Pétain, Henri Philippe

Pétain, Henri Philippe (1856-1951), French military and political leader; a World War I hero, he was later condemned as a traitor for having headed the pro-German Vichy regime after France's defeat in World War II.

Born in Cauchy-à-la-Tour on April 24, 1856, Pétain was educated at the Saint-Cyr military academy and the École Supérieure de Guerre (army war college) in Paris. As a general during World War I, he won fame for his successful defence of Verdun against the Germans in 1916. Later, as commander in chief, he did much to restore morale in the French army after a series of mutinies in 1917. He was made a marshal of France the following year. During the 1920s Pétain served in French Morocco. In 1934 he was minister of war, and in 1939-1940 he was ambassador to Spain.

Following the German invasion of France in 1940, Pétain—then 84 years old—was recalled to active military service as adviser to the minister of war. On June 16, 1940, he succeeded Paul Reynaud as premier of France and soon afterwards he asked the Germans for an armistice, which was concluded on June 22. On July 2, with the consent of the Germans, he established his government at Vichy in central France, and on July 10 he assumed the title of chief of state, ruling thereafter with dictatorial powers over that portion of France not directly under German control. Pétain and his prime minister, Pierre Laval, established a Fascist-oriented government that became notorious for its collaboration with Hitler. After the Allies landed in France in 1944, Pétain went to Germany and then to Switzerland. He returned to France after the war to stand trial for treason. In August 1945 he was found guilty of “intelligence with the enemy” and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and he was moved to the Île d'Yeu, an island off the coast of Brittany, where he died on July 23, 1951.