Philippe Pétain
Philippe Pétain (born 24th April 1856, died 23rd July 1951) was a French marshal, military hero of the First World War and head of the collaborationist French State, commonly known as Vichy France.
Born in 1856, shortly after the declaration of the Third French Republic, Pétain entered the First World War as a Colonel. After leading the French army to victory at Verdun (a nine month battle which earned him the nickname "the lion of Verdun"), Pétain's popularity among the French army soared. When the French army faced mutinies in 1917, Pétain was appointed commander-in-chief. His style of leading from the front helped rebuild the morale that led the Entente to victory against Germany.
In June of 1940, facing the imminent capture and destruction of Paris by the Nazi advance, Pétain himself saw to the negotiation of the ceasefire that formed the French State - and consequently, Free France too. As a result, he was named the leader of the State by the Nazi authorities.
Pétain's popularity and the French State's stability were so deeply intertwined that Pétain's personal seal - a two-headed axe bearing the French tricolors, a Marshall's baton, and seven stars - became synonymous with the Vichy Government. Following the end of the war, Pétain continued his rule from Paris, even amid growing discontent from the people of France in his country.
Marshall Pétain died on July 23rd, 1951.