Henri-Philippe Pétain, a French field marshal, strategist, and politician, was a national hero of France during World War I. However, he became a traitor during World War II and established the French Vichy government. A frustrated figure who is both a national hero and a traitor.
Henri-Philippe Pétain was born on April 24, 1856, in the small town of Cauchy-Lataire in the Calais province of northern France. His father was a farmer, his mother died young, and his family was poor. France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 prompted Pétain to aspire to be a soldier. After graduating from high school, Pétain was admitted to the Saint-Cyr Military School; after graduating in 1878, he joined the Mountain Infantry Regiment with the rank of second lieutenant.
In 1888, Pétain was transferred back to Saint-Cyr Military Academy as a military instructor. Because of his peasant background, he had no military background, so his promotion was slow - he served as second lieutenant for 5 years, as lieutenant for 7 years, and as captain for 10 years. In 1900, he was promoted to the rank of major and commanded a battalion.
In 1906, Pétain served as an instructor at the National Shooting School. He worked extremely hard and had a very upright character. He once refused to be the principal of the Infantry School on the grounds that he believed that senior officers were more suitable for the position. He was disgusted with all conspiracy-like activities, and his relationship with politicians was also extremely bad. Lieutenant Pétain imprisoned French parliamentarians who were serving in the reserve service. During World War I, he openly mocked the then president.
The most important thing is that when the leading generals of the French army were obsessed with advocating offensive supremacy, Pétain dared to resist this trend alone. The gist of Pétain's thought was that a general offensive could be launched only when the enemy's defenses had been decisively weakened, and this weakening could not rely on the lives of infantry but had to use a highly concentrated artillery fire. This requires close cooperation between artillery and infantry. In August 1914, on the eve of the outbreak of World War I, Pétain was only an army colonel and the commander of the 33rd Regiment. He was 58 years old at the time.
The arrival of the First World War, for Pétain, who had just criticized the French army's red trousers, I wonder whether it should be regarded as a lucky thing. Without it, Pétain would have retired as a colonel and become an ordinary old man, and it was precisely because of it that he had no choice but to retire after 1940.
After the war broke out, Pétain was promoted to brigade commander due to his outstanding leadership of the troops, with the military rank of brigadier general. During the Battle of the Marne in September 1914, Pétain was promoted to major general and served as commander of the Sixth Division due to his proper command. On October 25, Pétain was once again promoted to commander of the 33rd Army. From May 9 to May 16, 1915, Pétain led his troops to break through the strong German defenses during the Alsace Offensive. In June, he was appointed commander of the Second Army. From September 25th to October 6th, although his offensive failed due to the German defense in depth, his artillery preparations surprised the Germans.
Pétain immediately grasped the key to the problem - artillery and logistics, which allowed the brutal battle to continue. He coined the famous defensive slogan "They won't pass." In addition, in order to prevent the French army from losing morale, Pétain also persuaded the French army command to adopt a unit rotation system, so almost all French army troops experienced this brutal battle and accumulated experience. Under his stern leadership, by the time he replaced General Cali as commander of Army Group Center on May 1, Verdun had turned a corner. And as the superior of General Nivelle, who took over command of his Second Army, Pétain continued to exert influence on the outcome of the Verdun campaign. Four months later, the French army launched a large-scale attack on the Somme River. The German army stopped its attack on Verdun, and the Battle of Verdun ended successfully. As the "Victor of Verdun", Pétain became a French national hero and became famous all over the world. Considered "the savior of France".
On May 15, 1917, Pétain, the "Army's Doctor", took over as Commander-in-Chief of the French Army. As soon as he came up, he put forward the slogan of "use more steel, shed less blood" and personally visited every division to ease the soldiers' grievances and reform the food and leave system. Just like Montgomery did later in World War II, listen to the voices of the soldiers and solve their difficulties. He used his prestige to quickly put down the rebellion, and then successfully launched a number of limited offensives, which greatly boosted the morale of the French army. Pétain saved France again.
After Foch took office as Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in March 1918, Pétain took over from him and took command of all French troops, playing an important role in the last month of hard fighting on the Western Front. He then planned the Aisne-Marne (July-August) and Amiens (August-September) offensives, and assisted John Joseph Pershing in the implementation of the Saint-Mihiel (September) and Meuse-Argonne (September) offensives. -November) offensive.
On November 19, 1918, Pétain was awarded the rank of Marshal of France for his outstanding performance during the war.
Pétain's prestige reached its peak during World War I. After Foch retired, he became the arbiter of all military ideas. In 1920, Pétain was appointed deputy chairman of the French Supreme Military Council. In January 1922, he also served as Director-General of the French Army. From 1925 to 1926, he commanded 100,000 French troops to work with Spain to suppress the uprising of the Rif people in Morocco.
From 1931 to 1934, he served as Director of Air Defense and Minister of War, and strongly advocated the construction of the Maginot Line.
From February to November 1934, Pétain served as Minister of War in the provisional government of Gaston Dumergue.
In May 1940, the German army began to attack France. The Maginot Line, a permanent defense fortification, collapsed without any attack. The French armies commanded by Maurice Gustave Gamelin and Maxime Weygand were retreating steadily, and the domestic political situation was in chaos. In order to control the situation and establish the broadest national unity, Prime Minister Paul Rono mobilized various domestic forces. Pétain should also be recalled to the country to serve as Deputy Prime Minister of the Cabinet. As a result, the French government was divided into two factions on the issue of continuing to fight or ending the war by seeking peace, one headed by Prime Minister Reynaud, and the other headed by Marshal Pétain. In June 1940, Pétain announced a ceasefire in France, signed a humiliating treaty with Germany, formed a Vichy government that cooperated with fascism, and became prime minister.
On June 21, 1940, Hitler personally came to the Compiègne Forest where the French accepted the German surrender in 1918 to meet with the French negotiating delegation. On the 22nd, with Pétain's consent, the Franco-German Armistice Agreement was officially signed in the "Armistice Car" of that year, and France was forced to accept very harsh armistice conditions. France was divided into two parts. Three-fifths of the country, including Paris (mainly the northern industrial area), was occupied by the German army. The expenses of the occupying army were borne by France. The south and west (mainly agricultural areas) are free zones; the French air force and army have been reduced to 100,000 people; most importantly, the Pétain government must "cooperate" with Germany in various fields such as politics, economy, and diplomacy.
On July 1, 1940, the Pétain government moved to Vichy. On the 10th, the National Assembly passed a resolution with 569 votes in favor and 80 votes against, granting Pétain full power to formulate a new constitution. The new constitution replaced the "French Republic" with "the French State", and replaced the "liberty, equality, and fraternity" inherited from 1789 with "labor, family, and fatherland." Pétain was awarded the title of "Head of State" and concurrently served as Prime Minister. He had various powers such as convening the National Assembly, formulating administrative legislation, commanding the army, appointing or removing ministers, etc., which was almost more powerful than Louis XIV. Many of the regulations published in the Government Gazette at that time began in the monarchical format: "I, Philippe Pétain, declare in the name of Marshal of France, Head of State." The octogenarian was famous for his past reputation. Tired, and for a while got the support of many French people.
From July 10 to December 13, 1940, it can be called the Pétain-Laval period. On October 24, 1940, Pétain and Hitler held talks in the Montois train carriage in Touraine. Thereafter, Pétain claimed that for the sake of France's "honor and dignity", France must seek a cooperative policy toward Germany. From then on, the word "cooperation" was branded on Pétain like a label. It should be pointed out that Pétain was somewhat shy about cooperating with the Germans out of respect for his dignity, and from time to time he resorted to his usual double-dealing tactics. When he had serious differences of opinion with Laval's naked pro-German treasonous behavior, on December 13, 1940, Pétain ordered the detention of his "Crown Prince" (the Constitutional Decree stipulated that after the death of Marshal Pétain, by Laval succeeded him) and sent a reliable team to escort Laval to his private residence. The German authorities were unaware of this rather surprising incident.
From December 13, 1940 to April 18, 1942, the second period of the Vichy regime began, called the Pétain-Darlan period. Admiral Darlan, the former Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, became the second most important figure in the Vichy regime. The policy of Pétain's collaborationism was "to a great extent closely connected with the progress of the war and the victory of Germany, or, conversely, with the first signs of German defeat." Pétain attempted to adopt a policy of neutrality and delay in diplomacy, and met with Franco to persuade him to refuse the German army's march to North Africa through Spain. However, with the support of the Germans, Laval returned to power on April 19, 1942, beginning the third period of the Vichy regime. At this time, a new constitutional decree was promulgated: "The actual leadership of France's domestic and foreign policies is entirely vested in the head of government (i.e. Laval). The head of government is appointed by the head of state and is directly responsible to the head of state." In fact. Turn Pétain into a knickknack on your mantelpiece.
Pétain's capitulationism and collaborationism bear an unshirkable responsibility for France's loss of national sovereignty and independence and its bullying and ravage by the German invaders. Pétain's political weakness and incompetence prevented him from preventing the outright traitorous behavior of Laval and others, and he played the leading role of "cooperation" intentionally or unintentionally. Pétain suppressed any anti-German activities in his area. Pétain provided raw materials and goods to pay Germany's occupation costs, ranging from 300 million to 500 million, and increased to 700 million in July 1944. Pétain called on the radio to recruit workers for Germany and set up a forced labor bureau. When Germany sent troops to occupy southern France, many French people hoped that Pétain would leave Vichy, but he did not leave and remained there, still loyal to an overly simple policy concept: when the motherland is suffering, one should not abandon the country's land and One's own compatriots. This is Pétain's personal tragedy.
After Pétain completely became a puppet, he still persisted in his obsession. On December 18, 1943, Pétain also wrote to Hitler: "In the future, the occupying authorities have the right to change all laws in France."
In June 1944, when the Allied forces landed in Normandy, Pétain Dang also called on the French people on the radio to observe order and discipline and obey any instructions from the German army in the combat area.
In August, when de Gaulle liberated Paris, Pétain quietly burned his private documents and sent a special envoy to contact him in preparation for a peaceful transfer of power, but was rejected by de Gaulle. On August 20, Pétain and the people around him were taken by the Germans from Vichy to an ancient castle in Hohenzollern, Lochmalingen. His political career ended strangely. After the Allied forces invaded Germany, they moved them to a small town in Switzerland. On the eve of Germany's surrender, Pétain was at the end of his rope and surrendered to the French Provisional Government.
On July 23, 1945, the French Supreme Court held a trial against Pétain. The indictment listed Pétain's five charges: signing an armistice agreement with Germany, violating the Franco-British Alliance Treaty; cooperating with Germany to take hostile acts against Britain and other allies; and working with Rafal, mobilizing the national industrial sector to support Nazi Germany Carry out a war of aggression and export a large number of French laborers to Germany; establish a dictatorship; privately allow Germany to control its own territory.
The 89-year-old Pétain said nothing during the trial that lasted for more than 20 days. His defense lawyer was very active, saying that Pétain's actions were helpless and did not completely reconcile with Germany. Cooperation and so on. The defense lawyer also threatened the court that if Pétain was executed, the country would be in danger of splitting and the French people would feel sad. The people in the audience were bewitched by the defense lawyer and kept applauding the lawyer's defense statement, so that the judge shouted angrily: "Why are there all Germans in this hall!"
August 14, 1945 On the same day, the verdict came out. Pétain was sentenced to death for collaborating with the enemy, all his property was confiscated, and he was declared a "scum of the nation." In addition, the court also found him guilty of "misleading people." Many decent citizens who trusted him because of his past hero status were led astray. At this time, de Gaulle, whom he had promoted, signed an amnesty order and commuted the sentence to life imprisonment - just as Pétain had signed "do not execute" on the death sentence of de Gaulle in absentia trial by the Vichy government in 1940.
Subsequently, Pétain was imprisoned in a fortress on the Isle of Dale, but his health deteriorated severely here.
In June 1951, he was transferred to the island prison in the Bay of Biscay in the Atlantic Ocean. Pétain died in the prison on July 22. When he became a hero and marshal of France, Pétain never imagined that his life would end like this.
Pétain's image recorded in history is that of a traitor, but as a soldier he made great achievements in World War I. He disagreed with Foch's emphasis on the "offensive spirit" and believed that defense was more dominant in modern warfare. His cautious attitude after the war made him the most successful French commander in World War I.