This column is produced by Sanwei Studio
Introduction to this issue
As head of Vichy France, what crimes did Pétain commit?
Why was he willing to become Hitler's puppet?
Does Pétain love the country or not?
Shao Shengyi
— Read the article in conjunction with this episode —
01
Pétain surrendered and Vichy France was established
In the first two issues, we talked about Marshal Pétain, the "savior of France"; and under the situation of France's military defeat and loss of Paris in the early stage of World War II, Pétain, who became the prime minister of the government, the first thing he did after coming to power was to negotiate peace with Germany and finally signed a surrender.
Of course, objectively speaking, the situation in France at that time was that there was no military hole card to play, so Pétain also defended himself on this reason, believing that the starting point of the choice of surrender was to maximize the preservation of The french territory and the safety of military and civilian life at that time.
Vichy France's main leaders: Führer Pétain (first from left), Prime Minister Réval (first from right)
So after the signing of the second Franco-German armistice at the Forest of Compiègne in June 1940, the territory of mainland France was divided in two. About 60% of the northern and western parts of the country were occupied by Germany as "German-occupied areas", which on the one hand provided Germany with the resources to feed the war, and France had to pay for the German army occupying its own territory.
In addition, you can understand by looking at the map, because the west and north let Germany occupy the French sea outlet facing the Atlantic Ocean, while the northwest is facing the English Channel, Germany will fight against Britain in the future, so it is the occupation of the "German-occupied zone" in the northwest.
About 40% of the southern part of mainland France is called the "free zone", which is managed by the "Vichy government". The reason why it is called "Vichy Government" is because the seat of government at that time was the small town of Vichy in central France, which is a famous spa resort in France.
Speaking of this, you can actually add a little knowledge, and female students may have resonance. We all know that there is a cosmetics brand in France called Vichy, Chinese translate it as "Vichy", in fact, it can be accurately translated as "Vichy", because the brand of cosmetics originated in the French spa town of Vichy, using the name of the city. So if you look at the history of the "Vichy regime" in France in World War II, there can be such a small hook through cosmetics.
French "Vizi", cosmetics from the small town of Vichy (unsubsorted)
02
"Vichy France" aided in the persecution of Jews
At that time, after moving the government to the small town of Vichy at the end of June, the French parliament met here in early July, and a vote was held at this meeting, electing Bey to become the head of the Vichy French regime, giving him all the power and the military and political power.
Therefore, if the previous French surrender, Pétain said that he was helpless to choose, then after he was elected as the head of "Vichy France", the crimes committed by the "Vichy government" could not escape, and he could not wash away at all.
Pétain, head of the Vichy government of France
What crimes did "Vichy France" commit at that time? The main thing was to help Nazi Germany persecute Jews and Gypsies, so a large number of Jews fled in the free zone of southern France controlled by the "Vichy government". They fled to neutral Switzerland, or italy, which was relatively lenient with the Jews.
But if, in the process of fleeing, you are unfortunate enough to be caught by the police of "Vichy France", the end will be very tragic, that is, you will be sent to the German concentration camp and eventually persecuted.
Jews flee Vichy France
There are many stories in this regard, and there are also many film and television works, literary works, for example, there is a movie that is adapted from real people, called "Fanny's Journey", which tells the story of a group of Jewish children fleeing to Switzerland in the land of Free France.
Stills from Fanny's Journey
In addition to the persecution of the Jews, the "Vichy France" at that time also carried out some military cooperation with Nazi Germany, and to a certain extent there was a military resistance to the Allies, so these two points were difficult for the "Vichy France" government, including Pétain, to clear the charges. This was the case in mainland France at the time.
03
De Gaulle's "Free France" went into exile
But as we said in the previous issue, there was another branch of France overseas at that time, that is, the resistance movement called "Free France" led by General de Gaulle, who ran to London in England and called on the French to persist in their resistance to Germany, including that they were relying on French colonies in Africa and preparing to organize a counteroffensive against Germany.
But the resistance of the "Free France" at that time was objectively relatively weak. At that time, from an international perspective, the vast majority of countries recognized the "Vichy government" as the legitimate regime of France, and only one major country did not recognize it, that is, Britain.
De Gaulle encouraged the French people to join the resistance movement and to oppose the German invaders
Because we said in the previous issue that before the fall of Paris, General de Gaulle was talking about the "Anglo-French Alliance" with Prime Minister Churchill in London, and although the "Anglo-French Alliance" was not finally approved in the French Cabinet, London still accepted de Gaulle's "Free France" movement, so Britain did not recognize the "Vichy government" at that time. But the British government was also secretly in contact with the "Vichy government", to put it bluntly, the British were doing the two boats, which was a situation in France at that time.
During the Casablanca Conference on January 14, 1943, from left: Giro, Roosevelt, De Gaulle, Churchill
The "Vichy France" regime lasted for about four years, from June 1940 to the summer of 1944. On June 6, 1944, the Allies landed in Normandy, which opened up a second battlefield in Europe and hastened the defeat of Germany. After the Allied landings, they quickly advanced into the French interior, reaching Paris in August.
Here we can go out and say that the liberation of Paris was at the end of August, and Hitler was already mad at the time, and he gave an order to the German general in Paris, General von Cortitz, to stay in Paris, to fight in the streets with the Allies, and to burn all the jade, and if paris could not be defended, the city would be destroyed.
German General Dietrich von Cortitz
Fortunately, however, the German garrison at the time, General von Cortitz, judged the situation and followed the trend of history, and instead of resisting, he surrendered the city, saving the city of Paris, including the local population, from the devastation of war. This is a bit like the liberation war at the end, Fu Zuoyi sacrificed Peiping to surrender, so that Peiping can be peacefully handed over. At that time, the Allies also peacefully took over Paris.
As soon as Paris was liberated, this Resistance of the German Army in France quickly disintegrated, followed by a retreat of the German army. But in the process of retreating, they brought many senior officials of the "Vichy France" government, including, of course, Marshal Pétain back to Germany, but in fact they were put under house arrest.
After the liberation of Paris in August 1944, de Gaulle entered Paris through the Arc de Triomphe in a warm welcome from the French people
04
Germany was defeated, and Pétain insisted on returning home to face trial
But Marshal Pétain has always been a strong demand to return to France, and in fact he himself knows what it means to return to France, because he is the head of a puppet regime cooperating with the Nazis, and returning to France must be an enemy of the people, and must face verbal criticism and even trial. But Pétain insisted: I want to return home.
Such an insistence lasted until April 1945, when Berlin was almost conquered by the Allies, when Pétain wrote a letter to Hitler. Hitler did not return him, but Pétain was released by the Germans a few weeks later and sent to the border so that Pétain could truly return home.
But back in France, it was no surprise that Marshal Pétain and other officials of the "Vichy government" were confronted with treason and tried. In fact, there are many details in the trial that are very interesting, such as Marshal Pétain's trial lasted more than twenty days, but Pétain only questioned the legitimacy of the court at the beginning of the trial, and then did not say a word, and his defense lawyer provoked the text to defend him.
At that time, many onlookers in the courtroom were more or less more supportive of Pétain, and whenever the lawyer defended him, these onlookers were applauded, which made the presiding judge at that time very angry, and he even said: I suspect that I am in a German court. In fact, this incident and this detail prove from another side that after World War II, Marshal Pétain still had many people in France who supported him.
Vichy French Head Pétain is like a 5 franc aluminium coin
Nevertheless, the outcome of the trial at the time was the death sentence of Marshal Pétain, who was already 89 years old. Also sentenced to death was Révar, the prime minister of the government of "Vichy France", a capitulationist, a typical pro-German activist, whose death sentence was more than worthy of death and soon executed.
But Marshal Pétain was given a last-minute plea from the knife. The instruction to leave people under the knife came from General de Gaulle, the leader of the French Provisional Government at the time.
General de Gaulle
On the one hand, de Gaulle cared about the 89-year-old Pétain, who was also an old hero of the First World War, and had meritorious service in France; the second point was also a personal friendship, because Marshal Pétain had been the enlightenment teacher of General de Gaulle at the Military Academy of Saint Cyr in France, and de Gaulle always emphasized that the person he most admired militarily was Pétain, so there was a strong personal friendship in it.
De Gaulle eventually pardoned Pétain's death sentence and commuted him to life imprisonment. Pétain was imprisoned on a small French island in the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean, where he spent the last six years of his life in captivity. He lived a very long life, dying in solitude at the age of 95.
Elderly Beidon
05
Living in the past, the tragedy of the times
This is the story of Marshal Pétain, whose life has had great ups and downs, which is particularly lamentable. He was the hero who saved France in world war I, but there is no doubt that the late days of the Second World War, especially the crimes committed during the leadership of "Vichy France" are indeed a stain on his life that cannot be washed away.
But look at a person as objectively as possible. Some friends will blame Pétain for the surrender of France during World War II, which I think is not reasonable, because the rapid defeat and surrender of France in World War II was caused by the accumulation of France's wrong strategy in the past twenty years during World War I and World War II, and it is also very closely related to the social conditions in France during the two world wars.
There is also the view that Pétain was eventually convicted of treason, meaning that he did not love france at all. I think this is also debatable, and you have two details: First, in May 1940, when the French army was losing and losing quickly, the French government recalled Pétain, who was an ambassador in Spain, to France, which was clearly to make him carry the pot.
Even at that time, Franco said to Pétain: You don't go back, this is to make you a pot bearer. But what Pétain said was, "I have to go back, and this is probably the last battle of my life." "That's a detail.
Spanish dictator Franco and Pétain
Also in April 1945, Pétain, who was under house arrest in Germany, strongly demanded to return to France. In fact, he knew all too well that he would face a trial when he returned to France, but Pétain insisted on returning to France. Therefore, to give him a "non-patriotic" hat, it seems a bit unreasonable.
But which France does he love? Perhaps the central key to this question. Many historians have said, "Pétain was a man who lived in the past." "He has always lived in the glory of the French military empire of the 19th century, in the aura of Napoleon. He admired Napoleon the most, so he was a typical right-wing, more conservative traditional soldier, and he always imagined the glory of France's military empire. But unfortunately he lived to the 1940s, to World War II.
Elderly Berdon in captivity
De Gaulle's remark about him was particularly apt, de Gaulle said: "Pétain is too long-lived, this is a disaster for the French country." I think I could add half a sentence, "This is Pétain's personal tragedy." "Because you think that during the First World War, the entire French army was promoted to marshal three people--Xiafei, Foch, and Pétain. The remaining two died around 1930, did not experience World War II, and naturally died with the aura and praise of World War I heroes.
Foch (left) and Pétain (right)
For Pétain, if he had not lived so long, if he had not lived to be in World War II, he would have died with this age-old glorified name written into history. But unfortunately he lived too long, and he lived through the whole of World War II. And what he most revered or idealized in his heart was always the glory of the French military empire from the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century, which was completely incompatible with the times. Such a contradiction and conflict may have been an important reason for his tragic fate.
A small tail, according to the nurse who took care of Pétain in the last few years, had developed severe hallucinations before he died alone on an overseas island at the age of 95. And the scene he most often sees in his hallucinations is that he is on the battlefield of World War I. This is a particularly touching thing. And if you think about his final fate, dying alone on an overseas island, it is very similar to the end of the fate of Napoleon, whom he most admired. Unfortunately, the times created heroes, and Marshal Pétain lived to an era that did not belong to Napoleon.
Beidon's remains