What does Veeky Forums think of this man

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He looks dumb.

tr8or

was he motivated to lead the fascist state after seeing the horrors of verdun?

A real tragic figure. Obviously maligned because of his supine cooperation with the Nazis, but from what I understand it didn't come from a place of cowardice as much as a sincere desire to protect the flower of France from the wasteful carnage that he had personally witnessed at Verdun.

He did nazi that coming

The French hate him for establishing the Vichy regime, which they view as traitorous and cowardly, because France was as we all know completely prepared for the war in the first place and was also entirely able to continue fighting with it's people demoralised, it's armies defeated, it's industries captured and it's capital surrendered. So he decided to try and save a portion of France from occupation and still aid Britain by surrendering and cooperating with Nazi tyranny by setting up a new government in unoccupied France and flat out saying no to Nazi demands for the French fleet. He tried, he tried real hard to save the French people. It's what any desperate Frenchman would have done. He picked the wrong side, however, and was a villain because.

Charlemagne, Philip Augustus, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Petain

He gets a lot of flack like Nevile Chamberlain does for his apparent pusillanimity in the face of Nazi aggression, but I think they share the same burden of being convenient scapegoats.

They're easy targets to hoist all the blame onto.

Chamberlain and the British should absolutely be blamed for driving the Italians and Japanese into the axis. The Italians would have gladly joined an anti German coalition if they got to expand there empire a bit but no only the French and British get empire. And they could have curtailed Japanese cruelty and maybe got them to go more comfortable prosperity sphere if they encouraged the Japanese with bribery. But no nips don't get empire. Only British and French and this they lost everything

was his trial unfair?

more like putain amirite :^)

Thought what he was doing would save France from total destruction, especially Paris. He did save many French soldiers from dying in further battles. It is still debated today if he did the right thing. He was put into a no win situation.

He tried to ride the tiger and it ended up biting him.

The saviour of France whose strategy won the Battle of Verdun.

why was he replaced as chief of the french forces in ww1?

He was a patriot who did what was needed and saved French lives. Sadly he met a tragic end due to hate ridden politicians.

One of the most interesting figures of the 20th century and sadly underappreciated. These posts summarize him well

Petain wasn't just loathed for setting up a regime, he was loathed and tried for actively cooperating with the Germans, and trying to establish a totalitarian regime of his own in France

Regardless of what happened in World War II, he was France's best and most innovative general in World War I.

can anyone recommend me any good books on petain and vichy france? it all seems really interesting

cuck

I think, like most generals he intentionally stayed away from the front lines and dressing rooms so he wouldn't have to see the horrors of what was caused by his command.
The main reason that he decided to collaborate was likely because he saw further resistance as pointless and because he didn't like anglos much.