The Judgment of History

I just finished a great book that my friends Marjorie and Antoine gave me, “1940” by Max Gallo.  It describes the first year of WWII in France.

 

A major figure in the book is Philippe Pétain, the head of the Vichy government during the war.  Petain was one of the great heroes of WWI, the Lion of Verdun, and the French people rallied around him after the devastating defeat at the hands of the Germans in 1940.  While trying to protect France from the worst excesses of the Nazis, he instituted a policy of collaboration which is considered today a black chapter in French history.

After the war, Pétain was tried and convicted of treason, though his death sentence was commuted by De Gaulle.

I was curious to know what French people now think of Pétain, a major figure in 20^th century France, given his very mixed history.  So I asked my friends, “What is Petain’s reputation?” What I got back was interesting.

Some of my friends thought the French see him as a devil, the man who betrayed his country to the Nazis.  They really don’t consider his heroism in WWI at all.

Others thought his reputation is more ambiguous – that of a hero who tried to save his country in WWII but went much too far in cooperating with the Nazis.  But on balance negative.

Our French teacher had an interesting view.  She expected that the older the person, the more they would give credit to Pétain’s heroism at Verdun.  The younger the person, the less they would see WWI as being important, given how long ago it was.

That was in part confirmed by Jean-Pierre, who is in his 60’s.  He said that while he had studied the two world wars in school, he hadn’t studied the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, even though it was a very important event in modern French history – it was just too long ago.  Similarly, perhaps WWI and even WWII are less a focus for today’s French students.

This was borne out when we asked Chloe, who is a recent university graduate.  Her response: 

“Pétain who?”

KVS