Talk:Philippe Pétain

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Shouldn't this article be under Henri-Philippe Pétain rather than Marshall Pétain, which could be a redirect? Do other military commanders have their rank in their article? -Scipius

No -- this is nearly as silly as having "General Eisenhower". --mav

Ooops - I'll fix it. -- Hotlorp

Now someone's made it bad again... half changing it to the unhyphenated version... Now all fixed to Henri-Philippe Pétain. -- Hotlorp

He's generally known as Philippe Pétain in France, and, even more commonly, as Marshal Pétain. David.Monniaux 17:49, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC)

We don't put articles of people under military commander names. He should stay at Philippe Pétain. john k 19:33, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC)

That I agree with. But certainly not at Henri-Philippe (nobody calls him that way). David.Monniaux 07:33, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Contents 1 Pétain as Head of State 2 POV 3 dutch version 4 review of article 5 Philippe Pétain v. Santa Anna 6 Was Pétain's antisemitic ? 7 Photo 8 Petain and France.

[edit] Pétain as Head of State

This is a frequent and unfortunate (let alone dangerous) error: Pétain was never Head of any State. The Vichy government was never a State, it was a government of fact, not a government of law (which is the definition of the State). When Pétain abolished the Republic, Statehood switched to the Free France and De Gaulle was Head of State from 1940, not just in 1944. LeoDV 09:18, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] POV

I'm taking out the POV tag until the person who put it there bothers to explain why they did. --71.112.231.198 30 June 2005 07:29 (UTC)

-I did explain, if you had bothered to read my reason in 'History'. Antman July 1, 2005 03:17 (UTC)

I think the claim that Petain never resisted collaboration with germany makes this article POV. The phrase "took the initiative to collaborate" is factually dubious, and screams "POV." Also not mentioned is the onset of gerontological problems during Petains tenure as head of state, including the possible onset of senility. Overall this article is very poor quality, nto fleshed out, and needs to be improved. p97dav45

[edit] dutch version

the Dutch version has a much more complete and as far as i found out, a much better discussion, of Petains role in the First World War. If I find time I will provide a translation, though I am not a native speaker so my Duglish will need some correcting. Hugh van der Mandele, Harlingen, the Netherlands.

I removed the sentence from the world war one section that stated "His advocacy of a defensive strategy contributed to the construction of the Maginot Line." Petain was most definitely not an advocate of a defensive strategy, particularly during the interwar period. He imagined an initial "soaking up" of a German attack, followed by a vigorous counterattack, and assented to the Maginot line because lack of manpower, cash, and political will made maintaining sufficient troop strength impossible. His first conception of it was a series of "lighter but unbroken prepared battlefield" (Williams, 2005). Sort of a "kill trap idea- hardly an addiction to static defence. Yet another example of this article factual difficulties. p97dav45

[edit] review of article

Review of Wikipedia Article “Philippe Petain”

By Mark Cannizzaro 3/18/06

The early part of the Wikipedia article “Philippe Petain” is well balanced, going over Petain’s birth, military education, and military experience during World War I. Though sparse, the section on his involvement in the French government after World War I is also relatively even in its tone. However, once the article reaches World War II, its maintenance of objectivity fails at certain points. The article highlights the more negative aspects of Petain’s reign in a few sections. It is understandable that Petain would emerge from any neutral article with the reader understanding his harmful effects on France. The Wikipedia article, however, subtly shifts the tone of the article with phrases like: “Neither Petain nor his successive Deputies, Pierre Laval or Francois Darlan, resisted requests by the Germans to indirectly aid the Axis Powers”. While this statement is true, the wording of the sentence implies that it was wrong for Petain and his deputies to not resist the German’s request, which puts the author’s opinion in an article that should be as neutral as possible. Even more obvious is the article’s last section, which compares Petain to reviled historical figures like Benedict Arnold and Antonio Lopez De Santa Anna. The section explains the prevailing contemporary view of Petain in France; however, it also makes obvious that the author thinks unfavorably of him, which is something the reader does not need to know. Thus, the Wikipedia article on Philippe Petain wants the reader to believe that Petain is a very negative figure in French history. The major implicit assumption of the article is that absolutely no positive developments came out of Philippe Petain’s administration of the French State. All of the policies of the Petain regime mentioned in the article are either characterized with very unfavorable terms (such as “Petain immediately used his new powers to order harsh measures”) or linked to collaboration with the Nazis, which carries an obvious negative stigma. However, this presents the reader a very once sided view of his regime. There is no mention of the Vichy’s regime’s most important contribution to France, its acceleration of modernization through the creation of programs like worker representation in factories (Popkin, 281). This achievement, while certainly not negating the harm Petain’s regime did to France, should not be underestimated since one of France’s main occupations after the war was the rebuilding/modernization of its industry. I find that the most convincing aspect of the article is its portrayal of Petain as more than a simple collaborator. The article shows how Petain merely pretended that Vichy France was neutral during World War II, even when he had significant control over the country (without major German interference). It mentions that Petain actively helped the Germans crush the French resistance, supplied them with supplies of manufactured goods and foodstuffs, and ordered France’s colonies to fight against Allied forces. Also, the article explains that Petain’s conservative assembly took advantage of the situation to enact a radical conservative program known as the National Revolution. This opportunism makes it obvious to me that Philippe Petain was a far more enthusiastic supporter of the Germans than many collaborators were during the war. The least convincing part of the article is its comparison of Philippe Petain to the infamous Benedict Arnold. First off, I must admit that they do have two important similarities. Both Arnold and Petain were celebrated war heroes who fell from grace due to collaboration with their country’s enemy. In addition, both their names are synonymous with the word “traitor” in their respective countries. However, there is one major difference between these two despised figures that makes them imperfect comparisons. Benedict Arnold purposefully betrayed his country in order to pay off his debts and to get back at those who had wronged him. Philippe Petain on the other hand certainly did not view his collaboration with Germany as a betrayal of France; on the contrary, he viewed it as the only way to maintain French sovereignty and to bring about the National Revolution. This distinction makes quite a bit of difference because it centers on the question of intent, which is important in most considerations of wrongdoing. In my opinion, Arnold’s crime was worse from the standpoint of intent since he knowingly betrayed his country, whereas Petain was doing, albeit misguidedly, what he believed was right. Therefore, the comparison of Philippe Petain and Benedict Arnold is the least convincing part of the article. There is no formal bibliography or works cited at the end of the article. Instead, there is a small section called “See Also” which points to some links which are mostly useless or impertinent to the article. There is only one source in this section, Simon Kitson’s Vichy Web. It seems to be a pretty good source, with many sections on various aspects of the Vichy government, including primary documents. However, I believe that the author of the article may not have used the article as thoroughly as they should have, since there are a few factual omissions in the article that need to be addressed. At the least, a few more sources should have been consulted in order to guarantee that the article had a well balanced perspective on the life of Philippe Petain. One thing that the article did very well was provide information on the people involved in Petain’s administration. While the specific names of the ministers may not be extremely important to remember, the table of Petain’s administrations provides a look at how his cabinet was made up and what were the priorities of the Vichy regime. It also informs the leader that Petain did not act alone in collaborating with Germany; he had the help of various sympathizers and government officials. However, there were two areas of historical omission which significantly hurt the article. First, there was no mention of Petain’s activities during World War II, which I believe would seem curious to most readers since he was such an important figure in World War I. To the informed reader it is very important because Petain’s strategy of defensive war may have been the most significant factor that led to the defeat of France’s forces by an outnumbered German military during World War II (Popkin, 280). This glaring error points perhaps to a lack of research on the subject on the part of the author. The second error, however, is even more serious. The article speaks of the National Revolution carried out during the Vichy regime, states its general intent, and mentions a few actions taken personally by Petain. However, the great bulk of the changes made by Petain’s administration in France are not mentioned. Nowhere were its reorganization of education, promotion of traditional family and rural values, corporatist reorganization of industry, or aggressive rounding up of French Jews mentioned in the article (Popkin, 280-283). The rounding up of Jews for German authorities seems like a particularly irresponsible error, especially given the enormous loss of life it caused and the devastating psychological impact it had on France after the war. Overall, the article gives an incomplete view of Philippe Petain’s life, leaving out extremely important facts about his negative and positive impact on France.

Works Cited Popkin, Jeremy. A Brief History of Modern France. pp. 280-283.

Emac687 21:25, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Philippe Pétain v. Santa Anna

As of 05 April 2006, Pétain's article ended with this paragraph:

"Nowadays, in France, the word pétainisme suggests an authoritarian and reactionary ideology, driven by the nostalgia of a rural, agricultural, traditionalist, Catholic society. Petain himself is generally regarded in the same manner as Vidkun Quisling is in Norway, or Benedict Arnold in the United States, and perhaps to some minor degree as Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna in Mexico."

Personally, I would argue that the similarities between Pétain and Santa Anna are trivial, and, as such, I have edited the article accordingly. Historical analogies are always useful, but I believe that the Vidkun Quisling reference is far more practical and informative. Mingus ah um

The article was reverted to include Santa Anna. I have again removed the reference. If you have problems with that, talk to me (here, preferably). --(Mingus ah um 19:41, 14 April 2006 (UTC))

[edit] Was Pétain's antisemitic ?

I wonder if the marechal Pétain was antisemitic or not. Because it's him who wrote the "Lois sur le statut des juifs" the Nuremberg Laws french if he were really antisemitic shall we put him in the rubrique "Anti-Semitic People" ?

[edit] Photo

I don't think this man is the Maréchal Pétain, this is a mistake. CB001 15:49, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

Well, it is, its source is a 1919 book on the First World War. Эйрон Кинни (t) 04:35, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Look the other photo, he doesn't look like the other one. Different nose, different eyes, different chin (cleft in the chin)... One of them is fat, not the other. I will ask on the french wiki if it's really Petain or not. CB001 16:29, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Apparentely it's him (as here). CB001 17:07, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Finally, user:Roby thinks this man is Joffre. CB001 16:40, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Petain and France.

I've made one small alteration. Although the armistice of 1940 left northern and western France under German occupation, the whole was under the nominal authority of Vichy, not just the unoccupied south.

My more general concern is the preception of Petain that this article presents. I see he has been included in the category of 'French Fascists', though on what grounds I cannot imagine. His regime was authoritarian and collaborationist, yes, but it cannot really be defined as Fascist in the Italian or German sense. Politically Petain resembles Admiral Horthy rather than Hitler or Mussolini. It seems both unhistorical and absurd to try to place him alongside such obvious traitors as Vidkun Quisling, when he represented at the time a majority French view. White Guard 01:14, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

I deleted the comparisons to Quizling, Ben Arnold etc as being uncited, POV and , in some cases, fairly unsupportable. Epeeist smudge 16:00, 29 March 2007 (UTC)