The miltary and ideological issues raised in this post will remind us of Charles Bedaux and Philippe Petain. But Pierre Laval was his own man. Born in Auvergnac France, Laval (1883-1945) graduated in Law and Science, then went into business. He was elected to the French Parliament as a Socialist in 1903. Although originally a pacifist Senator, Laval did join the French Army when WW1 broke out. He was a totally honourable Frenchman.
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Marshal Petain and Pierre Laval,
Sevigne Pavillion Park, Vichy c1942
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In Dec 1940 Pétain was persuaded to have Laval fired and arrested. Abetz sent in troops to release him and he was taken to Paris, to live under the protection of the German Army. But in Aug 1941, a French student fired off shots into Laval while seeing off French volunteer troops taking part in Operation Barbarossa. Although gravely wounded, he did recover and under heavy pressure from the Germans, Petain re-installed Laval as head of France's Vichy government.
Back in power and firmly under German occupational protection, Laval began a project to cleanse France of Jews. He ordered French police to round up all foreign Jews they could find and hand them over to the German authorities. He also created a hated French programme in 1942 that sent skilled French labourers to Germany in exchange for German repatriation of French POWs captured in the 1940 invasion.
In Jan 1943 Laval created the horrendous Milice, a political police agency led by French WW1 hero, Joseph Darnard. It hunted and captured leftist activists, and Jews without French citizenship, deporting them to Nazi Germany. Milice grew to 35,000 men and was so brutal that it alienated even many Vichy fans. He granted the secret Nazi Gestapo the authority to hunt down French resistance fighters in occupied France AND ordered his own Vichy police to help them. By then Laval had won Hitler’s trust, and the elderly Pétain became merely a figurehead in the Vichy regime. As leader of Vichy France, Laval collaborated with Nazi oppression and genocide, and became a puppet of Hitler.
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Laval defended his French patriotism at his own trial,
Sevigne Pavillion Park, Vichy c1942
The war greatly changed Laval's political beliefs; after the war he was re-elected to the French Chamber of Deputies but now as a rigid conservative. Over the years, he was appointed French Foreign Minister, and was Prime Minister twice, from 1931-2 and 1935-6. In office he worked closely with Aristide Briand (French Prime Minister till 1929) to establish good relations with Germany and the Soviet Union. Yet he delayed the 1935 Soviet-Franco Pact, in order to align France with Fascist Italy!
In Oct 1935 Prime Minister Laval and British Foreign Secretary Samuel Hoare negotiated a pact to end the Italian Invasion of Ethiopia Crisis. The secret Hoare-Laval Pact proposed that Italy would receive two-thirds of the territory it conquered, plus permission to enlarge existing East African colonies. In return Ethiopia would receive a narrow strip of territory and access to the sea. The Hoare-Laval Pact was leaked to the press in Dec 1935, and was widely denounced as appeasement of Italian aggression. Laval and Hoare were both forced to resign by the public outrage!
Laval left government service and amassed a fortune as a media mogul, controlling newspapers, magazines, publishing companies and radios.
When the German army attacked France in May 1940, Laval used the influence of his media empire to support the senile-ish, 84 year old hero Philippe Pétain (1856–1951) as head of the French collaborationist Government. It was based in Vichy, tasked by Germany with ruling that part of France not occupied by the German army, although under German supervision. Hostile to the original declaration of war against Germany, Laval naturally encouraged the anti-war faction in the French government. Laval also used his money in the National Assembly to give dictatorial powers to Petain. In July 1940, Laval was named as Prime Minister and Petain's legal successor.
In Oct 1935 Prime Minister Laval and British Foreign Secretary Samuel Hoare negotiated a pact to end the Italian Invasion of Ethiopia Crisis. The secret Hoare-Laval Pact proposed that Italy would receive two-thirds of the territory it conquered, plus permission to enlarge existing East African colonies. In return Ethiopia would receive a narrow strip of territory and access to the sea. The Hoare-Laval Pact was leaked to the press in Dec 1935, and was widely denounced as appeasement of Italian aggression. Laval and Hoare were both forced to resign by the public outrage!
Laval left government service and amassed a fortune as a media mogul, controlling newspapers, magazines, publishing companies and radios.
When the German army attacked France in May 1940, Laval used the influence of his media empire to support the senile-ish, 84 year old hero Philippe Pétain (1856–1951) as head of the French collaborationist Government. It was based in Vichy, tasked by Germany with ruling that part of France not occupied by the German army, although under German supervision. Hostile to the original declaration of war against Germany, Laval naturally encouraged the anti-war faction in the French government. Laval also used his money in the National Assembly to give dictatorial powers to Petain. In July 1940, Laval was named as Prime Minister and Petain's legal successor.
France divided into the German Occupied Zone (north)
and the Free Zone aka Vichy State (south)
until Nov 1942
When Pétain took over the new Vichy state, Laval used his political influence to propose an armistice with Germany. Laval developed a close relationship with Otto Abetz, the German ambassador in France, and in Oct 1940, he met Adolf Hitler and proposed that the 2 countries should work closely together. At a meeting with Nazi Air Force commander Hermann Goering later that month, Laval proposed a specific military alliance with Nazi Germany. French Parliamentarians worried about these developments and eventually Laval's actions became too much for even Vichy collaborationists.
When Pétain took over the new Vichy state, Laval used his political influence to propose an armistice with Germany. Laval developed a close relationship with Otto Abetz, the German ambassador in France, and in Oct 1940, he met Adolf Hitler and proposed that the 2 countries should work closely together. At a meeting with Nazi Air Force commander Hermann Goering later that month, Laval proposed a specific military alliance with Nazi Germany. French Parliamentarians worried about these developments and eventually Laval's actions became too much for even Vichy collaborationists.
In Dec 1940 Pétain was persuaded to have Laval fired and arrested. Abetz sent in troops to release him and he was taken to Paris, to live under the protection of the German Army. But in Aug 1941, a French student fired off shots into Laval while seeing off French volunteer troops taking part in Operation Barbarossa. Although gravely wounded, he did recover and under heavy pressure from the Germans, Petain re-installed Laval as head of France's Vichy government.
Back in power and firmly under German occupational protection, Laval began a project to cleanse France of Jews. He ordered French police to round up all foreign Jews they could find and hand them over to the German authorities. He also created a hated French programme in 1942 that sent skilled French labourers to Germany in exchange for German repatriation of French POWs captured in the 1940 invasion.
In Jan 1943 Laval created the horrendous Milice, a political police agency led by French WW1 hero, Joseph Darnard. It hunted and captured leftist activists, and Jews without French citizenship, deporting them to Nazi Germany. Milice grew to 35,000 men and was so brutal that it alienated even many Vichy fans. He granted the secret Nazi Gestapo the authority to hunt down French resistance fighters in occupied France AND ordered his own Vichy police to help them. By then Laval had won Hitler’s trust, and the elderly Pétain became merely a figurehead in the Vichy regime. As leader of Vichy France, Laval collaborated with Nazi oppression and genocide, and became a puppet of Hitler.
Pierre Laval and Carl Oberg, head of German police in France
May 1943 in Paris.
May 1943 in Paris.
The Vichy government's fortunes greatly changed with the invasion by Allied armies. After the D-Day Landings in June 1944, Paris was liberated; Petain and his Ministers fled to Southern Germany and served as an exiled government at Sigmaringen. Joseph Darnand, who went with Petain, was eventually captured by the Allies. Laval moved to N.E France but with the Allies progressing, Laval retreated and in May 1945 fled to Barcelona. Spain’s General Franco said Laval had an option to sail by ship to South America, but he decided against it, freely returning to France in July 1945.
With Germany’s defeat in May 1945, Laval was handed to the new French government led by Gen Charles De Gaulle. Laval was charged with treason, found guilty by the High Court of Justice and shot by firing squad at Fresnes Prison Paris in Oct 1945. As was Joseph Darnand.
Paris late 1945
Pétain was tried in Aug 1945, convicted for treason and also sentenced to death, but it was commuted to life in prison. Read Trial of Pierre Laval: Defining Treason, Collaboration and Patriotism in WW2 France, by J.K Brody, 2017.