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早年
貝當是一個天主教農民之子,在1876年加入法國陸軍。
第一次世界大戰
貝當在一次大戰期間成為法國英雄,被稱為“凡爾登的救星”。在1914年開戰時,貝當是一個正待退休的上校,戰爭開始後被升為旅長,後升為師長,在10月任第二軍軍長,1915年7月升為第二軍團司令,在1916年的凡爾登戰役中指揮當地法軍擊退德軍進攻。1917年貝當升為法國陸軍總司令,1918年11月升任法國元帥。
兩次大戰間
貝當在1929年福煦元帥逝世後,繼其位出任法蘭西學院院士。1934年時曾進入內閣,任國防部長一職。
第二次世界大戰及維希法國
1940年6月,貝當在德軍嚮法國內陸大舉推進之際就任法國總理,在6月22日與德國簽訂停火協定。根據該協定,法國的大部份地區被德軍占領,衹有南部及東南部一帶例外。隨後法國國會通過議案,授予貝當憲法、立法、行政及司法權力,並暫停憲法,令貝當擁有獨裁者的權力。貝當政府總部設在法國中部非占領區的維希,故被稱“維希政府”。維希政府為軸心國提供大量物資,又曾下令在海外屬地的法軍對抗盟軍,以及容許軸心軍在海外屬地過境。1942年11月11日,德軍突然占領法國餘下的非占領區。1944年盟軍登陸法國後,維希政府在9月遷至德國境內。
戰後審判
1945年4月,貝當回到法國接受叛國罪審訊,其後被定罪及判處死刑。貝當在8月獲戴高樂以年老為理由減刑至終身監禁,在1951年去世。
Because of his outstanding military leadership in World War I, particularly during the Battle of Verdun, he was viewed as a hero in France. However, during the 1920s and 1930s, while remaining the highest ranking military authority, he failed to modernize the French military except for the ineffective Maginot Line. After the French defeat in June 1940, Pétain was legally voted in as Head of State (Chef de l'Etat) by the French Parliament. However, Pétain surrendered France to Germany and, along with his cabinet, including later on Pierre Laval, transformed the French Republic into the French State, an authoritarian (not totalitarian) dictatorship administered from the town of Vichy in central France. As the war progressed, the Vichy Government sank deeper into collaboration with the German occupiers which finally took control of the totality of metropolitan France. Petain's actions during World War II resulted in a conviction and death sentence for treason, which was commuted to life imprisonment by Charles de Gaulle. In modern France he is remembered as an ambiguous figure while pétainisme is a derogatory term for certain reactionary policies.