their alliance with the Spanish in the Rif War
Rif War (1920)

The Rif War of 1920, also called the Second Moroccan War, was fought between Spain and the Morocco Rif and Jebala tribes....
 after 1925. Pétain is also on record as a strong supporter of the Maginot Line
Maginot Line

The Maginot Line , named after French Minister of Defence Andr? Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defenses, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in the light of experience from World War I, and in the run-up to World War II....
 which proved to be exceedingly costly while being geographically limited and thus a strategically ineffective border defense . Pétain had based his strong support for the Maginot Line
Maginot Line

The Maginot Line , named after French Minister of Defence Andr? Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defenses, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in the light of experience from World War I, and in the run-up to World War II....
 on his own experience of the role played by the forts during the Battle of Verdun
Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun was one of the most critical List of World War I Battles in World War I on the Western Front . It was fought between the German Army and France armies, from 21 February to 15 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun in northeastern France....
 in 1916. Although he supported the massive use of tanks he saw them mostly as infantry support, leading to the fragmentation of the French tank force into many types of unequal value spread out between mechanized cavalry and regular Infantry. Modern infantry rifles and machine guns were not manufactured on Pétain's watch, with the sole exception of a light machine-rifle in 1929. A modern infantry rifle prototype only came out in 1936 but very few MAS-36
MAS-36

The MAS Mod?le 36 is a bolt-action rifle. It was adopted in 1936 by France, and was intended to replace the Berthier rifle and Lebel Model 1886 rifle series of service rifles....
 rifles had been issued to the troops by 1940. Thus French infantry had to face the enemy in 1940 with the old weaponry of 1918. Petain was made Minister of War in 1938, thus overseeing French military aviation and the Navy as well. Yet French aviation entered the War in 1939 without even the prototype of a bomber airplane capable of reaching Berlin. French industrial efforts in fighter aircraft were dispersed among several firms ( Dewoitine
Dewoitine

Constructions A?ronautiques ?mile Dewoitine was a French aircraft manufacturer established by ?mile Dewoitine at Toulouse in October 1920. The company's initial products were a range of metal parasol-wing fighters which were largely ignored by the French Air Force but purchased in large quantities abroad and licence-built in Italy, Switzerlan...
, Morane-Saulnier
Morane-Saulnier

A?roplanes Morane-Saulnier is a France aircraft manufacturer formed by Raymond Saulnier and the Morane Brothers Leon & Robert in October 1911....
 and Bloch ), each with its own model. On the naval front France had purposely overlooked building aircraft carriers and focused instead on four new conventional battleships which later proved to be useless to the war effort. Captain Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle

Charles Andr? Joseph Marie de Gaulle , , was a French people general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President of France from 1959 to 1969....
 continued to be a protégé of Pétain throughout these years. He even named his eldest son after the Marshall before finally falling out over the authorship of a book he had ghost-written for Pétain. In later years, in a reference to the Rif War
Rif War (1920)

The Rif War of 1920, also called the Second Moroccan War, was fought between Spain and the Morocco Rif and Jebala tribes....
, de Gaulle had been known to observe : "Marshal Pétain was a great man; he died in 1925". Pétain finally retired as Inspector-General of the Army, aged seventy-five, in 1931.

He expressed interest in being named Minister of Education, a role in which he hoped to combat what he saw as the decay in French moral values. In 1934 he was appointed to the French cabinet as Minister of War. The following year, he was promoted to Secretary of State
Secretary of State

Secretary of State is a commonly used title for a member of government. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the government....
. During this period, he repeatedly called for a lengthening of the term of compulsory military service for draftees entering the military service, from two to three years. Pétain served as French ambassador to Spain following the Nationalist victory in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted coup d'?tat by a group of Spanish Army generals, supported by the conservative Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right , Carlist groups and the fascistic Falange, against the government of the Second Spanish Republic, then under the leadership of pr...
, arriving in March 1939.

World War II and Vichy France

Until the summer of 1940, Pétain was held in high regard by statesmen both at home and abroad. French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud
Paul Reynaud

Paul Reynaud was a France politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period, noted for his stances on economic liberalism and militant opposition to Germany....
 brought Pétain (along with General Maxime Weygand
Maxime Weygand

Maxime Weygand was a France military commander in World War I and World War II. Though not as infamous as Philippe Petain, Weygand is remembered for initially fighting the Battle of France, then surrendering to and collaborating with the Germans as part of the Vichy France regime....
 and the newly-promoted Brigadier-General de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle

Charles Andr? Joseph Marie de Gaulle , , was a French people general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President of France from 1959 to 1969....
, whose 4th Armoured Division had launched one of the few French counterattacks in May 1940) into his War Cabinet, hoping that the trio, and especially Pétain, would instill a renewed spirit of resistance and patriotism in the French army. The social and political divisions in France were too great, however, and Reynaud had misjudged Pétain, a man who despised the corruption, inefficiency and political fragmentation of the French Third Republic
French Third Republic

The French Third Republic was the political regime of France between the Second French Empire and the Vichy France. It was a republican parliamentary democracy that was created on 4 September 1870 following the collapse of the Empire of Napoleon III of France in the Franco-Prussian War....
.

Maxime Weygand
Maxime Weygand

Maxime Weygand was a France military commander in World War I and World War II. Though not as infamous as Philippe Petain, Weygand is remembered for initially fighting the Battle of France, then surrendering to and collaborating with the Germans as part of the Vichy France regime....
 was unable to stem the German advance during the second stage of the Battle of France
Battle of France

In World War II, the Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the Germany invasion of France and the Low Countries, executed from 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War....
. When defeat for metropolitan France became certain, the Cabinet debated their continuing the war in North Africa, to fight on from the colonial territory alongside the British. Pétain's refusal to leave the country at this juncture created an impasse that divided the Cabinet and which was only broken by Reynaud's resignation and President Albert Lebrun
Albert Lebrun

Albert Lebrun was a France politician, President of France from 1932 to 1940, and as such was the last president of the French Third Republic. He was a member of the center-right Democratic Republican Alliance ....
's invitation to Pétain to form a government. Lebrun soon became sidelined, leading to the appointment of the old Marshal as head of state with extraordinary powers. The constitutionality of these actions was later challenged by de Gaulle's government, but at the time Pétain was widely accepted as France's saviour.

On 22 June he signed an armistice
Armistice

An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace....
 with Germany that gave Nazi Germany control over the north and west of the country, including Paris and all of the Atlantic coastline, but left the rest, around two-fifths of France's prewar territory, unoccupied, with its administrative centre in the resort town of Vichy
Vichy

Vichy is a Communes of France in the Departments of France of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It is known as a Spa town and resort town....
. (Paris remained the de jure capital.)

The Chamber of Deputies and Senate, meeting together as a "Congrès", had an emergency meeting on 10 July to ratify the armistice. At the same time, it voted 569-80 (with 18 abstentions) to grant Pétain the authority to draw up a new constitution, effectively voting the Third Republic out of existence. On the next day, Pétain formally assumed near-absolute powers as "Head of State".

Pétain was reactionary by temperament and education, and quickly began blaming the Third Republic and its liberal democracy for the French defeat. In its place, he set up a more authoritarian regime. The republican motto of "Liberté, égalité, fraternité
Liberté, égalité, fraternité

Libert?, ?galit?, fraternit?, French language for "Liberty, Social equality, :wikt:fraternity ", is the national motto of France, and is a typical example of a tripartite motto....
" was swept aside and replaced with "Travail, famille, patrie
Travail, famille, patrie

Travail, famille, patrie was the motto of the Vichy France government during World War II. It replaced the republican Libert?, ?galit?, fraternit? of the Third French Republic....
" (Work, family, fatherland). Conservative factions within his government used the opportunity to launch an ambitious program known as the "National Revolution" in which much of the former Third Republic's secular and liberal traditions were rejected in favor of the promotion of an authoritarian and paternalist Catholic society.

Pétain immediately used his new powers to order harsh measures, including the dismissal of republican civil servants, the installation of exceptional jurisdictions, the proclamation of anti-Semitic laws, and the imprisonment of his opponents and foreign refugees. He organized a "Légion Française des Combattants", in which he included "Friends of the Legion" and "Cadets of the Legion", groups of those who had never fought but who were politically attached to his regime. Pétain championed a rural, Catholic France that spurned internationalism. As a retired Generalissimo, he ran the country on military lines, which might have been better received had he not already surrendered to Hitler
Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born Germany politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party....
 and become, especially after 1942, his puppet.

Neither Pétain nor his successive Deputies, Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval

Pierre Laval was a France politician. He served four times as Prime Minister of France of the Third French Republic, thrice consecutively. Following France's Armistice with Germany in 1940, he served twice in the Vichy Regime as head of government....
, Pierre-Etienne Flandin or Admiral François Darlan
François Darlan

Fran?ois Darlan was a France naval officer. Darlan rose through the French Navy, ultimately becoming Admiral of the Fleet, and was a major figure of the Vichy France regime during World War II....
, gave significant resistance to requests by the Germans to indirectly aid the Axis Powers
Axis Powers

The Axis powers were those countries that were opposed to the Allies of World War II during World War II. The three major Axis powers - Nazi Germany, Kingdom of Italy , and Empire of Japan - were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers....
. Yet, when Hitler met Pétain at Montoire in October 1940 to discuss Vichy's role in the new European Order, the Marshal "listened to Hitler in silence. Not once did he offer a sympathetic word for Germany". However, Vichy France remained neutral as a state, albeit opposed to the Free French. After the British attack on Mers el Kébir
Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir

The Attack on Mers-el-K?bir, also known as Operation Catapult and the Battle of Mers-el-K?bir, was an engagement off the coast of French rule in Algeria where a British Royal Navy task force attacked and destroyed much of the France fleet stationed there, in an attempt to avoid its falling into the hands of the German Navy....
 and Dakar
Battle of Dakar

The Battle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace, was an unsuccessful attempt in September 1940 by the Allies of World War II to capture the strategic port of Dakar in French West Africa , which was under Vichy France control, and to install the Free French Forces under General Charles de Gaulle there....
, Pétain took the initiative to collaborate with the occupiers. Pétain accepted the creation of a collaborationist armed militia ("Milice
Milice

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-720-0318-04, Frankreich, Parade der Milice Francaise.jpgThe Milice fran?aise , generally called simply Milice, was a paramilitary force created on January 30 1943 by the Vichy France, with Nazi Germany aid, to help fight the French Resistance....
") under the command of SS-Major
Sturmbannführer

Sturmbannf?hrer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party which was used by both the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel . Translated as ?Assault Unit Leader? , the rank originated from German Shock Troop units of the First World War where the title of Sturmbannf?hrer would occasionally be held by the Battalion Commander....
 Joseph Darnand
Joseph Darnand

Joseph Darnand was a France pro-Nazism leader and commander of the Vichy France Milice.Joseph Darnand was born at Coligny, Ain, Ain, Rh?ne-Alpes in France....
, who, along with German forces, led a campaign of repression against the French resistance ("Maquis
Maquis (World War II)

The Maquis were the predominantly rural guerrilla warfare bands of the French Resistance. Initially they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy France's Service du travail obligatoire to provide Forced labor in Germany during World War II....
"). Pétain admitted Darnand into his government as Secretary of the Maintenance of Public Order (Secrétaire d'Etat au Maintien de l'Ordre). In August 1944, Pétain made an attempt to distance himself from the crimes of the Milice by writing Darnand a letter of reprimand
Letter of reprimand

A letter of reprimand is a United States Department of Defense procedure involving a Letter to an employment or soldier from his or her superior that details the wrongful actions of the person and the punishment that can be expected....
 for the organization's "excesses." The latter wrote a sarcastic reply, telling Pétain that he should have "thought of this before" he turned the Milice loose on the French population.

Pétain provided the Axis forces with large supplies of manufactured goods and foodstuffs, and also ordered Vichy troops in France's colonial empire to fight against Allied forces everywhere (in Dakar
Dakar

Dakar is the capital city of Senegal, located on the Cap-Vert, on the country's Atlantic Ocean coast. It is Senegal's largest city. Its position, on the western edge of Africa , is an advantageous departure point for trans-Atlantic and European trade; this fact aided its growth into a major regional seaport....
, Syria
Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
, Madagascar
Madagascar

Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
, Oran
Oran

Oran is a city on the Mediterranean Sea coast in northwestern Algeria. Oran marked the largest westernmost metropolitan area of the then Ottoman Empire....
 and Morocco
Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
), in line with his commitments in the 1940 armistice. He also received German forces without any resistance (in Syria, Tunisia
Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast....
 and Southern France), the latter due to Laval's urging.

On 11 November 1942, Germany invaded the unoccupied zone in response to the Allied Operation Torch
Operation Torch

Operation Torch was the United Kingdom-United States invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started 8 November 1942....
 landings in North Africa and Vichy Admiral François Darlan
François Darlan

Fran?ois Darlan was a France naval officer. Darlan rose through the French Navy, ultimately becoming Admiral of the Fleet, and was a major figure of the Vichy France regime during World War II....
's agreeing to support the Allies. Although Vichy France nominally remained in existence, Pétain became nothing more than a figurehead
Figurehead (metaphor)

In politics, a figurehead, by metaphor with the carved figurehead at the prow of a sailing ship, is a person who holds an important title or office yet executes little actual power....
, as the Nazis abandoned the pretence of an "independent" Vichy government, although he remained popular with the French public, and was cheered by the crowd when he attended Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris at Easter 1944. On 7 September 1944, he and other members of the Vichy cabinet were forcibly moved to Sigmaringen
Sigmaringen

Sigmaringen is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-W?rttemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen ....
 in Germany and soon after he resigned as leader.

Postwar trial and legacy

On 15 August 1945, Pétain was tried for collaboration
Collaborationism

Collaborationism, can describe the treason of cooperation with enemy forces Military occupation one's country. As such it implies Crime deeds in the service of the occupying Power , including complicit with the occupying power in murder, persecutions, pillage, and economy exploitation as well as participation in a puppet government....
 (or treason
Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of loyalty to one's sovereignty or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife ....
), convicted and sentenced to death by firing squad. Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle

Charles Andr? Joseph Marie de Gaulle , , was a French people general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President of France from 1959 to 1969....
, who was President of the Provisional Government of the French Republic
Provisional Government of the French Republic

The Provisional Government of the French Republic was an provisional government government which governed France from 1944 to 1946. Following the Battle of France in 1940 the state of Vichy France had been established under the rule of Philippe P?tain....
 at the end of the war, commuted the sentence to life imprisonment on the grounds of his age and his World War I contributions. In prison on Île d'Yeu
Île d'Yeu

The ?le d'Yeu is an island just off the Vend?e coast of western France. It covers an area of and had a population in 1999 of 4,788.The island's two harbours, Port-Joinville in the north and Port de la Meule, located in a rocky inlet of the southern granite coast, are famous for the fishing of tuna and crayfish....
, an island off the Atlantic coast, he soon became entirely senile, and required constant nursing care. He died in prison in 1951, at the age of 95, and is buried there. Calls are sometimes made for his remains to be re-interred in the grave which had been prepared for him at Verdun

In modern France, the word pétainisme suggests an authoritarian and reactionary
Reactionary

Reactionary refers to any movement or ideology that opposes change or progress in society, and which seeks a return to a previous state . The term originated in the French Revolution, to denote the Counter-revolutionary who wanted to restore the real or imagined conditions of the Monarchy Ancien R?gime....
 ideology, driven by the nostalgia
Nostalgia

The term nostalgia describes a longing for the past, often in idealisation form. The word is made up of two Greek roots , to refer to "the pain a sick person feels because he wishes to return to his native home, and fears never to see it again"....
 of a rural
Rural

Rural areas are large and isolated areas of a country, often with low populations. Today, 75 percent of the United States' inhabitants live in suburban and urban areas, but cities occupy only 2 percent of the country....
, agricultural, traditionalist, Catholic
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
 society
Society

A society is a group of humans characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals that share a distinctive culture and/or institutions....
.

Lists of the successive Pétain governments until 1942


Pétain's First Government, 16 June - 12 July 1940

  • Philippe Pétain - Vice President of the Council
  • Camille Chautemps
    Camille Chautemps

    Camille Chautemps was a France Radical Party politician of the French Third Republic, three times Prime Minister of France ....
     - Vice President of the Council
  • Paul Baudouin - Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Maxime Weygand
    Maxime Weygand

    Maxime Weygand was a France military commander in World War I and World War II. Though not as infamous as Philippe Petain, Weygand is remembered for initially fighting the Battle of France, then surrendering to and collaborating with the Germans as part of the Vichy France regime....
     - 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
    François Darlan

    Fran?ois Darlan was a France naval officer. Darlan rose through the French Navy, ultimately becoming Admiral of the Fleet, and was a major figure of the Vichy France regime during World War II....
     - Minister of Military and Merchant Navy
  • Bertrand Pujo - Minister of Air
  • Albert Rivaud
    Albert Rivaud

    Albert Rivaud was a French philosopher and classical scholar. In 1908 he was appointed professor of philosophy at the University of Poitiers. In 1927 he succeeded L?on Brunschvicg as professor of philosophy at the Sorbonne....
     - Minister of National Education
  • Jean Ybarnegaray
    Jean Ybarnegaray

    Michel Albert Jean Joseph Ybarnegaray was a France politician and founder of the International Association for Basque Pelota.Jean Ybarnegaray was born in Uhart-Cize, Departments of France of Pyr?n?es-Atlantiques—then called Basses Pyr?n?es—in the Northern Basque Country....
     - Minister of French Family and Veterans
  • Albert Chichery - Minister of Agriculture and Supply
  • Albert Rivière - Minister of Colonies
  • Ludovic-Oscar Frossard
    Ludovic-Oscar Frossard

    Ludovic-Oscar Frossard was a France Socialism and Communism politician, a member of six successive French governments between 1935 and 1940....
     - Minister of Public Works and Transmissions


Changes
  • 23 June - Adrien Marquet and Pierre Laval
    Pierre Laval

    Pierre Laval was a France politician. He served four times as Prime Minister of France of the Third French Republic, thrice consecutively. Following France's Armistice with Germany in 1940, he served twice in the Vichy Regime as head of government....
     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.


Pétain's Second Government, 12 July - 6 September 1940

  • Philippe Pétain - Head of State and President of the Council
  • Pierre Laval
    Pierre Laval

    Pierre Laval was a France politician. He served four times as Prime Minister of France of the Third French Republic, thrice consecutively. Following France's Armistice with Germany in 1940, he served twice in the Vichy Regime as head of government....
     - Vice President of the Council
  • Paul Baudoin
    Paul Baudoin

    Paul Baudouin was a French politician. An advocate of appeasement, Baudouin served as Philippe P?tain first Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1940, and negotiated the armistice with the Germans....
     - Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Maxime Weygand
    Maxime Weygand

    Maxime Weygand was a France military commander in World War I and World War II. Though not as infamous as Philippe Petain, Weygand is remembered for initially fighting the Battle of France, then surrendering to and collaborating with the Germans as part of the Vichy France regime....
     - 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
    Raphaël Alibert

    Rapha?l Alibert was a French politician.As someone with strong Monarchism ideas, he was elected with the Action Fran?aise party, and became the Deputy Secretary of State in the French governmental elections on 16 June 1940 with the Philippe P?tain government....
     - Minister of Justice
  • François Darlan
    François Darlan

    Fran?ois Darlan was a France naval officer. Darlan rose through the French Navy, ultimately becoming Admiral of the Fleet, and was a major figure of the Vichy France regime during World War II....
     - Minister of the Navy
  • 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
    Jean Ybarnegaray

    Michel Albert Jean Joseph Ybarnegaray was a France politician and founder of the International Association for Basque Pelota.Jean Ybarnegaray was born in Uhart-Cize, Departments of France of Pyr?n?es-Atlantiques—then called Basses Pyr?n?es—in the Northern Basque Country....
     - Minister of Youth and Family
  • François Piétri
    François Piétri

    Fran?ois Pi?tri was a minister in several governments in the later years of the French Third Republic and was French ambassador to Spain from 1940 to 1944 under the Vichy France....
     - Minister of Communication


Pétain's Third Government, 6 September 1940 - 25 February 1941

  • Philippe Pétain - Head of State and President of the Council
  • Pierre Laval
    Pierre Laval

    Pierre Laval was a France politician. He served four times as Prime Minister of France of the Third French Republic, thrice consecutively. Following France's Armistice with Germany in 1940, he served twice in the Vichy Regime as head of government....
     - Vice President of the Council
  • Paul Baudoin
    Paul Baudoin

    Paul Baudouin was a French politician. An advocate of appeasement, Baudouin served as Philippe P?tain first Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1940, and negotiated the armistice with the Germans....
     - Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Charles Huntziger
    Charles Huntziger

    Charles Huntziger was a French Army general during World War I and World War II.He was born at Lesneven . He graduated from ?cole sp?ciale militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1900 and joined the colonial infantry....
     - 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
    Raphaël Alibert

    Rapha?l Alibert was a French politician.As someone with strong Monarchism ideas, he was elected with the Action Fran?aise party, and became the Deputy Secretary of State in the French governmental elections on 16 June 1940 with the Philippe P?tain government....
     - Minister of Justice
  • François Darlan
    François Darlan

    Fran?ois Darlan was a France naval officer. Darlan rose through the French Navy, ultimately becoming Admiral of the Fleet, and was a major figure of the Vichy France regime during World War II....
     - Minister of the Navy
  • 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
  • 28 October 1940 - Pierre Laval
    Pierre Laval

    Pierre Laval was a France politician. He served four times as Prime Minister of France of the Third French Republic, thrice consecutively. Following France's Armistice with Germany in 1940, he served twice in the Vichy Regime as head of government....
     succeeds Baudoin as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
  • 13 December 1940 - Pierre Laval loses his positions. Pierre Étienne Flandin
    Pierre Étienne Flandin

    Pierre ?tienne Flandin was a French conservative politician of the French Third Republic, leader of the Democratic Republican Alliance , and Prime Minister of France from 8 November 1934 to 31 May 1935....
     succeeds Laval as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Jacques Chevalier
    Jacques Chevalier

    French philosopher .* Teacher at the Faculty of Letters in Grenoble.* Author of many books, mainly about history of philosophy.* Minister in 1941 under Vichy Regime....
     succeeds Ripert as Minister of Public Instruction and Youth. Paul Baudoin
    Paul Baudoin

    Paul Baudouin was a French politician. An advocate of appeasement, Baudouin served as Philippe P?tain first Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1940, and negotiated the armistice with the Germans....
     becomes Minister of Information
  • 2 January 1941 - Paul Baudoin ceases to be Minister of Information, and the office is abolished.
  • 27 January 1941 - Joseph Barthélemy succeeds Alibert as Minister of Justice.
  • 10 February 1941 - François Darlan
    François Darlan

    Fran?ois Darlan was a France naval officer. Darlan rose through the French Navy, ultimately becoming Admiral of the Fleet, and was a major figure of the Vichy France regime during World War II....
     succeeds Flandin as Minister of Foreign Affairs


Pétain's Fourth Government, 25 February - 12 August 1941

  • Philippe Pétain - Head of State and President of the Council
  • François Darlan
    François Darlan

    Fran?ois Darlan was a France naval officer. Darlan rose through the French Navy, ultimately becoming Admiral of the Fleet, and was a major figure of the Vichy France regime during World War II....
     - Vice President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior, and Minister of the Navy
  • Charles Huntziger
    Charles Huntziger

    Charles Huntziger was a French Army general during World War I and World War II.He was born at Lesneven . He graduated from ?cole sp?ciale militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1900 and joined the colonial infantry....
     - Minister of National Defense
  • Yves Bouthillier - Minister of Finance and National Economy
  • Pierre Pucheu
    Pierre Pucheu

    Pierre Firmin Pucheu was a France industrialist, fascism and member of the Vichy France.The son of a tailor from southwest France, Pucheu won a scolarship to the ?cole Normale Sup?rieure in Paris where he was a contemporary of both Robert Brasillach and Jean-Paul Sartre....
     - Minister of Industrial Production
  • René Belin - Minister of Labour
  • Joseph Barthélemy - Minister of Justice
  • Jean Bergeret - Minister of Aviation
  • Jérôme Carcopino
    Jérôme Carcopino

    J?r?me Carcopino was a French historian and author. He was the third member elected to occupy seat 3 of the Acad?mie fran?aise in 1955.Carcopino was born at Verneuil-sur-Avre and educated at the ?cole normale sup?rieure where he specialised in history....
     - Minister of National Education and Youth
  • Pierre Caziot - Minister of Agriculture
  • Jean-Louis Achard - Minister of Supply
  • Charles Platon - Minister of Colonies
  • Jacques Chevalier
    Jacques Chevalier

    French philosopher .* Teacher at the Faculty of Letters in Grenoble.* Author of many books, mainly about history of philosophy.* Minister in 1941 under Vichy Regime....
     - Minister of Family and Health
  • Jean Berthelot - Minister of Communication
  • Henri Moysset - Minister of Information


Changes
  • 18 July 1941 - Pierre Pucheu
    Pierre Pucheu

    Pierre Firmin Pucheu was a France industrialist, fascism and member of the Vichy France.The son of a tailor from southwest France, Pucheu won a scolarship to the ?cole Normale Sup?rieure in Paris where he was a contemporary of both Robert Brasillach and Jean-Paul Sartre....
     succeeds Darlan as Minister of the Interior. Darlan retains his other posts. François Lehideux succeeds Pucheu as Minister of Industrial Production.


Pétain's Fifth Government, 12 August 1941 - 18 April 1942

  • Philippe Pétain - Head of State and President of the Council
  • François Darlan
    François Darlan

    Fran?ois Darlan was a France naval officer. Darlan rose through the French Navy, ultimately becoming Admiral of the Fleet, and was a major figure of the Vichy France regime during World War II....
     - Vice President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defense, and Minister of the Navy
  • Pierre Pucheu
    Pierre Pucheu

    Pierre Firmin Pucheu was a France industrialist, fascism and member of the Vichy France.The son of a tailor from southwest France, Pucheu won a scolarship to the ?cole Normale Sup?rieure in Paris where he was a contemporary of both Robert Brasillach and Jean-Paul Sartre....
     - 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
    Jérôme Carcopino

    J?r?me Carcopino was a French historian and author. He was the third member elected to occupy seat 3 of the Acad?mie fran?aise in 1955.Carcopino was born at Verneuil-sur-Avre and educated at the ?cole normale sup?rieure where he specialised in history....
     - 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
    Paul Marion

    Paul Jules Andr? Marion was a France journalist and communist who later served as a member of the Vichy France.Marion joined the French Communist Party in 1922 and wrote for L'Humanit? as well as being elected to the party's central committee in 1926....
     - Minister of Information and Propaganda
  • Henri Moysset - Minister of State
  • Lucien Romier - Minister of State


See also

  • French Army Mutinies (1917)
    French Army Mutinies (1917)

    The French Army Mutinies of 1917 took place in the Champagne section of the Western Front and started just after the conclusion of the disastrous Second Battle of the Aisne....
  • Vichy France
    Vichy France

    Vichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944. This government, which succeeded the French Third Republic, officially called itself the French State , in contrast with the previous designation, "French Republic." Marshal of France Philippe P?tain pro...


Bibliography

Among a vast number of books and articles about Pétain, the most complete and documented biography:
  • Lottman, Herbert R. Philippe Pétain, 1984



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