A marshal whose Verdun prestige ended in Vichy collaboration
On 17 June 1940, Pétain broadcast that France must cease fighting.
Philippe Pétain was a French general who became a national hero through his command at Verdun and his effort to restore the army’s morale after the 1917 mutinies. In 1940 he opposed continuing the war against Germany and sought an armistice; after parliament granted him constituent powers, he became head of the French State at Vichy and replaced the republic with an authoritarian regime. His government collaborated with Nazi Germany and enacted antisemitic laws, binding French state institutions to the occupation order. After liberation, the High Court condemned him to death for treason and intelligence with the enemy, but Charles de Gaulle commuted the sentence to life imprisonment.
Career Timeline
- 1876Entered Saint-Cyr military academy
- 1916Commanded French forces at Verdun
- 1917–1918Commander-in-chief of the French Army
- 1934Minister of War
- 1939–1940French ambassador to Spain
- 1940.06President of the Council of Ministers of France
- 1940–1944Head of the French State at Vichy
- 1945–1951Convicted of treason and imprisoned for life