Montoire, Occupied France • October 24, 1940 After failing the day before to convince Spanish dictator Francisco Franco to bring his country into the war on the Axis side, Adolf Hitler met with 84‑year-old Maréchal (Marshal) Philippe Pétain, respected French military leader (“Victor of Verdun”) and now head of state (chef de l’État Français), and…
Paris, France • July 23, 1945 Following the military defeat of France by Nazi Germany in June 1940, World War I hero Maréchal (Marshal) Philippe Pétain proclaimed a new French government on July 10, 1940. Pétain held the title of “President of the Council” instead of President of France. His government, which accorded him extraordinary powers, was…
Vichy, France • July 11, 1940 On July 10, 1940, the French National Assembly meeting in the municipal opera house in Vichy, France, a small resort town 200 miles/322 kilometers south of German-occupied Paris, ceded its power and authority to Premier Philippe Pétain, the 84‑year-old Maréchal of France and World War I hero. On this date, 1 day later, Marshal…
Vichy, France • September 4, 1942 Because so many young German men were needed on Germany’s Eastern Front to engage the Soviet Army, Adolf Hitler, toward the end of spring 1942, insisted that the French collaborationist government of Philippe Pétain, whose capital was in the central France town of Vichy, assign some 350,000 French workers…
Montoire, German-Occupied France · October 24, 1940 After failing the day before to convince Spanish dictator Francisco Franco to bring his country into the war on the Axis side, Adolf Hitler met with 84‑year-old Marshal Philippe Pétain and Pierre Laval, head of state (chef de l’État Français) and deputy leader of Vichy France, respectively, on…
Paris, France · July 23, 1945 Following the military defeat of France by Nazi Germany in June 1940, World War I hero Marshal Philippe Pétain proclaimed a new French government on July 10, 1940. Pétain held the title of “President of the Council” instead of President of France. His government, which accorded him extraordinary powers, was officially…
Montoire, German-Occupied France · October 24, 1940 After failing the day before to convince Spanish dictator Francisco Franco to bring his country into the war on the Axis side, Adolf Hitler met with 84‑year-old Marshal Philippe Pétain and Pierre Laval, head of state (chef de l’État Français) and deputy leader of Vichy France, respectively, on…
Paris, France · July 23, 1945 Following the military defeat of France by Nazi Germany in June 1940, World War I hero Marshal Philippe Pétain proclaimed a new French government on July 10, 1940. Pétain held the title of “President of the Council” instead of President of France. His government, which accorded him extraordinary powers, was officially…