Tried for his actions at the end of World War II, Pétain was sentenced to death before his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Many of these Jews were incarcerated in the most appalling conditions in the Velodrome at Drancy that was used as a transit camp. But on the 12 May, German Mechanised Units struck west through the lightly defended and supposedly impassable Ardennes Forest. All Rights Reserved. Liberal values and secularism were disavowed in favour of an authoritarian Catholic social hierarchy. His many contributions in World War I remain overshadowed by his actions in World War II. We will look into it. Why did so many Europeans collaborate with the Nazi occupiers? Indeed, the willingness of the French High Command to sacrifice the lives of their men in such a manner so soon after the trauma of Verdun astonished them especially when it was clear there would be no breakthrough. On 30 October 1940, Pétain made state collaboration official, declaring on the radio: "I enter today on the path of collaboration." By 1914, Laval had entered politics as an elected extreme left-wing deputy from Aubervilliers. After Charles de Gaulle commuted the sentence to life imprisonment, he was confined on the [Icirc]le d’Yeu, where he died on July 23, 1951, at the age of ninety-six. Following his return, on 30 October, he broadcast to the Nation informing them of his meeting with Hitler and declaring “I enter today into the way of collaboration,” words that continue to haunt France to this day for they were sincerely meant as the Vichy Regime did nothing to impede the Germans at any point. The very idea of equality of man was dismissed as an absurdity – the Conservative Revolution was underway. Is this what Petain meant by collaboration? The Vichy regime also rounded up foreign Jews in the unoccupied zone and handed them over to the Germans. A 58-year-old colonel at the start of battle in 1914, Pétain earned acclaim for stopping the Germans at the Battle of Verdun and assumed command of the French forces in 1917. Other French leaders, including Foch, frequently criticized Pétain for his pessimism and caution, but he nevertheless established a particularly strong relationship with the American commander, General John J. Pershing. Petain, by now 89 years of age, refused to co-operate any further. However, Darlan was going to adopt a tactic image caption Petain (L) accepted a Nazi collaboration deal with Hitler in October 1940 Previously only researchers and journalists could see some archives, with special permission. Barring an opening statement when he questioned the validity of the Court to try him, he did nothing to defend himself and remained silent throughout the rest of the trial. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. At first the Government insisted that his tombstone should read “No Profession”, but they later relented and it was inscribed with “Marshal of France”. On 24 October 1940, a reluctant Petain was persuaded by his egregious Prime Minister Pierre Laval to attend a meeting with Adolf Hitler at Montoire. For the remainder of the war, Pétain remained in command of French forces, though General Ferdinand Foch leaped over him to become supreme commander of Allied forces. © 2021 A&E Television Networks, LLC. General Nivelle was sacked and replaced by the only man the troops might be willing to trust – Philippe Petain. Over the next few days the German advance made rapid progress culminating on 25 February with the capture of Fort Douamont, the pivotal fortification of the more than 20 that ringed Verdun and supposedly the most powerful in the world without a shot being fired in its defence. On the day of his 90th birthday he was driven across the border into France. The Vichy Government also provided the Germans with a steady stream of forced labour, and as many as 50,000 Frenchmen were to join the SS. He also insisted on limited offensives in which massive amounts of artillery prepared the way for the infantry. It was proclaimed by Marshal Philippe Pétain following the military defeat of France and the July 10 vote by the National Assembly to grant extraordinary powers to Pétain, who held the title of President of the Council. The Catholic Church was raised in status and expected to take a more active role in society, all criticism of Nazi Germany was forbidden, and a massive campaign of propaganda was undertaken to persuade people of the benefits of the new/old France. He must have known that this would mean his being put on trial for his life but he remained adamant. With much of the army in mutiny, Pétain replaced Nivelle in May. As the war progressed, the Vichy Government sank deeper into collaboration with the German occupiers which finally took control of the totality of metropolitan France. The rallying cry of the Revolution, Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite was now replaced with Travail, Familie, Patrie. Desperate times call for desperate measures and Haig went above Petain’s head to the politicians accusing him of being a defeatist who in a panic was undermining the Allied war effort and making the prospect of a German victory more likely. In his pursuit of a “National Revival,” Pétain collaborated with the Nazi regime and adopted repressive measures against Jews. Did the regime collaborate with Nazis out of self-preservation, or did it have its own agenda? There was no enthusiasm for the battle to come and the elan of previous years had gone, a defensive mentality now dominated French strategic thinking best emphasised by their misplaced confidence in the Maginot Line – they would simply remain behind their fortifications and wait for the Germans to attack them. He promised that if Pétain would sign the armistice, very soon afterward he would give France a permanent and just peace, that German troops would evacuate France, and in the New Order of Europe Germany would help France become a free and independent partner. He set about his task with vigour, the series of counter-attacks which had stalled the German advance but achieved little else at very great cost he ordered to cease and the French positions consolidated. Petain did little to rein them in, if indeed he ever wanted to. Also, by the end of WWII Petain was rather old, turning 84 in 1940, further diminishing the need to punish him for collaboration (in this context "punishment" would typically mean execution for a functionary of his calibre). In December 1940, Pétain dismissed his vice-premier, Pierre Laval, for his policy of close Franco-German collaboration. Harrison, who was born into a prominent Virginia family, joined the ...read more. He famously married a series of six wives in his search for political alliance, marital bliss and a healthy male heir. Anything he proposed was judged not on its merits but on his politics. Now many on the Far-Right believed they had carte-blanche to impose their views on the population as a whole. 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