Philippe Pétain

Leader of Vichy France from 1940 to 1944

Henri Philippe Benoni Omar Joseph Pétain (French: [filip petɛ̃]; 24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), also known as Marshal Pétain (French: maréchal Pétain, [maʁeʃal petɛ̃]), was a French military officer, dictator, and politician who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the Axis-collaborationist regime of Vichy France, from 1940 to 1944, during World War II. Pétain was admitted to the Saint-Cyr Military Academy in 1876 and pursued a career in the military, achieving the rank of colonel by the outbreak of World War I. He led the French Army to victory at the nine-month-long Battle of Verdun, for which he was called "the Lion of Verdun" (French: le lion de Verdun). After the failed Nivelle Offensive and subsequent mutinies, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief and succeeded in restoring control. Pétain remained in command for the rest of the war and emerged as a national hero.

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