Philippe Pétain

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President of the Republic)
Succeeded byCharles de Gaulle (Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Republic)
Prime Minister of France
In office
16 June 1940 – 11 July 1940
PresidentAlbert Lebrun
Deputy
Preceded byPaul Reynaud
Succeeded byPierre Laval
Deputy Prime Minister of France
In office
18 May 1940 – 16 June 1940
Prime MinisterPaul Reynaud
Preceded byCamille Chautemps
Succeeded byCamille Chautemps
Minister of War
In office
9 February 1934 – 8 November 1934
Prime MinisterGaston Doumergue
Preceded byJoseph Paul-Boncour
Succeeded byLouis Maurin
Chief of Staff of the Army
In office
30 April 1917 – 16 May 1917
Preceded byRobert Nivelle
Succeeded byFerdinand Foch
Personal details
Born
Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain

24 April 1856
Île-d'Yeu
, France
Spouse
(m. 1920)
Signature
General of division
Battles/wars
Awards
Criminal conviction
Conviction(s)Treason
Criminal penaltyDeath; commuted to life imprisonment

Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (/pˈtæ̃/, French: [filip petɛ̃]) or Marshal Pétain (French: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who commanded the French Army in World War I and became the head of the collaborationist regime of Vichy France, from 1940 to 1944, during World War II.

Pétain was admitted to the

Nivelle Offensive and subsequent mutinies, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief and succeeded in restoring control. Pétain remained in command for the rest of the war and emerged as a national hero. During the interwar period he was head of the peacetime French Army, commanded joint Franco-Spanish operations during the Rif War
and served twice as a government minister. During this time he was known as le vieux Maréchal ("the Old Marshal").

On 17 June 1940, with the imminent

puppet regime that was allowed to govern the southeast of France and which collaborated with the Axis powers. After Germany and Italy occupied all of France in November 1942, Pétain's government worked closely with the Nazi German military administration
.

After the war, Pétain was tried and convicted for treason. He was originally sentenced to death, but due to his age and World War I service his sentence was commuted to life in prison. His journey from military obscurity, to hero of France during World War I, to collaborationist ruler during World War II, led his successor Charles de Gaulle to declare that Pétain's life was "successively banal, then glorious, then deplorable, but never mediocre".

Pétain, who was 84 years old when he became Prime Minister and later Chief of State, remains both the oldest person to become the head of government and the oldest person to become the head of state of France.

Early life

Pétain was born into a peasant family in Cauchy-à-la-Tour, in the Pas-de-Calais department, northern France, on 24 April 1856.[1][2] He was one of five children of Omer-Venant Pétain, a farmer, and Clotilde Legrand, their only son.[1] His father had previously lived in Paris, where he worked for photography pioneer Louis Daguerre, before returning to the family farm in Cauchy-à-la-Tour following the Revolution of 1848.[1] One of his great-uncles, a Catholic priest, Father Abbe Lefebvre (1771–1866), served in the Grande Armée during the Napoleonic Wars.[1]

Pétain's mother died when he was 18 months old, and he was raised by relatives after his father remarried.

Saint-Cyr Military Academy, Pétain enrolled in the Dominican college of Albert-le-Grand in Arcueil.[1]

Early military career

Pétain in the 1880s

Pétain was admitted to Saint-Cyr in 1873, beginning his career in the

chasseurs,[1]
the elite light infantry of the French Army. Thereafter, he alternated between staff and regimental assignments.

Pétain's career progressed slowly, as he rejected the French Army 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. In March 1904, by then serving in the 104th Infantry, he was appointed adjunct professor of applied infantry tactics at the École Supérieure de Guerre,[4] and following promotion to lieutenant-colonel was promoted to professor on 3 April 1908.[5] He was brevetted to colonel on 1 January 1910.[6]

Unlike many French officers, Pétain served mainly in mainland France, never French Indochina or any of the African colonies, although he participated in the Rif campaign in Morocco. As colonel, he was given command of the 33rd Infantry Regiment at Arras on 25 June 1911;[7] a young lieutenant, Charles de Gaulle, 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). By then aged 58 and having been told he would never become a general, Pétain had bought a villa for retirement.[8]

First World War

Beginning of war

Autochrome portrait by Jules Gervais-Courtellemont

Pétain led his brigade at the

Second Army, which he led in the Champagne Offensive
that autumn. He acquired a reputation as one of the more successful commanders on the Western Front.

Battle of Verdun

Pétain commanded the

Commander-in-Chief
.

Mutiny

Because of his high prestige as a soldier's soldier, Pétain served briefly as Army

courts martial; 554 mutineers were sentenced to death but over 90% had their sentences commuted.[10]
The mutinies were kept secret from the Germans and their full extent and intensity were not revealed until decades later. Gilbert and Bernard find multiple causes:

The immediate cause was the extreme optimism and subsequent disappointment at the Nivelle offensive in the spring of 1917. Other causes were pacifism, stimulated by the Russian Revolution and the trade-union movement, and disappointment at the nonarrival of American troops.[11]

Pétain conducted some successful but limited offensives in the latter part of 1917, while the British carried out an offensive at Passchendaele that autumn. Pétain, instead, held off from major French offensives until the Americans arrived in force on the front lines, which did not happen until the early summer of 1918. He was also waiting for the new Renault FT tanks to be introduced in large numbers, hence his statement at the time: J'attends les chars et les Américains ("I am waiting for the tanks and the Americans.")[12]

End of WW1

Pershing
in 1918

The year 1918 saw major German offensives on the Western Front. The first of these, Operation Michael in March 1918, threatened to split the British and French forces apart, and, after Pétain had threatened to retreat on Paris, the Doullens Conference was called. Just prior to the main meeting, Prime Minister Clemenceau claimed he heard Pétain say "les Allemands battront les Anglais en rase campagne, après quoi ils nous battront aussi" ("the Germans will beat the English (sic) in open country, then they'll beat us as well"). He reported this conversation to President Raymond Poincaré, adding "surely a general should not speak or think like that?" Haig recorded that Pétain had "a terrible look. He had the appearance of a commander who had lost his nerve". Pétain believed – wrongly – that Gough's Fifth Army had been routed like the Italians at Caporetto.[13] At the Conference, Ferdinand Foch was appointed as Allied Generalissimo, initially with powers to co-ordinate and deploy Allied reserves where he saw fit. Pétain eventually came to the aid of the British and secured the front with forty French divisions.

Pétain proved a capable opponent of the Germans both in defence and through counter-attack. The third offensive, "Blücher", in May 1918, saw major German advances on the Aisne, as the French Army commander (Humbert) ignored Pétain's instructions to defend in depth and 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, Pétain was able to defend in depth and 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 direct appeal to the French government and requested to report to Foch, who increasingly assumed the co-ordination and ultimately the command of the Allied offensives.[citation needed] On the day of the armistice, Pétain wanted to continue offensive operations into Germany to prevent another war but was overruled by Foch.[14] After the war ended Pétain was made Marshal of France on 21 November 1918.[15]

Interwar period

Respected hero of France

Uniforms of Marshal of France (Pétain, Foch, Joffre) at Les Invalides.

Pétain ended the war regarded "without a doubt, the most accomplished defensive tactician of any army" and "one of France's greatest military heroes" and was presented with his

Debeney), and Pétain would hold it until 1931.[17][18] Pétain was encouraged by friends to go into politics, although he protested that he had little interest in running for an elected position. He nevertheless tried and failed to get himself elected President following the November 1919 elections.[19]

Shortly after the war, Pétain had placed before the government plans for a large tank and air force, but "at the meeting of the Conseil supérieur de la Défense Nationale of 12 March 1920, the Finance Minister, François-Marsal, announced that although Pétain's proposals were excellent they were unaffordable". In addition, François-Marsal announced reductions – in the army from fifty-five divisions to thirty, in the air force, and did not mention tanks. It was left to the Marshals, Pétain, Joffre, and Foch, to pick up the pieces of their strategies. The General Staff, now under General Edmond Buat, began to think seriously about a line of forts along the frontier with Germany, and their report was tabled[clarification needed] on 22 May 1922. The three Marshals supported this. The cuts in military expenditure meant that taking the offensive was now impossible and a defensive strategy was all they could have.[20]

Rif War

Pétain was appointed Inspector-General of the Army in February 1922, and produced, in concert with the new Chief of the General Staff, General

Medalla Militar.[23]

Vocal critic of defence policy

In 1924 the National Assembly was elected on a platform of reducing the length of national service to one year, to which Pétain was almost violently opposed. In January 1926, the Chief of Staff, General Debeney, proposed to the Conseil a "totally new kind of army. Only 20 infantry divisions would be maintained on a standing basis". Reserves could be called up when needed. The Conseil had no option in the straitened circumstances but to agree. Pétain disapproved of the whole thing, pointing out that North Africa still had to be defended and in itself required a substantial standing army. But he recognised, after the new Army Organisation Law of 1927, that the tide was flowing against him. He would not forget that the Radical leader, Édouard Daladier, even voted against the whole package, on the grounds that the Army was still too large.[24]

On 5 December 1925, after the

Locarno Treaty, the Conseil demanded immediate action on a line of fortifications along the eastern frontier to counter the already proposed decline in manpower. A new commission for this purpose was established, under Joseph Joffre, and called for reports. In July 1927 Pétain himself went to reconnoitre the whole area. He returned with a revised plan and the commission then proposed two fortified regions. The Maginot Line, as it came to be called, (named after André Maginot the former Minister of War) thereafter occupied a good deal of Pétain's attention during 1928, when he also travelled extensively, visiting military installations up and down the country.[25]
Pétain had based his strong support for the Maginot Line on his own experience of the role played by the forts during the Battle of Verdun in 1916.

Captain Charles de Gaulle continued to be a protégé of Pétain throughout these years. He even allegedly named his eldest son after the Marshal, although it is more likely that he named his son after his family ancestor Jean Baptiste Philippe de Gaulle,[26] before finally falling out over the authorship of a book he had said he had ghost-written for Pétain.

Election to the Académie française

1926 painting of Maréchal Pétain

In 1928, Pétain had supported the creation of an independent air force removed from the control of the army, and on 9 February 1931, following his retirement as Vice-Chairman of the Supreme War Council, he was appointed Inspector-General of Air Defence.

Geneva Disarmament Conference.[29]

In 1938, Pétain encouraged and assisted the writer

Free French
.

Minister of War

Political unease was sweeping the country, and

Territory of the Saar Basin went for Germany "it would be a serious military error" for the French Army to intervene. Pétain responded by again petitioning the government for further funds for the army.[30] During this period, he repeatedly called for a lengthening of the term of compulsory military service for conscripts from two to three years, to no avail. Pétain accompanied President Lebrun to Belgrade for the funeral of King Alexander, who had been assassinated on 6 October 1934 in Marseille by Vlado Chernozemski, a Bulgarian nationalist from IMRO. Here he met Hermann Göring and the two men reminisced about their experiences in the Great War. "When Göring returned to Germany he spoke admiringly of Pétain, describing him as a 'man of honour'".[31]

Critic of government policy

In November, the Doumergue government fell. Pétain had previously expressed interest in being named Minister of Education (as well as of War), a role in which he hoped to combat what he saw as the decay in French moral values.[32] Now, however, he refused to continue in Flandin's (short-lived) government as Minister of War and stood down – in spite of a direct appeal from Lebrun himself. At this moment an article appeared in the popular Le Petit Journal newspaper, calling for Pétain as a candidate for a dictatorship. 200,000 readers responded to the paper's poll. Pétain came first, with 47,000, ahead of Pierre Laval's 31,000 votes. These two men travelled to Warsaw for the funeral of the Polish Marshal Piłsudski in May 1935 (and another cordial meeting with Göring).[33] Although Le Petit Journal was conservative, Pétain's high reputation was bipartisan; socialist Léon Blum called him "the most human of our military commanders". Pétain did not get involved in non-military issues when in the Cabinet, and unlike other military leaders he did not have a reputation as an extreme Catholic or a monarchist.[34]

He remained on the Conseil superieur. Weygand had been at the British Army 1934 manoeuvres at

Revue des deux mondes, where he reviewed the history of the army since 1927–28. He criticised the reservist system in France, and her lack of adequate air power and armour. This article appeared just five days before Adolf Hitler's announcement of Germany's new air force and a week before the announcement that Germany was increasing its army to 36 divisions. On 26 April 1936, the general election results showed 5.5 million votes for the Popular Front parties against 4.5 million for the Right on an 84% turnout. On 3 May Pétain, was interviewed in Le Journal where he launched an attack on the Franco-Soviet Pact, on Communism in general (France had the largest communist party in Western Europe), and on those who allowed Communists intellectual responsibility. He said that France had lost faith in her destiny.[36]
Pétain was now in his 80th year.

Some argue[

MAS 49. French artillery it had not been modernised since 1918. The result of all these failings is that the French Army had to face the invading enemy in 1940 with the dated weaponry of 1918. Pétain had been made Minister of War in 1934, but could not reverse 15 years of inactivity and constant cutbacks. French aviation entered the War in 1939 without even the prototype of a bomber aeroplane capable of reaching Berlin and coming back. French industrial efforts in fighter aircraft were dispersed among several firms (Dewoitine, Morane-Saulnier and Marcel Bloch
), each with its own models.

Battle of France

Return to government

Pétain in May 1940

In March 1939, Pétain was appointed French ambassador to the newly recognized Nationalist government of Spain. Pétain had taught the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco "many years ago at France's war college" and was sent to Spain "in the hope he would win his former pupil away from Italian and German influence."[37] When World War II began in September, Daladier offered Pétain a position in his government, which Pétain turned down. However, after Germany invaded France, Pétain joined the new government of Paul Reynaud on 18 May 1940 as Deputy Prime Minister. Reynaud hoped that the hero of Verdun might instill a renewed spirit of resistance and patriotism in the French Army.[34] Reportedly Franco advised Pétain against leaving his diplomatic post in Madrid, to return to a collapsing France as a "sacrifice".[38]

By 26 May, the Allied lines had been shattered, and British forces had begun evacuating at Dunkirk. French commander-in-chief Maxime Weygand expressed his fury at British retreats and the unfulfilled promise of British fighter aircraft. He and Pétain regarded the military situation as hopeless. Colonel de Villelume subsequently stated before a parliamentary commission of inquiry in 1951 that Reynaud, as Premier of France, said to Pétain on that day that they must seek an armistice.[39] Weygand said that he was in favor of saving the French army and that he "wished to avoid internal troubles and above all anarchy". Churchill's man in Paris, Edward Spears, urged the French not to sign an armistice, saying that if French ports were occupied by Germany, Britain would have to bomb them. Spears reported that Pétain did not respond immediately but stood there "perfectly erect, with no sign of panic or emotion. He did not disguise the fact that he considered the situation catastrophic. I could not detect any sign in him of broken morale, of that mental wringing of hands and incipient hysteria noticeable in others." Pétain later remarked to Reynaud about this statement: "your ally now threatens us".[citation needed]

On 5 June, following the fall of Dunkirk, there was a Cabinet reshuffle. Reynaud brought into his War Cabinet as Undersecretary for War the newly promoted Brigadier-General de Gaulle, whose 4th Armoured Division had launched one of the few French counterattacks the previous month. Pétain was displeased at de Gaulle’s appointment.[40] By 8 June, Paris was threatened, and the government was preparing to depart, although Pétain was opposed to such a move. During a cabinet meeting that day, Reynaud argued that before asking for an armistice, France would have to get Britain's permission to be relieved from their accord of March 1940 not to sign a separate cease-fire. Pétain replied that "the interests of France come before those of Britain. Britain got us into this position, let us now try to get out of it." [citation needed].

Fall of France

On 10 June, the government left Paris for Tours. Weygand, the Commander-in-Chief, now declared that "the fighting had become meaningless". He, Minister of Finance Paul Baudouin, and several other members of the government were already set on an armistice. On 11 June, Churchill flew to the Château du Muguet, at Briare, near Orléans, where he put forward first his idea of a Breton redoubt, to which Weygand replied that it was just a "fantasy".[41] Churchill then said the French should consider "guerrilla warfare". Pétain then replied that it would mean the destruction of the country. Churchill then said the French should defend Paris and reminded Pétain of how he had come to the aid of the British with forty divisions in March 1918, and repeating Clemenceau's words

"I will fight in front of Paris, in Paris, and behind Paris".

To this, Churchill subsequently reported, Pétain replied quietly, and with dignity that he had in those days, a strategic reserve of sixty divisions; now, there were none, and the British ought to be providing divisions to aid France. Making Paris into a ruin would not affect the final event. At the conference Pétain met de Gaulle for the first time in two years. Pétain noted his recent promotion to general, adding that he did not congratulate him, as ranks were of no use in defeat. When de Gaulle protested that Pétain himself had been promoted to brigadier-general and division commander at the Battle of the Marne in 1914, he replied that there was "no comparison" with the present situation. De Gaulle later conceded that Pétain was right about that much at least.[42]

On 12 June, after a second session of the conference, the cabinet met and Weygand again called for an armistice. He referred to the danger of military and civil disorder and the possibility of a Communist uprising in Paris. Pétain and Minister of Information Prouvost urged the cabinet to hear Weygand out because "he was the only one really to know what was happening".

Churchill returned to France on 13 June for another conference at Tours. Baudouin met his plane and immediately spoke to him of the hopelessness of further French resistance. Reynaud then put the cabinet's armistice proposals to Churchill, who replied that "whatever happened, we would level no reproaches against France". At that day's cabinet meeting, Pétain strongly supported Weygand’s demand for an armistice and read out a draft proposal to the cabinet where he spoke of

"the need to stay in France, to prepare a national revival, and to share the sufferings of our people. It is impossible for the government to abandon French soil without emigrating, without deserting. The duty of the government is, come what may, to remain in the country, or it could not longer be regarded as the government".

Several ministers were still opposed to an armistice, and Weygand immediately lashed out at them for even leaving Paris. Like Pétain, he said he would never leave France.[43]

The government moved to Bordeaux, where French governments had fled German invasions in 1870 and 1914, on 14 June. By coincidence, on the evening of 14 June in Bordeaux, de Gaulle dined in the same restaurant as Pétain; he came over to shake his hand in silence, and they never met again.[43]

The Assembly, both Senate and Chamber, were also at Bordeaux and immersed themselves in the armistice debate. At cabinet on 15 June, Reynaud urged that France follow the Dutch example, that the Army should lay down its arms so that the fight could be continued from abroad. Pétain was sympathetic.[44] Pétain was sent to speak to Weygand (who was waiting outside, as he was not a member of the cabinet) for around fifteen minutes.[45] Weygand persuaded him that Reynaud's suggestion would be a shameful surrender. Chautemps then put forward a 'fudge' proposal, an inquiry about terms.[44] The Cabinet voted 13–6 for the Chautemps proposal. Admiral Darlan, who had been opposed to an armistice until 15 June, now became a key player, agreeing provided the French fleet was kept out of German hands.[45]

Pétain replaces Reynaud

On Sunday, 16 June 1940, President Roosevelt's reply to President Lebrun's requests for assistance came with only vague promises and saying that it was impossible for the President to do anything without Congressional approval. Pétain then drew a letter of resignation from his pocket, an act which was certain to bring down the government (he had persuaded Weygand to come to Bordeaux by telling him that 16 June would be the decisive day). Lebrun persuaded him to stay until Churchill’s reply had been received. After lunch, Churchill’s telegram arrived agreeing to an armistice provided the French fleet was moved to British ports, a suggestion which was not acceptable to Darlan, who argued that it was outrageous and would leave France defenseless.[44]

That afternoon, the British Government offered joint nationality for Frenchmen and Britons in a Franco-British Union. Reynaud and five ministers thought these proposals acceptable. The others did not, seeing the offer as insulting and a device to make France subservient to Great Britain, as a kind of extra Dominion. Contrary to President Albert Lebrun's later recollection, no formal vote appears to have been taken at Cabinet on 16 June.[46] The outcome of the meeting is uncertain.[44] Ten ministers wanted to fight on and seven favoured an armistice (but these included the two Deputy Prime Ministers Pétain and Camille Chautemps, and this view was also favoured by the Commander-in-Chief General Weygand). Eight were initially undecided but swung towards an armistice.[46]

Lebrun reluctantly accepted Reynaud’s resignation as Prime Minister on 17 June, Reynaud recommending to the President that he appoint Marshal Pétain in his place, which he did that day, while the government was at Bordeaux. Pétain already had a ministerial team ready:[47]

  • Pierre Laval for Foreign Affairs (this appointment was briefly vetoed by Weygand);
  • Weygand as Minister of Defence;
  • Darlan as Minister for the Navy; and
  • Bouthillier for Finance.

Head of the French State

The armistice of 1940

Montoire on 24 October 1940; Joachim von Ribbentrop on the right, Hitler's interpreter, Paul Schmidt
, in the centre.
The personal emblem of Philippe Pétain was a stylised labrys, which was featured on an order of merit and was used as Vichy France's informal emblem.[48]
Personal Standard of Philippe Pétain, including the baton and seven stars of a Marshal of France

A new Cabinet with Pétain as head of government was formed, with

Cabinet Secretary.[49]
At midnight on 17 June 1940, Baudouin asked the Spanish Ambassador to submit to Germany a request to cease hostilities at once and for Germany to make known its peace terms. At 12:30 am, Pétain made his first broadcast to the French people.

"The enthusiasm of the country for the Maréchal was tremendous. He was welcomed by people as diverse as Claudel, Gide, and Mauriac, and also by the vast mass of untutored Frenchmen who saw him as their saviour."[50] General de Gaulle, no longer in the Cabinet, had arrived in London on 17 June and made a call for resistance from there on 18 June, with no legal authority whatsoever, a call that was heeded by comparatively few.

Cabinet and Parliament still argued between themselves on the question of whether or not to retreat to North Africa. On 18 June, Édouard Herriot (who would later be a prosecution witness at Pétain's trial) and Jeanneney, the presidents of the two Chambers of Parliament, as well as Lebrun said they wanted to go. Pétain said he was not departing. On 20 June, a delegation from the two chambers came to Pétain to protest at the proposed departure of President Lebrun. The next day, they went to Lebrun himself. In the event, only 26 deputies and 1 senator headed for Africa, amongst them those with Jewish backgrounds, Georges Mandel, Pierre Mendès France, and the former Popular Front Education Minister, Jean Zay.[51] Pétain made a broadcast again to the French people on that day.

On 22 June 1940, France signed an armistice at Compiègne with Germany that gave 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. Paris remained the de jure capital. On 29 June, the French Government moved to Clermont-Ferrand where the first discussions of constitutional changes were mooted, with Pierre Laval having personal discussions with President Lebrun, who had, in the event, not departed France. On 1 July, the government, finding Clermont too cramped, moved to Vichy, at Baudouin's suggestion, the empty hotels there being more suitable for the government ministries.

Constitutional change

The

French historians, as well as all postwar French governments, consider this vote to be illegal; not only were several deputies and senators not present, but the constitution explicitly stated that the republican form of government could not be changed, though it could be argued that a republican dictatorship was installed. On the next day, Pétain formally assumed near-absolute powers as "Head of State".[note 1]

Pétain was reactionary by temperament and education, and quickly began blaming the Third Republic and its endemic corruption for the French defeat. His regime soon took on clear authoritarian – and in some cases, fascist – characteristics. The republican motto of "

Council of Ministers and designate a successor (he chose Laval). Though Pétain publicly stated that he had no desire to become "a Caesar",[56] by January 1941, Pétain held virtually all governing power in France; nearly all legislative, executive, and judicial powers were either de jure or de facto in his hands. One of his advisors commented that he had more power than any French leader since Louis XIV.[34] Fascistic and revolutionary conservative factions within the new government used the opportunity to launch an ambitious programme known as the "Révolution nationale", which rejected much of the former Third Republic's secular and liberal traditions in favour of an authoritarian and paternalist society. Pétain, amongst others, took exception to the use of the term "revolution" to describe what he believed to be an essentially conservative movement, but otherwise participated in the transformation of French society from "Republic" to "State". He added that the new France would be "a social hierarchy... rejecting the false idea of the natural equality of men."[57]

The new government immediately used its new powers to order harsh measures, including the dismissal of republican civil servants, the installation of exceptional jurisdictions, the proclamation of

freedom of expression and thought were effectively abolished with the reinstatement of the crime of "felony of opinion". Pétain was always aware of civil discontent, particularly in the southern departments of the country to Vichy rule. In a radio address to the country on 12 August 1941, Pétain stated;

"From several regions of France, I have felt an ill-wind rising for some time...the authority of my government is contested...a genuine malaise is gripping the French people".[58]

The regime organised a "Légion Française des Combattants," which included "Friends of the Legion" and "Cadets of the Legion", groups of those who had never fought but were politically attached to the new regime. Pétain championed a rural and reactionary France that spurned internationalism. As a retired military commander, he ran the country on military lines.

State collaboration with Germany

Within months, Pétain signed antisemitic ordinances. This included the Law on the status of Jews, prohibiting Jews from exercising numerous professions, and the Law regarding foreign nationals of the Jewish race, authorizing the detention of foreign Jews. Pétain's government was nevertheless internationally recognised, notably by the U.S., at least until the German occupation of the rest of France. Neither Pétain nor his successive deputies, Laval, Pierre-Étienne Flandin, or Admiral François Darlan, gave significant resistance to requests by the Germans to indirectly aid the Axis powers.

When Hitler met Pétain at

Montoire in October 1940 to discuss the French government's role in the new "European Order", the handshake he offered to Hitler caused much uproar in London, and probably influenced Britain's decision to lend Free France naval support for their operations in Gabon.[59] Furthermore, France even remained formally at war with Germany, albeit opposed to the Free French. Following the British attacks of July and September 1940 (Mers-el-Kébir, Dakar), the French government became increasingly fearful of the British and took the initiative to collaborate with the occupiers. Pétain accepted the government's creation of a collaborationist armed militia (the Milice) under the command of Joseph Darnand, who, along with German forces, led a campaign of repression against the French resistance ("Maquis
").

Pétain and his final meeting with the departing American ambassador William D. Leahy, 1942

Pétain admitted Darnand into his government as Secretary of the Maintenance of Public Order (Secrétaire d'État au Maintien de l'Ordre). In August 1944, Pétain tried to distance himself from the crimes of the Milice by writing Darnand a letter of reprimand for the organisation's "excesses". Darnand sarcastically replied that Pétain should have "thought of this before".

Pétain's government acquiesced to Axis demands for large supplies of manufactured goods and foodstuffs, and also ordered French troops in the French colonial empire (in Dakar, Syria, Madagascar, Oran, and Morocco) to defend sovereign French territory against any aggressors, Allied or otherwise.

Pétain's motives are a topic of wide conjecture. Winston Churchill had spoken to Reynaud during the impending fall of France, saying of Pétain, "... he had always been a defeatist, even in the last war [World War I]."[60]

On 11 November 1942, German forces invaded the unoccupied zone of Southern France in response to

figurehead, as the Germans had negated the pretence of an "independent" government at Vichy. Pétain however remained popular and engaged in a series of visits around France as late as 1944, when he arrived in Paris on 28 April in what Nazi propaganda newsreels described as a "historic" moment for the city. Large crowds cheered him in front of the Hôtel de Ville and in the streets.[61]

Exile to Sigmaringen

On 17 August 1944, the Germans, in the person of

Cecil von Renthe-Fink, "special diplomatic delegate of the Führer to the French Head of State", asked Pétain to allow himself to be transferred to the northern zone.[62] Pétain refused and asked for a written formulation of this request.[62] Renthe-Fink renewed his request twice on the 18th, then returned on the 19th, at 11:30, accompanied by General Alexander Neubronn von Eisenberg, who told him that he had "formal orders from Berlin".[62]
The written text was submitted to Pétain: "The Reich Government instructs the transfer of the Head of State, even against his will".[62] Faced with the Marshal's continued refusal, the Germans threatened to bring in the Wehrmacht to bomb Vichy.[62] After having requested the Swiss ambassador Walter Stucki [fr] to bear witness to the Germans' blackmail, Pétain submitted. When Renthe-Fink entered the Marshal's office at the Hôtel du Parc with General Neubronn "at 7:30 p.m.", the Head of State was supervising the packing up of his suitcases and papers.[62] The next day, 20 August 1944, Pétain was taken against his will by the German army to Belfort.

Following the liberation of France, on 8 September 1944, Pétain and other members of the French cabinet at Vichy were relocated by the Germans to the Sigmaringen enclave in Germany, where they became a government-in-exile until April 1945. Pétain, however, having been forced to leave France, refused to participate in this government and Fernand de Brinon now headed the "government commission".[63] In a note dated 29 October 1944, Pétain forbade de Brinon to use the Marshal's name in any connection with this new government, and on 5 April 1945, Pétain wrote a note to Hitler expressing his wish to return to France. No reply ever came. However, on his birthday almost three weeks later, he was taken to the Swiss border. Two days later he crossed the French frontier.[64]

Postwar life

Trial in High Court

Pétain during the trial

The provisional government, headed by de Gaulle, placed Pétain on trial for treason, which took place from 23 July to 15 August 1945. Dressed in the uniform of a Marshal of France, Pétain remained silent through most of the proceedings after an initial statement that denied the right of the High Court, as constituted, to try him. De Gaulle himself later criticised the trial, stating,

Too often, the discussions took on the appearance of a partisan trial, sometimes even a settling of accounts, when the whole affair should have been treated only from the standpoint of national defence and independence.[65]

The Fort du Portalet in the Pyrenees

At the end of Pétain's trial, he was convicted on all charges. The jury sentenced him to death,

better source needed
]

Fearing riots at the announcement of the sentence, de Gaulle ordered that Pétain be immediately transported on the former's private aircraft to Fort du Portalet in the Pyrenees,[68] where he remained from 15 August to 16 November 1945. The government later transferred him to the Fort de Pierre-Levée citadel on the Île d'Yeu, a small island off the French Atlantic coast.[69]

Imprisonment

Over the following years Pétain's lawyers and many foreign governments and dignitaries, including Queen Mary and the Duke of Windsor, appealed to successive French governments for Pétain's release, but given the unstable state of Fourth Republic politics, no government was willing to risk unpopularity by releasing him. As early as June 1946, U.S. President Harry S. Truman interceded in vain for his release, even offering to provide political asylum in the U.S.[70] A similar offer was later made by the Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco.[70]

Although Pétain had still been in good health for his age at the time of his imprisonment, by late 1947, he suffered from memory lapses.[71] By January 1949, his lucid intervals were becoming fewer and fewer. On 3 March 1949, a meeting of the Council of Ministers, many of its members "self-proclaimed heroes of the Resistance" in the words of biographer Charles Williams, had a fierce argument about a medical report recommending that he be moved to Val-de-Grâce (a military hospital in Paris), a measure to which Prime Minister Henri Queuille had previously been sympathetic. By May, Pétain required constant nursing care, and often suffered from hallucinations, e.g. that he was commanding armies in battle, or that naked women were dancing around his room.[72] By the end of 1949, Pétain was suffering from severe cognitive impairment, with only occasional moments of lucidity. He was also beginning to suffer from heart problems and was no longer able to walk without assistance. Plans were made for his death and funeral.[73]

On 8 June 1951, President Vincent Auriol, informed that Pétain did not have much longer to live, commuted his sentence to confinement in hospital; the news was kept secret until after the elections on 17 June, but by then, Pétain was too ill to be moved to Paris.[74]

Death and burial

Grave of Pétain on Île d'Yeu.

Pétain died in a private home in Port-Joinville [fr] on the Île d'Yeu on 23 July 1951, at the age of 95.[69] His body was buried in a local cemetery (Cimetière communal de Port-Joinville).[32] Calls were made to relocate his remains to the grave prepared for him at Verdun.[75]

In February 1973, Pétain's coffin housing his remains was

Douaumont ossuary among the war dead of the Battle of Verdun. Police recovered the coffin a few days later, and it was ceremoniously reburied with a presidential wreath on the Île d'Yeu where it had been buried before.[76]

A small museum glorifying Pétain, the Historical Museum of the Île d’Yeu, displays writings and personal items of Pétain, such as his deathbed, his clothes and his cane. The museum is not publicized and rarely opens – according to its manager, to "avoid trouble".[77]

Eponymy

Mount Pétain, nearby Pétain Creek, and Pétain Falls, forming the Pétain Basin on the Continental Divide in the Canadian Rockies, were named after him in 1919,[78] while nearby summits were given the names of other French generals (Foch, Cordonnier, Mangin, Castelnau and Joffre). The names referring to Pétain were removed in 2021 and 2022, leaving the features unnamed.[79]

Pinardville, New Hampshire, November 2019.

Douglas Haig, Ferdinand Foch, and Joseph Joffre
.

New York Canyon of Heroes

On 26 October 1931, Pétain was honored with a ticker-tape parade down Manhattan's Canyon of Heroes. In 2017, the New York City Mayor's Office considered removing the sidewalk ribbon denoting the parade for Pétain, given his role with the Nazis in World War II.[80]

Personal life

Pétain was a bachelor until his sixties, and known for his womanising.

Eugénie Hardon (1877–1962) on 14 September 1920; they remained married until the end of Pétain's life.[81] After rejecting Pétain's first marriage proposal, Hardon had married and divorced François de Hérain by 1914 when she was 35. At the opening of the Battle of Verdun in 1916, Pétain is said to have been fetched during the night from a Paris hotel by a staff officer who knew that he could be found with Eugénie Hardon.[82] She had no children by Pétain but already had a son from her first marriage, Pierre de Hérain, whom Pétain strongly disliked.[71]

Military ranks

Cadet Sub-lieutenant Lieutenant Captain Battalion chief Lieutenant colonel
1876
15 August 1945 (after degradation for war crimes)
1878 12 December 1883[83] 1889 (brevet)[84]
12 July 1890 (substantive)[85]
12 July 1900[86] 23 March 1907[87]
Colonel Brigade general Divisional general Divisional general holding higher command Marshal of France
1 January 1910 (brevet)[6] 30 August 1914[9] 14 September 1914 20 April 1915[88] 21 November 1918[89]

Honours and awards

French

  • Marshal of France: 21 November 1918 (The sole award retained following his trial in 1945)

Following honours and decorations withdrawn following conviction for high treason in 1945:[90]

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ Given full constituent powers in the law of 10 July 1940, Pétain never promulgated a new constitution. A draft was written in 1941 and signed by Pétain in 1944, but never submitted or ratified.[53][54]

References

Citations

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ Government of the French empire. "Birth certificate of Pétain, Henri Philippe Benoni Omer". culture.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 13 April 2020.
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  4. ^ Government of the French Republic (1 April 1904). "Ecoles militaires". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  5. ^ Government of the French Republic (5 April 1908). "Service des ecoles militaires". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  6. ^ a b Government of the French Republic (30 December 1909). "Tableau d'avancement". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  7. ^ Government of the French Republic (28 June 1911). "Ministère de la guerre". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
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  9. ^ a b Government of the French Republic (18 December 1914). "Armée active: nomination". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
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  11. ^ Bentley B. Gilbert and Paul P. Bernard, "The French Army Mutinies of 1917", Historian (1959) 22#1, pp. 24–41.
  12. ^ Mondet 2011, p. 159.
  13. ^ Farrar-Hockley 1975, pp. 301–302.
  14. ^ "Hero of Verdun: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain". Warfare History Network. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  15. ^ Tucker, S. C. (2009) A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East, ABC-CLIO, California, p. 1738.
  16. ^ Williams, 2005, p. 204.
  17. ^ Williams, 2005, p. 212.
  18. ^ Atkin, 1997, p. 41.
  19. ^ Williams, 2005, p. 217.
  20. ^ Williams, 2005, pp. 217–219.
  21. ^ Williams, 2005, p. 219.
  22. ^ Williams, 2005. p. 232.
  23. ^ Williams, 2005, pp. 233–235.
  24. ^ Williams, 2005, p. 244.
  25. ^ Williams, 2005, p. 247.
  26. ^ A Certain idea of France The life of Charles de Gaulle, Julian Jackson, p. 58.
  27. ^ Williams, 2005, pp. 250–252.
  28. ^ Williams, 2005, pp. 253–254.
  29. ^ Williams, 2005, p. 257.
  30. ^ Williams, 2005, pp. 260–261, 265.
  31. ^ Williams, 2005, p. 266.
  32. ^ .
  33. ^ Williams, 2005, pp. 268–269.
  34. ^ .
  35. ^ Philippe Pétain, "La securité de la France aux cours des années creuses", Revue des deux mondes, 26, 1935.
  36. ^ Anthony Adamthwaite, Grandeur and Misery: France's Bid for Power in Europe 1914–1940 (London: Arnold, 1995), p. 182.
  37. ^ "Petain appointed envoy to Burgos". The New York Times. 3 March 1939. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  38. . p. 378.
  39. ^ Eleanor M. Gates. End of the Affair: The Collapse of the Anglo-French Alliance, 1939–40. p. 145
  40. ^ Lacouture, 1991, p. 190.
  41. .
  42. ^ Lacouture, 1991, p. 197.
  43. ^ a b Lacouture, 1991, p. 201.
  44. ^ a b c d Atkin, 1997, pp. 82–86.
  45. ^ a b Williams, 2005, pp. 325–327.
  46. ^ a b Lacouture, 1991, pp. 204–205.
  47. ^ Lacouture, 1991, pp. 206–207.
  48. ^ «Cachet de la sous-préfecture de Dinan, 6 décembre 1943, État français (Régime de Vichy)» Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Académie de Rennes.
  49. ^ Jérôme Cotillon, "Un homme d’influence à Vichy: Henry du Moulin de Labarthète", Revue Historique, 2002, issue 622, pp. 353–385.
  50. ^ Griffiths, 1970.
  51. .
  52. ^ Griffiths, 1970, p. 248.
  53. OCLC 940719314
    . Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  54. . Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  55. .
  56. ^ 'Not a Caesar,' Petain asserts Archived 12 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Associated Press, 16 June 1945.
  57. .
  58. ^ Paxton, Robert (2001). Old Guard and New Order 1940-1944. Columbia University Press. p. 226.
  59. ^ Jennings, Eric T. Free French Africa in World War II, p. 44.
  60. ^ Churchill, Winston S. The Second World War, Vol 2, p. 159.
  61. YouTube
  62. ^ a b c d e f Aron 1962, pp. 41–42.
  63. ^ Pétain et la fin de la collaboration: Sigmaringen, 1944–1945, Henry Rousso, éditions Complexe, Paris, 1984.
  64. ^ Griffiths, 1970, pp. 333–334.
  65. ^ Charles De Gaulle, Mémoires de guerre, vol. 2, pp. 249–250.
  66. ^ "Philippe Pétain | WWI Hero, French General & Vichy Leader | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  67. .
  68. ^ Williams, 2005, pp. 512–513.
  69. ^ a b Association Pour Défendre la Mémoire du Maréchal Pétain (A.D.M.P.) (2009). "The World's Oldest Prisoner". Marechal-petain.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  70. ^ a b Williams, 2005, p. 520.
  71. ^ a b Williams, 2005, p. 523.
  72. ^ Williams, 2005, pp. 527–528.
  73. ^ Williams, 2005, pp. 528–529.
  74. ^ Williams, 2005, p. 530.
  75. ^ Dank, Milton. The French Against the French: Collaboration and Resistance, p. 361.
  76. .
  77. . Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  78. ^ "Pétain, Mount". BC Geographical Names.
  79. ^ Kaufmann, Bill (4 July 2022). "After Calgarian's efforts, Nazi collaborator's name removed from Alberta–B.C. peak". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  80. ^ Monumental battle rages over monuments. New York Press, August 30,2017 Archived 24 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 17 February 2018.
  81. .
  82. ^ Verdun 1916, by Malcolm Brown, Tempus Publishing Ltd., Stroud, UK, p. 86.
  83. ^ Government of the French Republic (13 December 1883). "Armée active: nominations et promotions". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  84. ^ Government of the French Republic (10 April 1889). "Armée active: mutations". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  85. ^ Government of the French Republic (18 November 1890). "École Supérieure de Guerre". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  86. ^ Government of the French Republic (13 July 1900). "Armée active: promotions et nominations". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  87. ^ Government of the French Republic (25 March 1907). "Armée active: nominations et promotions". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  88. ^ Government of the French Republic (22 April 1915). "Armée active: nominations et promotions". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  89. ^ Government of the French Republic (22 November 1918). "Ministère de la guerre". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  90. ^ a b "PETAIN, Henri Philippe Benoni Omer". Base Léonore. Government of the French Republic. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  91. ^ Government of the French Republic (25 August 1917). "Ministere de la guerre". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  92. ^ Government of the French Republic (29 April 1916). "Ministere de la guerre". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  93. ^ Government of the French Republic (16 June 1915). "Ministere de la guerre". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  94. ^ Government of the French Republic (16 June 1915). "Tableaux de concours pour la Legion d'Honneur 1901". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  95. ^ Government of the French Republic (7 August 1918). "Ministere de la guerre". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  96. ^ Government of the French Republic (1 January 1910). "Ministère de l'instruction publique et des beaux-arts". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 25 September 2021.

Cited works

Further reading

Among a vast number of books and articles about Pétain, the most complete and documented biographies are:

Reputation

External links

Military offices
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief of the French Army
17 May 1917 – January 1920
Succeeded by
Himself
as Vice President of the Superior War Council
Succeeded byas Chief of Staff of the Army
Preceded by
Himself
as Commander-in-Chief
Vice President of the Superior War Council
January 1920 – February 1931
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of France
1940–1942
Succeeded by
Preceded byas President
Chief of the French State

1940–1944
Succeeded byas Chairman of the Provisional Government
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Ramon Iglesias i Navarri
(1942–1944)
Succeeded by

Ramon Iglesias i Navarri
Records
Preceded by
The King of Sweden
Gustaf V
The oldest current head of state
11 July 1940 – 19 August 1944
Succeeded by
The King of Sweden
Gustaf V
Preceded by Oldest living state leader
25 July 1949 – 23 July 1951
Succeeded by