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Philippe Pétain
Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain (April 24, 1856 - July 23, 1951), generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain, was a French soldier and French Head of State during the Vichy regime.
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Early life
Born in Cauchy-à-la-Tour (in the Pas-de-Calais département, in the north of France) in 1856
World War I
Pétain was a distinguished veteran of World War I, and in particular the Battle of Verdun. He rose to be Commander-in-Chief of the French army, and it was his advocacy of a defensive strategy that led, in large part, to the construction of the Maginot Line.
Vichy France
After the fall of France during World War II, in the spring of 1940, the Chamber of Deputies appointed Pétain as Prime Minister of France and granted him extraordinary powers. The constitutionality of these actions was later challenged by de Gaulle's regime, but at the time Pétain was widely accepted as France's saviour. On June 22 he signed an armistice with Germany that gave the Nazis control over the north and west of the country, including Paris, but left the rest under an "independent" government that located its capital in the resort town of Vichy.
As leader of this semi-fascistic regime a personality cult was set up and Pétain's image was spread throughout France, portraying him as a father figure to the nation. Pétain refused the requests by the Germans and his Deputy Pierre Laval to side with the Axis Powers. Pétain also at first resisted pressure to deport large numbers of France's Jews to German concentration camps. He did provide the Axis with large supplies of manufactured goods and foodstuffs, and also encouraged resistance by Vichy troops in France's colonial empire.
In April 1942 Germany abrogated the cease-fire to deal with the French Resistance and also to try to recruit more French labour to aid their war effort. All of France was occupied and Pétain became nothing more than a figurehead for the Nazi regime. On September 7, 1944 he and other members of the Vichy cabinet fled to Sigmaringen and soon after he resigned as leader.
Post-War trial
In April 1945 he returned to France, where he was tried, convicted and sentenced to death by firing squad in July-August 1946. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by Charles de Gaulle on August 17, 1946, on the grounds of his old age. He died in prison on l'Île d'Yeu, an island off the coast of Brittany, in 1951.
Nowadays, in France, the word pétainisme suggests an authoritarian and reactionary ideology, a nostalgy of a rural, agricultural, traditionalist, Catholic society.
Pétain's First Government, 16 June - 12 July 1940
- Philippe Pétain - President of the Council
- Camille Chautemps - Vice President of the Council
- Paul Baudoin - Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Maxime Weygand - Minister of National Defense
- Louis Colson - Minister of War
- Charles Pomaret - Minister of the Interior
- Yves Bouthillier - Minister of Finance and Commerce
- André Février - Minister of Labour
- Charles Frémicourt - Minister of Justice
- François Darlan - Minister of Military and Merchant Marine
- Bertrand Pujo - Minister of Air
- Albert Rivaud - Minister of National Education
- Jean Ybarnegaray - Minister of French Family and Veterans
- Albert Chichery - Minister of Agriculture and Supply
- Albert Rivière - Minister of Colonies
- Ludovic-Oscar Frossard - Minister of Public Works and Transmissions
Changes
- 23 June - Adrien Marquet and Pierre Laval enter the Cabinet as Ministers of State
- 27 June 1940 - Adrien Marquet succeeds Pomaret as Minister of the Interior. André Février succeeds Frossard as Minister of Transmissions. Frossard remains Minister of Public Works. Charles Pomaret succeeds Février as Minister of Labour.
Pétain's Second Government, 12 July - 6 September 1940
- Philippe Pétain - Head of State and President of the Council
- Pierre Laval - Vice President of the Council
- Paul Baudoin - Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Maxime Weygand - Minister of National Defense
- Louis Colson - Minister of War
- Adrien Marquet - Minister of the Interior
- Yves Bouthillier - Minister of Finance
- René Belin - Minister of Industrial Production and Labour
- Raphaël Alibert - Minister of Justice
- François Darlan - Minister of Marine
- Bertrand Pujo - Minister of Aviation
- Émile Miraud - Minister of Public Instruction
- Pierre Caziot - Minister of Agriculture and Supply
- Henry Lémery - Minister of Colonies
- Jean Ybarnegaray - Minister of Youth and Family
- François Piétri - Minister of Communication
Pétain's Third Government, 6 September 1940 - 25 February 1941
- Philippe Pétain - Head of State and President of the Council
- Pierre Laval - Vice President of the Council
- Paul Baudoin - Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Charles Huntziger - Minister of National Defense
- Marcel Peyrouton - Minister of the Interior
- Yves Bouthillier - Minister of Finance
- René Belin - Minister of Industrial Production and Labour
- Raphaël Alibert - Minister of Justice
- François Darlan - Minister of Marine
- Jean Bergeret - Minister of Aviation
- Georges Ripert - Minister of Public Instruction and Youth
- Pierre Caziot - Minister of Agriculture and Supply
- Charles Platon - Minister of Colonies
- Jean Berthelot - Minister of Communication
Changes
- 28 October 1940 - Pierre Laval succeeds Baudoin as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
- 13 December 1940 - Pierre Laval loses his positions. Pierre Étienne Flandin succeeds Laval as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Jacques Chevalier succeeds Ripert as Minister of Public Instruction and Youth. Paul Baudoin 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 succeeds Flandin as Minister of Foreign Affairs
Pétain's Fourth Ministry, 25 February - 12 August 1941
- Philippe Pétain - Head of State and President of the Council
- François Darlan - Vice President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior, and Minister of Marine
- Charles Huntziger - Minister of National Defense
- Yves Bouthillier - Minister of Finance and National Economy
- Pierre Pucheu - Minister of Industrial Production
- René Belin - Minister of Labour
- Joseph Barthélemy - Minister of Justice
- Jean Bergeret - Minister of Aviation
- Jérôme Carcopino - Minister of National Education and Youth
- Pierre Caziot - Minister of Agriculture
- Jean-Louis Achard - Minister of Supply
- Charles Platon - Minister of Colonies
- Jacques Chevalier - Minister of Family and Health
- Jean Berthelot - Minister of Communication
- Henri Moysset - Minister of Information
Changes
- 18 July 1941 - Pierre Pucheu succeeds Darlan as Minister of the Interior. Darlan retains his other posts. François Lehideux succeeds Pucheu as Minister of Industrial Production.
Pétain's Fifth Government, 12 August 1941 - 18 April 1942
- Philippe Pétain - Head of Sate and President of the Council
- François Darlan - Vice President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defense, and Minister of Marine
- Pierre Pucheu - Minister of the Interior
- Yves Bouthillier - Minister of Finance and National Economy
- François Lehideux - Minister of Industrial Production
- René Belin - Minister of Labour
- Joseph Barthélemy - Minister of Justice
- Jean Bergeret - Minister of Aviation
- Jérôme Carcopino - Minister of National Education and Youth
- Pierre Caziot - Minister of Agriculture
- Paul Charbin - Minister of Supply
- Charles Platon - Minister of Colonies
- Serge Huard - Minister of Family and Health
- Jean Berthelot - Minister of Communication
- Paul Marion - Minister of Information and Propaganda
- Henri Moysset - Minister of State
- Lucien Romier - Minister of State
Preceded by: Albert Lebrun |
Heads of State of France | Followed by: Charles de Gaulle |
Preceded by: Paul Reynaud |
Prime Ministers of France | Followed by: Pierre Laval |
Categories: French heads of state | Prime ministers of France | History of Morocco | Members of the Académie française | World War II political leaders | 1856 births | 1951 deaths