Marshal Pétain

Philippe Pétain
Chief of the French State
In office 11 July 1940 – 20 August 1944
Prime Minister	Pierre Laval Pierre-Étienne Flandin François Darlan
Preceded by	Albert Lebrun as President of the Republic
Succeeded by	Charles de Gaulle as Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Republic
78th Prime Minister of France
In office 16 June 1940 – 17 April 1942
President	Albert Lebrun
Deputy	Camille Chautemps Pierre Laval Pierre-Étienne Flandin François Darlan
Preceded by	Paul Reynaud
Succeeded by	Pierre Laval
Deputy Prime Minister of France
In office 18 May 1940 – 16 June 1940
President	Albert Lebrun
Prime Minister	Paul Reynaud
Preceded by	Camille Chautemps
Succeeded by	Camille Chautemps
Minister of State
In office 1 June 1935 – 4 June 1935
President	Albert Lebrun
Prime Minister	Fernand Bouisson
Minister of War
In office 9 February 1934 – 8 November 1934
President	Albert Lebrun
Prime Minister	Gaston Doumergue
Preceded by	Joseph Paul-Boncour
Succeeded by	Louis Maurin
Commander-in-Chief of the French Army
In office 17 May 1917 – January 1920
President	Raymond Poincaré
Prime Minister	Alexandre Ribot Paul Painlevé Georges Clemenceau
War Minister	Paul Painlevé Georges Clemenceau
Preceded by	Robert Nivelle
Personal details
Born	Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain 24 April 1856 Cauchy-à-la-Tour, Pas-de-Calais, Second French Empire
Died	23 July 1951(1951-07-23) (aged 95) Fort de Pierre-Levée citadel prison, Île d'Yeu, Vendée, France
Spouse(s)	Eugénie Hardon Pétain
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Awards	Marshal of France Legion of Honor Military Medal (Spain)
Military service
Allegiance	French Third Republic  Vichy France
Service/branch	French Army
Years of service	1876–1944
Rank	Général de division
Battles/wars	World War I Battle of Verdun Rif Wars

World War I

Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), generally known as Philippe Pétain (French: [fi.lip pe.tɛ̃]) or Marshal Pétain (Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France (Chef de l'État Français), from 1940 to 1944. Pétain, who was 84 years old in 1940, ranks as France's oldest head of state.

Because of his outstanding military leadership in World War I, particularly during the Battle of Verdun, Pétain was viewed as a national hero in France. He was sometimes nicknamed The Lion of Verdun.

During World War II, with the imminent fall of France in June 1940, Pétain was appointed Prime Minister of France by President Lebrun at Bordeaux, and the Cabinet resolved to make peace with Germany. The entire government subsequently moved briefly to Clermont-Ferrand, then to the spa town of Vichy in central France. His government voted to transform the discredited French Third Republic into the French State, an authoritarian regime.

After the war, Pétain was tried and convicted for treason. He was originally sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison. Pétain died in 1951.

Pétain was born in Cauchy-à-la-Tour (in the Pas-de-Calais département in Northern France) in 1856. His father, Omer-Venant, was a farmer. His great-uncle, a Catholic priest, Father Abbe Lefebvre, had served in Napoleon's Grande Armée and told the young Pétain tales of war and adventure of his campaigns from the peninsulas of Italy to the Alps in Switzerland. Highly impressed by the tales told by his uncle, his destiny was from then on determined.

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