Philippe petain deathstroke
Philippe Pétain ( - )
Philippe Pétain ©Petain was a national hero in France for his role in the defence of Verdun in World War One, but was later discredited and sentenced to death as head of the French collaborationist government at Vichy in World War Two.
Henri Philippe Pétain was born on 24 April into a farming family from northern France.
He joined the French army in
After a number of World War One commands, in , Pétain was ordered to stop the massive German attack on the city of Verdun. He reorganised the front lines and transport systems and was able to inspire his troops, turning a near-hopeless situation into a successful defence. He became a popular hero and replaced General Robert Nivelle as commander-in-chief of the French army.
Pétain then successfully re-established discipline after a series of mutinies by explaining his intentions to the soldiers personally and improving their living conditions.
In November , he was made a marshal of France.
In , Pétain was appointed minister of war, and then secretary of state in the following year. In , he was appointed French ambassador to Spain. In May , with France under attack from Germany, Pétain was appointed vice premier. In June he asked for an armistice, upon which he was appointed 'chief of state', enjoying almost absolute powers.
The armistice gave the Germans control over the north and west of France, including Paris, but left the remainder as a separate regime under Pétain, with its capital at Vichy.
Philippe petain deathstroke actor Gaston Doumergue. Retrieved 26 December He did not disguise the fact that he considered the situation catastrophic. Strohmeyer, S.Officially neutral, in practice the regime collaborated closely with Germany, and brought in its own anti-Semitic legislation.
In December , Pétain dismissed his vice-premier, Pierre Laval, for his policy of close Franco-German collaboration. But Laval's successors were unacceptable to the Germans and Laval was restored. In November , in response to allied landings in North Africa, the Germans invaded the unoccupied zone of France.
Vichy France remained nominally in existence, but Pétain became nothing more than a figurehead. In the summer of , after the allied landings in France, Pétain was taken to Germany.
Vidkun quisling 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 antisemitic laws , and the imprisonment of opponents and foreign refugees. Presidents of France. Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review. The entire government subsequently moved briefly to Clermont-Ferrand , then to the town of Vichy in central France.He returned to France after liberation, was brought to trial and condemned to death. This was immediately commuted to solitary confinement for life by General Charles De Gaulle. Pétain was imprisoned on the Île d'Yeu off the Atlantic coast, where he died on 23 July