Philippe Pétain
French military and political leader (1856–1951) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Philippe Pétain (1856-1951) was a French General who served as leader of Vichy France between 1940 and 1944.
Philippe Petain | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Pétain in 1941 | |
| Chief of the French State | |
| In office 11 July 1940 - 20 August 1944 | |
| Prime Minister of France | |
| In office 16 June 1940 – 11 July 1940 | |
| Deputy Prime Minister of France | |
| In office 18 May 1940 – 16 June 1940 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 24 April 1856 Cauchy-à-la-Tour, Pas-de-Calais, Second French Empire |
| Died | 23 July 1951 (aged 95) Port-Joinville, Vendée, France |
During World War I Pétain was the hero of the Battle of Verdun and led the French Army until the end of the war in 1918.
In 1940 during the Battle of France the French government asked him to govern the country. He surrendered to the Germans. From 1940 to late 1942, Vichy France was a client state of Nazi Germany. In November 1942 Pétain became a puppet of Nazi Germany as they fully occupied and disarmed Vichy France.
After the war, Pétain was tried and convicted for treason. He was originally sentenced to death, but due to his age and World War I service his sentence was commuted to life in prison. He died in 1951.
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
