Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), generally known as Philippe Pétain, Marshal Pétain (Maréchal Pétain or The Lion of Verdun), was a French general who reached the military distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France(Chef de l'État Français), a collaborationist government established after France was defeated by Nazi Germany during World War II, from 1940 to 1944.
Quotes
Neither Germany nor Italy have doubts. Our crisis is not a material crisis. We have lost faith in our destiny...We are like mariners without a pilot.
Statement (April 1936), quoted in Anthony Adamthwaite, Grandeur and Misery: France's Bid for Power in Europe 1914–1940 (1995), p. 182
My country has been beaten and they are calling me back to make peace and sign an armistice...This is the work of 30 years of Marxism. They're calling me back to take charge of the nation.
Remarks to Francisco Franco in Madrid, Spain, after the French Prime Minister, Paul Reynaud, recalled Pétain to France to raise morale against the German offensive during the Battle of France (c. 17 May 1940), quoted in Howard J. Langer, World War II: An Encyclopedia of Quotations (2013), p. 157
La terre, elle, ne ment pas [The land, it does not lie].
Speech (25 June 1940), quoted in Philippe Pétain, Discours aux Français, 17 juin 1940–20 août 1944 (1989), p. 66
The only wealth you possess is your labour... France will become again what she should never have ceased to be—an essentially agricultural nation. Like the giant of mythology, she will recover all her strength by contact with the soil.
Speech (August 1940), quoted in Pavlos Giannelia, 'France Returns to the Soil', Land and Freedom, Vol. XLI, No. 1 (January-February 1941), p. 23 and Eugen Weber, 'France', in Hans Rogger and Eugen Weber (eds.), The European Right: A Historical Profile (1966), p. 113.
Quotes about Péta
Henri Philippe Pétain
Death
July 23, 1951 Fort de Pierre-Levée citadel prison, Île d'Yeu, Vendée, France
"What can you possibly gain with this pointless slaughter?"
―General Pétain
Henri Philippe Pétain (commonly known as Philippe Pétain) was a Frenchgeneral, who led France's 2nd Army at the Battle of Verdun in World War I. He opposed General Joseph Joffre's strategy to "attack to the utmost", and instead saw the value in both artillery bombardments and proper supply networks to maintain a stable defensive posture at Verdun.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Henri Philippe Pétain was born in 1856 in Cauchy-a-la-Tour, Pas de Calais. He became a pupil of the Dominican fathers of Arcueil and graduate in the War College.
Demons of Deception[]
"He had some regard for the life of a soldier. He wasn't a butcher."
―A French Poilu speaking of Pétain
In September 1916, because of his difference of opinion regarding strategy at Verdun, General Pétain was promoted by Commander-in-Chief Joffre to sector commander, in order to allow Joffre's supporter, General Robert Nivelle, to command the 2nd Army. At the 2nd Army Headquarters in Souilly, Pétain met with Nivelle and General Charles Mangin, and Nivelle planned a new attack on the north face of Fort Douaumont. General Joffre arrived and authorized the attack, while Pétain asked for details in the plan. Rebuffed by Joffre, Pétain left the room.
That evening, Pétain was at the senior officer's dinner at the headquarters when Major Marat arrived with the results of the day's attack: no gain, and 600 casualties. When Neville blamed the failure on Colonel Barc and the cowardice of the troops, Pétain grew upset and stormed out of the meal.
Two days later, Nivelle had just ordered a new attack when Barc and a Belgian courier-turned-spy, Henri Defense (Indiana Jones), reported that the Germans were bringing in two Big Bertha guns. When Nivelle tri
What did philippe pétain do in ww2
Henri-Philippe Pétain (1856-1951) was a World War I French general who was later imprisoned for treason. 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. He held a series of top military posts in subsequent years, becoming chief of state after Germany’s invasion in 1940. In his pursuit of a “National Revival,” Pétain collaborated with the Nazi regime and adopted repressive measures against Jews. Tried for his actions at the end of World War II, Pétain was sentenced to death before his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
Marshal Henri-Philippe Pétain endeared himself to the French nation during World War I. Beginning the war as an obscure fifty-eight-year-old colonel in command of an infantry brigade, he rose quickly in rank, assuming command of the Sixth Division in September 1914, the Thirty-third Corps in October, and the Second Army in June 1915. From the start, he distinguished himself by his meticulous attention to detail, his careful preparation, and his reliance on artillery. His talents became most apparent when his Second Army played a large role in the September 1915 offensive in Champagne. Though the French failed to break through German defensive lines, Pétain’s after-action report identified shortcomings in French methods and provided important ideas about future operations.
In February 1916, Pétain became commander of French forces at Verdun. In the terrible destruction of what the French soldiers called the “furnace,” he finally succeeded in halting the Germans. Though the French suffered huge losses, Pétain’s careful husbanding of his troops avoided even greater bloodshed. Among his innovations, he introduced the “noria” system, which rotated divisions in and out of the trenches without permitting them to become ineffective in combat. (The noria system was named after a device used to raise water from a well, whic
Henri Philippe Pétain was born on 24 April 1856 into a farming family from northern France. He joined the French army in 1876.
After a number of World War One commands, in 1916, 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 1918, he was made a marshal of France.
In 1934, Pétain was appointed minister of war, and then secretary of state in the following year. In 1939, he was appointed French ambassador to Spain. In May 1940, 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. Officially neutral, in practice the regime collaborated closely with Germany, and brought in its own anti-Semitic legislation.
In December 1940, 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 1942, in response to allied landings in North Africa, the Germans invaded the unoccupied zone of France. Vichy Franc
