Philippe Petain

Henri-Philippe Petain

Philippe Petain aka Henri-Philippe Petain was a French military and political leader. He was a war hero during World War I, leading the defense of Verdun.

During World War II, he seized control of France and negotiated peace with the Germans, setting up a puppet state called Vichy France. Then he ruled as a fascist dictator until the summer of 1944. When the Allies liberated France he fled to Germany along with thousands of other collaborators, and set up an absurd government-in-exile at a castle in Sigmaringen.

After the war, he was convicted of treason and imprisoned until his death in 1951, at the age of 91.