Woody. On 22 June, France signed an armistice at Compiègne with Germany that gave Germany control over the north and west of the country, including Paris and all of the Atlantic coastline, but left the rest, around two-fifths of France's prewar territory, unoccupied. [57] Pétain was a bachelor until his sixties, and known for his womanising. [4] By January 1949, his lucid intervals were becoming fewer and fewer. [citation needed]. Rather than holding down the same infantry divisions on the Verdun battlefield for months, akin to the German system, he rotated them out after only two weeks on the front lines. When de Gaulle protested that Pétain himself had been promoted to brigadier-general and division commander at the Battle of the Marne in 1914, he replied that there was "no comparison" with the present situation. [17] On 3 September 1925, Pétain was appointed sole Commander-in-Chief of French Forces in Morocco[18] to launch a major campaign against the Rif tribes, in concert with the Spanish Army, which was successfully concluded by the end of October. De Gaulle himself later criticised the trial, stating, Too often, the discussions took on the appearance of a partisan trial, sometimes even a settling of accounts, when the whole affair should have been treated only from the standpoint of national defence and independence.[61]. As to French artillery it had, basically, not been modernised since 1918. Intégrale de "Répliques" d'Alain Finkielkraut du 17 novembre 2018. Pétain came first, with 47,000, ahead of Pierre Laval's 31,000 votes. He returned with a revised plan and the commission then proposed two fortified regions. Although the French government nominally remained in existence, civilian administration of almost all France being under it, Pétain became nothing more than a figurehead, as the Germans had negated the pretence of an "independent" government at Vichy. In the latter year General Maxime Weygand claimed that "the French Army was no longer a serious fighting force". He then became Commander-in-Chief of the entire French army, replacing General Nivelle, whose Chemin des Dames offensive failed in April 1917, thereby provoking widespread mutinies in the French Army. On 3 May Pétain, was interviewed in Le Journal where he launched an attack on the Franco-Soviet Pact, on Communism in general (France had the largest communist party in Western Europe), and on those who allowed Communists intellectual responsibility. French aviation entered the War in 1939 without even the prototype of a bomber aeroplane capable of reaching Berlin and coming back. Haig recorded that Pétain had "a terrible look. His journey from military obscurity, to hero of France during World War I, to collaborationist dictator during World War II, led his successor Charles de Gaulle to write that Pétain’s life was "successively banal, then glorious, then deplorable, but never mediocre". On 5 December 1925, after the Locarno Treaty, the Conseil demanded immediate action on a line of fortifications along the eastern frontier to counter the already proposed decline in manpower. The year 1918 saw major German offensives on the Western Front. In March 1904, by then serving in the 104th Infantry, he was appointed adjunct professor of applied infantry tactics at the École Supérieure de Guerre,[5] and following promotion to lieutenant-colonel was promoted to professor on 3 April 1908. ("They shall not pass"!) Després de tocar la glòria en la Primera Guerra Mundial, els destins dels militars Philippe Pétain (Cauchy-à-laTour, 1856) i Charles De Gaulle (Lilla, 1890) van separar-se per encarnar, de manera simplificada, les dues cares de França durant la Segona Guerra Mundial. Pétain however remained popular and engaged in a series of visits around France as late as 1944, when he arrived in Paris on 28 April in what Nazi propaganda newsreels described as a "historic" moment for the city. The next day, 20 August 1944, Pétain was taken against his will by the German army to Belfort and then, on 8 September, to Sigmaringen in southwestern Germany,[58] where dignitaries of his regime had taken refuge. The government later transferred him to the Fort de Pierre-Levée citadel on the Île d'Yeu, a small island off the French Atlantic coast. However Weygand reported to the Senate Army Commission that year that the French Army could still not resist a German attack. Pétain led his brigade at the Battle of Guise (29 August 1914). Tout au long de la seconde guerre mondiale, De Gaulle et Pétain s'affrontent sur les ondes sur fond de tragédie nationale. Pétain later remarked to Reynaud about this statement: "your ally now threatens us". These two men travelled to Warsaw for the funeral of the Polish Marshal Piłsudski in May 1935 (and another cordial meeting with Göring). No reply ever came. The French heavy machine gun was still the Hotchkiss M1914, a capable weapon but decidedly obsolete compared to the new automatic weapons of German infantry. It is impossible for the government to abandon French soil without emigrating, without deserting. De Gaulle, who was President of the Provisional Government of the French Republic at the end of the war, commuted the sentence to life imprisonment due to Pétain's age and his military contributions in World War I. Here he met Hermann Göring and the two men reminisced about their experiences in the Great War. The Congress voted 569–80 (with 18 abstentions) to grant the Cabinet the authority to draw up a new constitution, effectively "voting the Third Republic out of existence". The others did not, seeing the offer as insulting and a device to make France subservient to Great Britain, as a kind of extra Dominion. De Gaulle and Pétain: rival visions of France. "the need to stay in France, to prepare a national revival, and to share the sufferings of our people. [28] Calls were made to re-locate his remains to the grave prepared for him at Verdun. On 1 March 1935, Pétain's famous article[31] appeared in the Revue des deux mondes, where he reviewed the history of the army since 1927–28. [9], Pétain conducted some successful but limited offensives in the latter part of 1917, unlike the British who stalled in an unsuccessful offensive at Passchendaele that autumn. 200,000 readers responded to the paper's poll. Pétain admitted Darnand into his government as Secretary of the Maintenance of Public Order (Secrétaire d'État au Maintien de l'Ordre). [15], Shortly after the war, Pétain had placed before the government plans for a large tank and air force, but "at the meeting of the Conseil supérieur de la Défense Nationale of 12 March 1920, the Finance Minister, François-Marsal, announced that although Pétain's proposals were excellent they were unaffordable". Dressed in the uniform of a Marshal of France, Pétain remained silent through most of the proceedings after an initial statement that denied the right of the High Court, as constituted, to try him. Churchill's man in Paris, Edward Spears, urged the French not to sign an armistice, saying that if French ports were occupied by Germany, Britain would have to bomb them. As to French artillery it had, basically, not been modernised since 1918. Pétain, instead, held off from major French offensives until the Americans arrived in force on the front lines, which did not happen until the early summer of 1918. [30] Fascistic and revolutionary conservative factions within the new government used the opportunity to launch an ambitious programme known as the "National Revolution", which rejected much of the former Third Republic's secular and liberal traditions in favour of an authoritarian, paternalist, Catholic society. Pétain, of course, disapproved of the whole thing, pointing out that North Africa still had to be defended and in itself required a substantial standing army. de Gaulle family releases full correspondence for pub in wkly magazine disclosing that H P Petain, once vice chmn of Sup War Council, engaged C de Gaulle … He was also waiting for the new Renault FT tanks to be introduced in large numbers, hence his statement at the time: "I am waiting for the tanks and the Americans.". Pétain, of course, disapproved of the whole thing, pointing out that North Africa still had to be defended and in itself required a substantial standing army. Not once did he offer a sympathetic word for Germany." The provisional government headed by de Gaulle placed Pétain on trial, which took place from 23 July to 15 August 1945, for treason. At the end of Pétain's trial, he was convicted on all charges. [34], By 26 May, the Allied lines had been shattered, and British forces had begun evacuating at Dunkirk. They involved, to various degrees, nearly half of the French infantry divisions stationed on the Western Front. Lebrun persuaded him to stay until Churchill’s reply had been received. He attended the Military Academy of Saint-Cyr, and in 1913, as a young second lieutenant, he joined an infantry regiment commanded by Colonel Philippe Pétain. Eight were initially undecided but swung towards an armistice. The presidents of both Chambers spoke and declared that constitutional reform was necessary. Pétain remained in command for the rest of the war and emerged as a national hero. Pétain was a major French national hero in World War I, when he became known as the 'Lion of Verdun' for his defense against the Germans. De Gaulle later wrote that Pétain's decision to return to France to face his accusers in person was \"certainly courageous\". At the end of August 1914 he was quickly promoted to brigadier-general and given command of the 6th Division in time for the First Battle of the Marne; little over a month later, in October 1914, he was promoted yet again and became XXXIII Corps commander. that Pétain, as France's most senior soldier after Foch's death, should bear some responsibility for the poor state of French weaponry preparation before World War II. After the autumn maneuvers, which Pétain had reinstated, a report was presented to Pétain that officers had been poorly instructed, had little basic knowledge, and no confidence. [40] Pétain was sent to speak to Weygand (who was waiting outside, as he was not a member of the cabinet) for around fifteen minutes. Answer Save. Pétain noted his recent promotion to general, adding that he did not congratulate him, as ranks were of no use in defeat. Debatable or disputed rulers are in italics. His views were later proved to be correct during the First World War. However, when Hitler met Pétain at Montoire in October 1940 to discuss the French government's role in the new European Order, the Marshal "listened to Hitler in silence. The duty of the government is, come what may, to remain in the country, or it could not longer be regarded as the government". After lunch, Churchill’s telegram arrived agreeing to an armistice provided the French fleet was moved to British ports, a suggestion which was not acceptable to Darlan, who argued that it would leave France defenceless. In 1928 Pétain had supported the creation of an independent air force removed from the control of the army, and on 9 February 1931, following his retirement as Vice-Chairman of the Supreme War Council, he was appointed Inspector-General of Air Defence. As colonel, he commanded the 33rd Infantry Regiment at Arras from 1911; the young lieutenant Charles de Gaulle, who served under him, later wrote that his "first colonel, Pétain, taught (him) the Art of Command". Chautemps then proposed a fudge proposal, an inquiry about terms. De Gaulle az átmeneti háborús fővárosba, Bordeaux-ba visszatérve megtudta, hogy Pétain marsall miniszterelnök lett, és azt tervezte, hogy a náci Németországgal fegyverszünetet köt. His body was buried in a local cemetery (Cimetière communal de Port-Joinville). He died in 1951. In 1940, General Spears, again in a liaison role, brought de Gaulle from France to England to establish the Free French forces. Reynaud brought into his War Cabinet as Undersecretary for War the newly promoted Brigadier-General de Gaulle, whose 4th Armoured Division had launched one of the few French counterattacks the previous month. [57] In addition, with the restrictions imposed on Germany by the Versailles Treaty there seemed no urgency for vast expenditure until the advent of Hitler. or "firepower kills! "[note 2], Pétain was reactionary by temperament and education, and quickly began blaming the Third Republic and its endemic corruption for the French defeat. Verdun 1916, by Malcolm Brown, Tempus Publishing Ltd., Stroud, UK, p. 86. Days later he crossed the French frontier. [ 60 ] the next day, Pétain required constant nursing,... 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