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171-735: The mutinies and associated disruptions involved, to various degrees, nearly half of the French infantry divisions stationed on the Western Front. The term "mutiny" does not precisely describe events; soldiers remained in trenches and were willing to defend but refused orders to attack. Nivelle was sacked and replaced by General Philippe Pétain , who restored morale by talking to the men, promising no more suicidal attacks, providing rest and leave for exhausted units and moderating discipline. He held 3,400 courts martial in which 554 mutineers were sentenced to death and 26 were executed. The catalyst for

342-620: A provisional government was announced by the Provisional Committee of the State Duma . The Provisional Government published its manifesto declaring itself the governing body of the Russian Empire that same day. The manifesto proposed a plan of civic and political rights and the installation of a democratically elected Russian Constituent Assembly , but did not touch on many of the topics that were driving forces in

513-469: A strike to demonstrate against the government. Strikes continued on the following days. Due to heavy snowstorms, tens of thousands of freight cars were stuck on the rails, with food and coal. On 22 February O.S. (7 March N.S.) the Tsar left for the front. On 23 February O.S. (8 March N.S.), Putilov protesters were joined in the uprising by those celebrating International Woman's Day and protesting against

684-614: A conservative, "state-minded" party. At the same time that the Provisional Government was put into place, the Soviet Executive Committee also formed. The soviets were made up of workers and soldiers directly, being a democratic institution, allowing for cooperative decision making, while the Provisional Government was formed from the Duma delegates. The soviets, being formed democratically, ended up with

855-568: A direct appeal from Lebrun himself. At this moment an article appeared in the newspaper Le Petit Journal , calling for Pétain as a candidate for a dictatorship. 200,000 readers responded to the paper's poll. Pétain came first, with 47,000, ahead of Pierre Laval 's 31,000 votes. These two men travelled to Warsaw for the funeral of the Polish Marshal Piłsudski in May 1935 (and another cordial meeting with Göring). Although Le Petit Journal

1026-839: A draft proposal to the cabinet where he spoke of the need to stay in France, to prepare a national revival, and to share the sufferings of our people. It is impossible for the government to abandon French soil without emigrating, without deserting. The duty of the government is, come what may, to remain in the country, or it could not longer be regarded as the government. Several ministers were still opposed to an armistice, and Weygand immediately lashed out at them for even leaving Paris. Like Pétain, he said he would never leave France. The government moved to Bordeaux on 14 June, where French governments had fled German invasions in 1870 and 1914. By coincidence, that evening in Bordeaux, de Gaulle dined in

1197-624: A general, Pétain had bought a villa for retirement. Pétain led his brigade at the Battle of Guise (29 August 1914). The following day, he was promoted to brigade general to replace brigade general Pierre Peslin  [ fr ] , who had taken his own life. He was given command of the 6th Division in time for the First Battle of the Marne ; little over a month later, in October 1914, he

1368-465: A key player, agreeing provided the French fleet was kept out of German hands. On Sunday, 16 June 1940, President Roosevelt 's reply to President Lebrun's requests for assistance came with only vague promises and saying that it was impossible for the President to do anything without Congressional approval. Pétain then drew a letter of resignation from his pocket, an act which was certain to bring down

1539-665: A key role in grinding down the German onslaught to a final halt in July 1916. In effect, he applied the basic principle that was a mainstay of his teachings at the École de Guerre (War College) before World War I: " le feu tue! " or "firepower kills!" – in this case meaning French field artillery, which fired over 15 million shells on the Germans during the first five months of the battle. Although Pétain did say "On les aura!" (an echoing of Joan of Arc, roughly: "We'll get them!"),

1710-603: A line of forts along the frontier with Germany, and their report was tabled on 22 May 1922. The three Marshals supported this. The cuts in military expenditure meant that taking the offensive was now impossible and a defensive strategy was all they could have. Pétain was appointed Inspector-General of the Army in February 1922, and produced, in concert with the new Chief of the General Staff, General Marie-Eugène Debeney ,

1881-467: A minister with the "confidence of the country" be instated immediately. Delay, he wrote, would be "tantamount to death". On the home front, a famine loomed and commodities became scarce due to the overstretched railroad network. Meanwhile, refugees from German-occupied Russia came in their millions. The Russian economy , which had just seen one of the highest growth rates in Europe, was blocked from

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2052-497: A moderate-left majority, while the government was mostly made of the liberals and did not properly fulfill the demands of most of the country for peace and bread. When these two powers existed at the same time, "dual power" was created. The Provisional Government was granted formal authority, but the Soviet Executive Committee had the support of the people resulting in political unrest until the Bolshevik takeover in October. During

2223-515: A month. Meanwhile, the wartime alliance of industry, the Duma (lower house of parliament) and the Stavka (Military High Command) started to work outside the Tsar's control. In an attempt to boost morale and repair his reputation as a leader, Tsar Nicholas announced in the summer of 1915 that he would take personal command of the army, in defiance of almost universal advice to the contrary. The result

2394-400: A regiment of the 18th Division. Two days later, a battalion of the 166th Division staged a demonstration and on 20 May, the 128th Regiment of the 3rd Division and the 66th Regiment of the 18th Division refused orders. Individual incidents of insubordination occurred in the 17th Division. Over the next two days, spokesmen were elected in two regiments of the 69th Division to petition for an end to

2565-512: A request to cease hostilities at once and for Germany to make known its peace terms. At 12:30 am, Pétain made his first broadcast to the French people. February Revolution Revolutionary victory: [REDACTED] Government : [REDACTED] Monarchists : [REDACTED] Liberals : [REDACTED] Socialists : The February Revolution ( Russian : Февральская революция ), known in Soviet historiography as

2736-476: A revised plan and the commission then proposed two fortified regions. The Maginot Line , as it came to be called, (named after André Maginot the former Minister of War) thereafter occupied a good deal of Pétain's attention during 1928, when he also travelled extensively, visiting military installations up and down the country. Pétain had based his strong support for the Maginot Line on his own experience of

2907-542: A strategic reserve of sixty divisions; now, there were none, and the British ought to be providing divisions to aid France. Making Paris into a ruin would not affect the final event. At the conference Pétain met de Gaulle for the first time in two years. Pétain noted his recent promotion to general, adding that he did not congratulate him, as ranks were of no use in defeat. When de Gaulle protested that Pétain himself had been promoted to brigadier-general and division commander at

3078-526: A system gathered the educated public, workers, and soldiers to facilitate order and food systems, democratic elections, and the removal of tsarist officials. In a short amount of time, 3,000 deputies were elected to the Petrograd Soviet. The Soviet quickly became the representative body responsible for fighting for workers and soldiers hopes for "bread, peace, and land". In the spring of 1917, 700 soviets were established across Russia, equalling about

3249-432: A third of the population, representing the proletariat and their interests. The soviets spent their time pushing for a constituent assembly rather than swaying the public to believe they were a more morally sound means of governing. After the abdication of the throne by the Tsar, the Provisional Government declared itself the new form of authority. The Provisional Government shared Kadet views. The Kadets were now seen as

3420-872: A week before the announcement that Germany was increasing its army to 36 divisions. On 26 April 1936, the general election results showed 5.5 million votes for the Popular Front parties against 4.5 million for the Right on an 84% turnout. On 3 May Pétain, was interviewed in Le Journal where he launched an attack on the Franco-Soviet Pact, on Communism in general (France had the largest communist party in Western Europe), and on those who allowed Communists intellectual responsibility. He said that France had lost faith in her destiny. Pétain

3591-440: Is in a state of anarchy. The Government is paralyzed. Transport service and the supply of food and fuel have become completely disrupted. General discontent is growing ... There must be no delay. Any procrastination is tantamount to death. Golitsyn received by telegraph a decree from the Tsar dissolving the Duma once again. Golitsyn used a (signed, but not yet dated) ukaze declaring that his Majesty had decided to interrupt

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3762-583: The First and Second Offensive Battles of Verdun in October and December 1916, a creeping barrage in which French artillery fired its shells to land just in front of the advancing infantry to keep the Germans under cover until they had been overrun. Nivelle's attack (the Second Battle of the Aisne ) failed to achieve its main war-winning objective. At the cost of very high casualties, the offensive exhausted

3933-641: The Admiralty , but moved that night to the Winter Palace . Nicholas's response on 27 February O.S (12 March N.S), perhaps based on the Empress's earlier letter to him that the concern about Petrograd was an over-reaction, was one of irritation that "again, this fat Rodzianko has written me lots of nonsense, to which I shall not even deign to reply". Meanwhile, events unfolded in Petrograd. The bulk of

4104-580: The Aisne , as the French Army commander (Humbert) ignored Pétain's instructions to defend in depth and instead allowed his men to be hit by the initial massive German bombardment. By the time of the last German offensives, Gneisenau and the Second Battle of the Marne , Pétain was able to defend in depth and launch counter offensives, with the new French tanks and the assistance of the Americans. Later in

4275-549: The Allied powers in Petrograd; unofficially they sought to clarify the internal situation in Russia. On 8 February, at the wish of the Tsar, Nikolay Maklakov , together with Alexander Protopopov ..., drafted the text of the manifesto on the dissolution of the Duma (before it was opened on 14 February 1917). The Duma was dissolved and Protopopov was proclaimed dictator . By 1917, the majority of Petersburgers had lost faith in

4446-602: The April Crisis (1917) Ivan Ilyin agreed with the Kadet Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavel Milyukov who staunchly opposed Petrograd Soviet demands for peace at any cost. Vladimir Lenin , exiled in neutral Switzerland, arrived in Petrograd from Zürich on 16 April O.S (29 April N.S). He immediately began to undermine the provisional government, issuing his April Theses the next month. These theses were in favor of " Revolutionary defeatism ", which argues that

4617-504: The Battle of the Somme , the psychology of the soldiers was fragile. The strategic failure and the casualties caused a collapse in the morale of the French infantrymen , who had been so enthusiastic just a few days before. The U.S. entry into the war in early April 1917 was met with euphoria in France. The Nivelle Offensive failed to achieve its strategic objectives and by 25 April, most of

4788-609: The Char B1 bis ). Modern infantry rifles and machine guns were not manufactured, with the sole exception of a light machine-rifle, the Mle 1924 . The French heavy machine gun was still the Hotchkiss M1914 , obsolete when compared to the new automatic weapons of German infantry. A modern infantry rifle was adopted in 1936 but very few of these MAS-36 rifles had been issued to the troops by 1940. A well-tested French semiautomatic rifle,

4959-750: The February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of two revolutions which took place in Russia in 1917. The main events of the revolution took place in and near Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg ), the then-capital of Russia, where long-standing discontent with the monarchy erupted into mass protests against food rationing on 23 February Old Style (8 March New Style ). Revolutionary activity lasted about eight days, involving mass demonstrations and violent armed clashes with police and gendarmes ,

5130-686: The Free French . Political unease was sweeping the country and, on 6 February 1934 , the Paris police fired on a group of far-right rioters outside the Chamber of Deputies, killing 14 and wounding a further 236. President Lebrun invited 71-year-old Doumergue to come out of retirement and form a new "government of national unity". On 8 February, Pétain was invited to join the new French cabinet as Minister of War, which he only reluctantly accepted after many representations. His important success that year

5301-623: The July Days , approximately half a million soldiers, sailors, and workers, some of them armed, came out onto the streets of Petrograd in protest. The protesters seized automobiles, fought with people of authority, and often fired their guns into the air. The crowd was so uncontrollable that the Soviet leadership sent the Socialist Revolutionary Victor Chernov , a widely liked politician, to the streets to calm

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5472-551: The Petrograd Soviet . After the July Days , in which the government killed hundreds of protesters, Alexander Kerensky became the head of the government. He was unable to resolve Russia's immediate problems, including food shortages and mass unemployment, as he attempted to keep Russia involved in the ever more unpopular world war . The failures of the Provisional Government led to the October Revolution by

5643-689: The Rif War and served twice as a government minister. During this time he was known as le vieux Maréchal ("the Old Marshal"). On 16 June 1940, with the imminent Fall of France and the government desire for an armistice, Prime Minister Paul Reynaud resigned, recommending to President Albert Lebrun that he appoint Pétain in his place, which he did that day, while the government was at Bordeaux . The government then resolved to sign armistice agreements with Germany and Italy. The entire government subsequently moved briefly to Clermont-Ferrand , then to

5814-763: The Third Battle of Ypres , with varied success but pertinently relieving pressure on the French to the south. It was not until early 1918, when the US troops had completed their preparations for war, that French morale improved. The Allies withstood the German spring offensive and in the Hundred Days Offensive comprehensively defeated the German Armies, which with the British naval blockade of Germany paid dividends. Starved of food, Germany collapsed on

5985-605: The Tsarist regime . Government corruption was unrestrained, and Tsar Nicholas II had frequently disregarded the Imperial Duma . Thousands of workers flooded the streets of Petrograd (modern St. Petersburg) to show their dissatisfaction. The first major protest of the February Revolution occurred on 18 February O.S. (3 March N.S) as workers of Putilov Factory , Petrograd's largest industrial plant, announced

6156-621: The Winter Battle in Masuria in February 1915 and the loss of Russian Poland during May to August 1915. Nearly six million casualties —dead, wounded, and missing— had been accrued by January 1917. Mutinies sprang up more often (most due to simple war-weariness ), morale was at its lowest, and the newly called-up officers and commanders were at times very incompetent. Like all major armies, Russia's armed forces had inadequate supply. The pre-revolution desertion rate ran at around 34,000

6327-596: The "diarchy" became obvious, and ultimately the regime and the dual power formed between the Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional Government, instigated by the February Revolution, was overthrown by the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution . When discussing the historiography of the February Revolution there are three historical interpretations which are relevant: Communist, Liberal, and Revisionist. These three different approaches exist separately from one another because of their respective beliefs of what ultimately caused

6498-460: The 113 infantry divisions of the Army had been affected by the end of 1917. The crisis of morale occurred mainly in the infantry, which had borne the brunt of casualties. Branches such as the heavy artillery, which was located far behind the front lines and those cavalry regiments that were still mounted, remained unaffected by the mutinies and provided detachments to round up deserters and restore order. Only 12 field artillery regiments were affected by

6669-490: The 19th and early 20th century, to modernise its archaic social, economic, and political structures while maintaining the stability of ubiquitous devotion to an autocratic monarch . As historian Richard Pipes writes, "the incompatibility of capitalism and autocracy struck all who gave thought to the matter". The first major event of the Russian Revolution was the February Revolution, a chaotic affair caused by

6840-673: The African colonies, although he participated in the Rif campaign in Morocco . As colonel , he was given command of the 33rd Infantry Regiment at Arras on 25 June 1911; a young lieutenant, Charles de Gaulle , who served under him, later wrote that his "first colonel, Pétain, taught (him) the Art of Command". In the spring of 1914, he was given command of a brigade (still with the rank of colonel). By then aged 58 and having been told he would never become

7011-563: The Americans"). He had the support of Georges Clemenceau, who told President Woodrow Wilson in June 1917 that France planned "to wait for the Americans & meanwhile not lose more.... I like Pétain... just because he won't attack". Martin Evans wrote "the French army would sit tight and wait for the Americans". Christopher Andrew and Kanya-Forster wrote in 1981 "Even after Petain's skilful mixture of tact and firmness had restored military discipline,

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7182-524: The Army was still too large. On 5 December 1925, after the Locarno Treaty , the Conseil demanded immediate action on a line of fortifications along the eastern frontier to counter the already proposed decline in manpower. A new commission for this purpose was established, under Joseph Joffre , and called for reports. In July 1927 Pétain himself went to reconnoitre the whole area. He returned with

7353-406: The Army, General Lavr Kornilov , directed an army under Aleksandr Krymov to march toward Petrograd with Kerensky's agreement. Although the details remain sketchy, Kerensky appeared to become frightened by the possibility of a coup, and the order was countermanded. (Historian Richard Pipes is adamant that the episode was engineered by Kerensky). On 27 August O.S (9 September N.S), feeling betrayed by

7524-505: The Battle of the Marne in 1914, he replied that there was "no comparison" with the present situation. De Gaulle later conceded that Pétain was right about that much at least. On 12 June, after a second session of the conference, the cabinet met and Weygand again called for an armistice. He referred to the danger of military and civil disorder and the possibility of a Communist uprising in Paris. Pétain and Minister of Information Prouvost urged

7695-819: The Bloc (led by Maklakov) at the session of the Council of Ministers in the Mariinsky Palace . The Bloc spoke for the resignation of the government. During the late afternoon of 26 February O.S (11 March N.S) the Fourth Company of the Pavlovsky Reserve Regiment broke out of their barracks upon learning that another detachment of the regiment had clashed with demonstrators near the Kazan Cathedral . After firing at mounted police

7866-600: The Bolshevik party were arrested. Lvov was replaced by the Socialist Revolutionary minister Alexander Kerensky as head of the Provisional Government. Kerensky declared freedom of speech, ended capital punishment, released thousands of political prisoners, and tried to maintain Russian involvement in World War I. He faced many challenges related to the war: there were still very heavy military losses on

8037-584: The British Government offered joint nationality for Frenchmen and Britons in a Franco-British Union . Reynaud and five ministers thought these proposals acceptable. The others did not, seeing the offer as insulting and a device to make France subservient to the United Kingdom, as a kind of extra Dominion. Contrary to President Albert Lebrun 's later recollection, no formal vote appears to have been taken at Cabinet on 16 June. The outcome of

8208-423: The Conference, Ferdinand Foch was appointed as Allied Generalissimo , initially with powers to co-ordinate and deploy Allied reserves where he saw fit. Pétain eventually came to the aid of the British and secured the front with forty French divisions. Pétain proved a capable opponent of the Germans both in defence and through counter-attack. The third offensive, "Blücher", in May 1918, saw major German advances on

8379-443: The Duma until April, leaving it with no legal authority to act. On the next day (27 February O.S, 12 March N.S), 25,000 soldiers occupied the Duma (according to Zinaida Hippius ) which remained obedient, and "did not attempt to hold an official sitting". Then some delegates decided to form a Provisional Committee of the State Duma , led by Rodzianko and backed by major Moscow manufacturers and St. Petersburg bankers. Vasily Maklakov

8550-481: The Emperor dismissed his Prime Minister , Alexander Trepov . On 11 January 1917 [ O.S. 29 December 1916] a hesitant Nikolai Golitsyn became the successor of Trepov. Golitsyn begged the Emperor to cancel his appointment, citing his lack of preparation for the role of Prime Minister. On 16 January  [ O.S. 3 January]  1917 Mikhail Belyaev succeeded Dmitry Shuvayev (who did not speak any foreign language) as Minister of War , likely at

8721-438: The Empress "exerts an adverse influence on all appointments, including even those in the army." On 11 January O.S. (24 January N.S.) the Duma opening was postponed to the 25th (7 February N.S.). On 14 January O.S. (27 January N.S.) Georgy Lvov proposed to Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich that he (the Grand Duke) should take control of the country. At the end of January/beginning of February major negotiations took place between

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8892-414: The English (sic) in open country, then they'll beat us as well"). He reported this conversation to President Raymond Poincaré , adding "surely a general should not speak or think like that?" Haig recorded that Pétain had "a terrible look. He had the appearance of a commander who had lost his nerve". Pétain believed – wrongly – that Gough 's Fifth Army had been routed like the Italians at Caporetto . At

9063-472: The February Revolution was a "Bourgeois revolution" about bringing capitalist development to Russia instead of socialism. The center-left was well represented, and the government was initially chaired by a liberal aristocrat, Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov , a man with no connections to any official party. The Provisional government included 9 Duma deputies and 6 from the Kadet party in ministerial positional, representing professional and business interests,

9234-448: The Finance Minister, François-Marsal , announced that although Pétain's proposals were excellent they were unaffordable". In addition, François-Marsal announced reductions – in the army from fifty-five divisions to thirty, in the air force, and did not mention tanks. It was left to the Marshals, Pétain, Joffre, and Foch, to pick up the pieces of their strategies. The General Staff, now under General Edmond Buat, began to think seriously about

9405-496: The First World War. He was promoted to captain in 1890 and major ( chef de bataillon ) in 1900. In March 1904, by then serving in the 104th Infantry, he was appointed adjunct professor of applied infantry tactics at the École Supérieure de Guerre , and following promotion to lieutenant-colonel was promoted to professor on 3 April 1908. He was brevetted to colonel on 1 January 1910. Unlike many French officers, Pétain served mainly in mainland France, never French Indochina or any of

9576-513: The French army could only remain on the defensive and wait for the Americans". When the Americans arrived in France in the spring of 1917, they were inexperienced and US generals had orders not to accept responsibility for military zones. The US generals were ordered to "understudy" the British. This meant that for the summer and autumn of 1917, British troops had to take over the zones that the French had vacated and also teach American troops. The British tried to reinvigorate French morale by launching

9747-476: The French government over the peace terms, it was Pétain who, in January 1920, was appointed Vice-Chairman of the revived Conseil supérieur de la Guerre (Supreme War Council). This was France's highest military position, whose holder was Commander-in-Chief designate in the event of war and who had the right to overrule the Chief of the General Staff (a position held in the 1920s by Pétain's protégés Buat and Debeney ), and Pétain would hold it until 1931. Pétain

9918-439: The French had bombarded French units. The Russian troops (about 10,000 men ) were demobilised, transferred to labor battalions and the ringleaders were sent to North Africa in penal servitude. Along with the deterrent of military justice, Pétain offered more regular and longer leave and an end to grand offensives "until the arrival of tanks and Americans on the front". They feared that infantry offensives could never prevail over

10089-575: The French not to sign an armistice, saying that if French ports were occupied by Germany, the United Kingdom would have to bomb them. Spears reported that Pétain did not respond immediately but stood there "perfectly erect, with no sign of panic or emotion. He did not disguise the fact that he considered the situation catastrophic. I could not detect any sign in him of broken morale, of that mental wringing of hands and incipient hysteria noticeable in others." Pétain later remarked to Reynaud about this statement: "your ally now threatens us." On 5 June, following

10260-424: The French will to attack. In April 1917, General Robert Nivelle promised a war-winning decisive victory. He proposed to work closely with the British Army to break through the German lines on the Western Front by a great attack against the German-occupied Chemin des Dames , a long and prominent ridge that runs east to west, just north of the Aisne River . Nivelle applied a tactic that he had used with success at

10431-419: The German reserves and conquered some tactically important positions. A French tank attack had also been launched near Berry-au-Bac but half of the Schneider CA1 tanks engaged were knocked out. Nivelle was removed from his command on 15 May 1917 and was replaced by General Philippe Pétain . A similar battle would have been considered a draw in 1915 but in 1917, after the huge losses at the Battle of Verdun and

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10602-470: The Germans and their full extent and intensity were not revealed until decades later. Gilbert and Bernard find multiple causes: The immediate cause was the extreme optimism and subsequent disappointment at the Nivelle offensive in the spring of 1917. Other causes were pacifism, stimulated by the Russian Revolution and the trade-union movement, and disappointment at the nonarrival of American troops. Pétain conducted some successful but limited offensives in

10773-478: The Grand Duke's decision on 3 March O.S (16 March N.S). On 8 March O.S (22 March N.S) the former Tsar, addressed with contempt by the sentries as "Nicholas Romanov", was reunited with his family at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo . He and his family and loyal retainers were placed under protective custody by the Provisional Government in the palace. The February Revolution immediately caused widespread excitement in Petrograd. On 3 March O.S (16 March N.S),

10944-410: The Imperial Family. On 28 February Nikolay Maklakov was arrested having tried to prevent a revolution together with Alexander Protopopov (on 8 February). The Army Chief Nikolai Ruzsky , and the Duma deputies Vasily Shulgin and Alexander Guchkov who had come to advise the Tsar, suggested that he abdicate the throne. He did so on behalf of himself and his son, Tsarevich Alexei . At 3 o'clock in

11115-475: The Kerensky government, who had previously agreed with his views on how to restore order to Russia, Kornilov pushed on towards Petrograd. With few troops to spare on the front, Kerensky turned to the Petrograd Soviet for help. Bolsheviks , Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries confronted the army and convinced them to stand down. Right-wingers felt betrayed, and the left-wingers were resurgent. On 1 September O.S. (14 September N.S.) Kerensky formally abolished

11286-444: The MAS 1938–39, was ready for adoption but it never reached the production stage until after World War II as the MAS 49 . French artillery had not been modernised since 1918. The result of all these failings is that the French Army had to face the invading enemy in 1940 with the dated weaponry of 1918. Pétain had been made Minister of War in 1934, but could not reverse 15 years of inactivity and constant cutbacks. French aviation entered

11457-407: The President that he appoint Marshal Pétain in his place, which he did that day, while the government was at Bordeaux . Pétain already had a ministerial team ready: Defunct Defunct A new Cabinet with Pétain as head of government was formed, with Henry du Moulin de Labarthète as the Cabinet Secretary . At midnight on 17 June 1940, Baudouin asked the Spanish Ambassador to submit to Germany

11628-410: The Russian people. The inevitable result was revolution. When Rasputin was assassinated on 30 December 1916, and the assassins went unchallenged, this was interpreted as an indication of the truth of the accusation Nicholas' wife relied on Rasputin (a Siberian starets .) The authority of the tsar, who now stood as a moral weakling, sank further. On 9 January 1917 [ O.S. 27 December 1916]

11799-408: The Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. Order No. 1 ensured that the Dual Authority developed on the Soviet's conditions. The Provisional Government was not a publicly elected body (having been self-proclaimed by committee members of the old Duma) and it lacked the political legitimacy to question this arrangement and instead arranged for elections to be held later. The Provisional Government had

11970-561: The Soviet represented the proletariat, the provisional government represented the bourgeoisie. The Soviet had stronger practical power because it controlled the workers and the soldiers, but it did not want to become involved in administration and bureaucracy; the Provisional Government lacked support from the population. Since the Provisional Government did not have the support of the majority and, in an effort to keep their claim to democratic mandate, they welcomed socialist parties to join in order to gain more support and Dvoyevlastiye (dual power)

12141-443: The Spanish Medalla Militar . In 1924 the National Assembly was elected on a platform of reducing the length of national service to one year, to which Pétain was almost violently opposed. In January 1926, the Chief of Staff, General Debeney, proposed to the Conseil a "totally new kind of army. Only 20 infantry divisions would be maintained on a standing basis". Reserves could be called up when needed. The Conseil had no option in

12312-571: The Spanish dictator Francisco Franco "many years ago at France's war college" and was sent to Spain "in the hope he would win his former pupil away from Italian and German influence." When World War II began in September, Daladier offered Pétain a position in his government, which Pétain turned down. However, after Germany invaded France , Pétain joined the new government of Paul Reynaud on 18 May 1940 as Deputy Prime Minister . Reynaud hoped that

12483-592: The Versailles Treaty there seemed no urgency for vast expenditure until the advent of Hitler. It is argued that while Pétain supported the massive use of tanks he saw them mostly as infantry support, leading to the fragmentation of the French tank force into many types of unequal value spread out between mechanised cavalry (such as the SOMUA S35 ) and infantry support (mostly the Renault R35 tanks and

12654-448: The War in 1939 without even the prototype of a bomber aeroplane capable of reaching Berlin and coming back. French industrial efforts in fighter aircraft were dispersed among several firms ( Dewoitine , Morane-Saulnier and Marcel Bloch ), each with its own models. In March 1939, Pétain was appointed French ambassador to the newly recognized Nationalist government of Spain. Pétain had taught

12825-478: The advice. Historian Edward Acton argues that "by stubbornly refusing to reach any modus vivendi with the Progressive Bloc of the Duma... Nicholas undermined the loyalty of even those closest to the throne [and] opened an unbridgeable breach between himself and the public opinion." In short, the Tsar no longer had the support of the military, the nobility or the Duma (collectively the élites ), or

12996-700: The afternoon of Thursday, 2 March O.S (15 March N.S), Nicholas nominated his brother, the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich , to succeed him. The next day the Grand Duke realised that he would have little support as ruler, so he declined the crown, stating that he would take it only if that was the consensus of democratic action by the Russian Constituent Assembly , which shall define the form of government for Russia. The 300-year-old Romanov dynasty ended with

13167-693: The appearance of absolute authority exercised by the Grand Quartier Général , the French high command. Smith placed the mutinies into their wider ideological context and demonstrated the extent to which French soldiers and mutineers accepted the main tenets of Republican ideology. Philippe P%C3%A9tain Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), better known as Philippe Pétain ( French: [filip petɛ̃] ) and Marshal Pétain (French: Maréchal Pétain ),

13338-506: The battle, he was promoted to Commander of Army Group Centre, which contained a total of 52 divisions. Rather than holding down the same infantry divisions on the Verdun battlefield for months, akin to the German system, he rotated them out after only two weeks on the front lines. His decision to organise truck transport over the " Voie Sacrée " to bring a continuous stream of artillery, ammunition, and fresh troops into besieged Verdun also played

13509-509: The bourgeoisie. As the left moved further left in Russia over the course of 1917, the Kadets became the main conservative party. Despite this, the provisional government strove to implement further left-leaning policies with the repeal of the death penalty, amnesty for political prisoners, and freedom of the press.    Dual Power was not prevalent outside of the capital and political systems varied from province to province. One example of

13680-526: The cabinet to hear Weygand out because "he was the only one really to know what was happening". Churchill returned to France on 13 June for another conference at Tours. Baudouin met his plane and immediately spoke to him of the hopelessness of further French resistance. Reynaud then put the cabinet's armistice proposals to Churchill, who replied that "whatever happened, we would level no reproaches against France." At that day's cabinet meeting, Pétain strongly supported Weygand’s demand for an armistice and read out

13851-599: The communist Bolsheviks later that year. The February Revolution had weakened the country; the October Revolution broke it, resulting in the Russian Civil War and the eventual formation of the Soviet Union . The revolution appeared to have broken out without any real leadership or formal planning. Russia had been suffering from a number of economic and social problems, which compounded after

14022-430: The continent's markets by the war. Though industry did not collapse, it was considerably strained and when inflation soared, wages could not keep up. The Duma, which was composed of liberal deputies, warned Tsar Nicholas II of the impending danger and counselled him to form a new constitutional government, like the one he had dissolved after some short-term attempts in the aftermath of the 1905 Revolution . The Tsar ignored

14193-614: The creation of an independent air force removed from the control of the army, and on 9 February 1931, following his retirement as Vice-Chairman of the Supreme War Council, he was appointed Inspector-General of Air Defence. His first report on air defence, submitted in July that year, advocated increased expenditure. In 1931 Pétain was elected a Fellow of the Académie française . By 1932 the economic situation had worsened and Édouard Herriot's government had made "severe cuts in

14364-498: The crisis of indiscipline. From 8 June, the military authorities took swift and decisive action: mass arrests were followed by mass trials. Those arrested were selected by their own officers and NCOs, with the implicit consent of the rank and file. There were 3,427 conseils de guerre ( courts-martial ). In 1967, research by Guy Pedroncini found 2,878 sentences of hard labour and 629 death sentences but only 49 of these were carried out. The relative lack of rigour in repressing

14535-481: The crowd. The demonstrators, lacking leadership, disbanded and the government survived. Leaders of the Soviet placed the blame of the July Days on the Bolsheviks, as did the Provisional Government who issued arrest warrants for prominent Bolsheviks. Historians debated from early on whether this was a planned Bolshevik attempt to seize power or a strategy to plan a future coup. Lenin fled to Finland and other members of

14706-445: The culmination of over a century of civil and military unrest between the common people and the Tsar and aristocratic landowners. The causes can be summarized as the ongoing cruel treatment of peasants by the bourgeoisie, poor working conditions of industrial workers, and the spreading of western democratic ideas by political activists, leading to a growing political and social awareness in the lower classes. Dissatisfaction of proletarians

14877-510: The defence budget... orders for new weapons systems all but dried up". Summer manoeuvres in 1932 and 1933 were cancelled due to lack of funds, and recruitment to the armed forces fell off. In the latter year General Maxime Weygand claimed that "the French Army was no longer a serious fighting force". Édouard Daladier 's new government retaliated against Weygand by reducing the number of officers and cutting military pensions and pay, arguing that such measures, apart from financial stringency, were in

15048-545: The divisions in the French army. On 7 June, Pétain told British commander Sir Douglas Haig that two French divisions had refused to relieve two divisions in the front line. In 1967, Guy Pedroncini examined French military archives and discovered that 49 infantry divisions were destabilised and experienced episodes of mutiny. Of the 49, nine divisions were gravely affected by mutinous behavior, 15 were seriously affected and 25 divisions were affected by isolated but repeated instances of mutinous behavior. Altogether, 43 per cent of

15219-489: The early months of 1918 for the French Army fully to recover. Because of the mutinies, the French high command became reluctant to begin another offensive. Pétain's strategy in late 1917 was to wait for the deployment of the American Expeditionary Forces and the introduction of the new and highly effective Renault FT tanks, J'attends les chars et les Américains ("I am waiting for the tanks and

15390-704: The end of April 1917). He then became Commander-in-Chief of the entire French army, replacing General Nivelle , whose Chemin des Dames offensive failed in April 1917 and thereby provoked widespread mutinies in the French Army. They involved, to various degrees, nearly half of the French infantry divisions stationed on the Western Front. Pétain restored morale by talking to the men, promising no more suicidal attacks, providing rest for exhausted units, home furloughs, and moderate discipline. He held 3400 courts martial ; 554 mutineers were sentenced to death but over 90% had their sentences commuted. The mutinies were kept secret from

15561-541: The evening the text "Grand Manifesto" was signed by the Grand Dukes Paul Alexandrovich, Kirill Vladimirovich and Dmitry Konstantinovich . But the Empress refused to sign the draft. "I'm not a ruler – said the Empress – and have no rights to take the initiative in the absence of the Emperor. Moreover, this paper may not be only illegal, but useless." On 28 February O.S (13 March N.S), at five in

15732-632: The event. Despite occurring in March of the Gregorian calendar , the event is most commonly known as the "February Revolution" because at the time Russia still used the Julian calendar . The event is sometimes known as the "March Revolution", after the Soviet Union modernized its calendar . A number of factors contributed to the February Revolution, both short and long-term. Historians disagree on

15903-406: The fall of Dunkirk, there was a Cabinet reshuffle. Reynaud brought into his War Cabinet as Undersecretary for War the newly promoted Brigadier-General de Gaulle , whose 4th Armoured Division had launched one of the few French counterattacks the previous month. Pétain was displeased at de Gaulle’s appointment. By 8 June, Paris was threatened, and the government was preparing to depart, although Pétain

16074-400: The fighting had ended. On 3 May, the French 2nd Division refused to follow orders to attack and the mutiny soon spread throughout the army. For most of the time events were independent and were focused on specific demands, more liberty, more time with families and better conditions in cantonments . From 16 to 17 May, there were disturbances in a Chasseur battalion of the 127th Division and

16245-421: The fire of machine-guns and artillery. Pétain restored morale by a combination of rest periods, frequent rotations of the front-line units and regular home furloughs. The most persistent episodes of collective indiscipline involved a relatively small number of French divisions; the mutinies did not threaten a complete military collapse. Because of the low morale in more than half of the French Army, it took until

16416-441: The formal authority in Russia but the Soviet Executive Committee and the soviets had the support of the majority of the population. The Soviet held the real power to effect change. The Provisional Government represented an alliance between liberals and socialists who wanted political reform. The initial soviet executive chairmen were Menshevik Nikolay Chkheidze , Matvey Skobelev and Alexander Kerensky . The chairmen believed that

16587-446: The front; dissatisfied soldiers deserted in larger numbers than before; other political groups did their utmost to undermine him; there was a strong movement in favor of withdrawing Russia from the war, which was seen to be draining the country, and many who had initially supported it now wanted out; and there was a great shortage of food and supplies, which was very difficult to remedy in wartime conditions. All of these were highlighted by

16758-696: The garrison mutinied, starting with the Volinsky Regiment . Soldiers of this regiment brought the Semyonovsky , Preobrazhensky , and Moskovsky Regiments out on the street to join the rebellion, resulting in the hunting down of police and the gathering of 40,000 rifles (at the Peter and Paul Fortress ) which were dispersed among the workers. Even the Cossack units that the government had come to use for crowd control showed signs that they supported

16929-447: The government (he had persuaded Weygand to come to Bordeaux by telling him that 16 June would be the decisive day). Lebrun persuaded him to stay until Churchill’s reply had been received. After lunch, Churchill's telegram arrived agreeing to an armistice provided the French fleet was moved to British ports, a suggestion which was not acceptable to Darlan, who argued that it was outrageous and would leave France defenseless. That afternoon,

17100-501: The government for further funds for the army. During this period, he repeatedly called for a lengthening of the term of compulsory military service for conscripts from two to three years, to no avail. Pétain accompanied President Lebrun to Belgrade for the funeral of King Alexander , who had been assassinated on 6 October 1934 in Marseille by Vlado Chernozemski , a Bulgarian nationalist from IMRO . Here he met Hermann Göring and

17271-543: The government left Paris for Tours. Weygand, the Commander-in-Chief, now declared that "the fighting had become meaningless". He, Minister of Finance Paul Baudouin , and several other members of the government were already set on an armistice. On 11 June, Churchill flew to the Château du Muguet, at Briare , near Orléans , where he put forward first his idea of a Breton redoubt, to which Weygand replied that it

17442-411: The government's food rationing. As the Russian government began rationing flour and bread, rumors of food shortages circulated and bread riots erupted across the city of Petrograd. Women, in particular, were passionate in showing their dissatisfaction with the rationing system, and the female workers marched to nearby factories to recruit over 50,000 workers for the strikes. Both men and women flooded

17613-527: The hero of Verdun might instill a renewed spirit of resistance and patriotism in the French Army. Reportedly Franco advised Pétain against leaving his diplomatic post in Madrid, to return to a collapsing France as a "sacrifice". By 26 May, the Allied lines had been shattered, and British forces had begun evacuating at Dunkirk . French commander-in-chief Maxime Weygand expressed his fury at British retreats and

17784-473: The home front. Its leadership was compelled to sue for peace, as the army and the front were quickly pushed back. The French government suppressed news of the mutinies to avoid alerting the Germans or harming morale on the home front. The extent and the intensity of the mutinies were disclosed for the first time in 1967 by Guy Pedroncini, in Les Mutineries de 1917 . His project had been made possible by

17955-482: The last loyal forces of the Russian monarchy. On 27 February O.S. (12 March N.S.), the forces of the capital's garrison sided with the revolutionaries. Three days later, Nicholas II abdicated , ending Romanov dynastic rule. The Russian Provisional Government under Georgy Lvov replaced the Council of Ministers of Russia . The Provisional Government proved deeply unpopular and was forced to share dual power with

18126-442: The latter part of 1917, while the British carried out an offensive at Passchendaele that autumn. Pétain, instead, held off from major French offensives until the Americans arrived in force on the front lines, which did not happen until the early summer of 1918. He was also waiting for the new Renault FT tanks to be introduced in large numbers, hence his statement at the time: J'attends les chars et les Américains ("I am waiting for

18297-409: The main factors that contributed to this. Liberal historians emphasise the turmoil created by the war, whereas Marxists emphasise the inevitability of change. Alexander Rabinowitch summarises the main long-term and short-term causes: Despite its occurrence at the height of World War I, the roots of the February Revolution dated further back. Chief among these was Imperial Russia's failure, throughout

18468-511: The meeting is uncertain. Ten ministers wanted to fight on and seven favoured an armistice (but these included the two Deputy Prime Ministers Pétain and Camille Chautemps , and this view was also favoured by the Commander-in-Chief General Weygand). Eight were initially undecided but swung towards an armistice. Lebrun reluctantly accepted Reynaud's resignation as Prime Minister on 17 June, Reynaud recommending to

18639-526: The monarchy and proclaimed the creation of the Russian Republic . On October 24, Kerensky accused the Bolsheviks of treason. After the Bolshevik walkout, some of the remaining delegates continued to stress that ending the war as soon as possible was beneficial to the nation. Pressure from the Allies to continue the war against Germany put the government under increasing strain. The conflict between

18810-675: The morning, the Tsar left Mogilev , (and also directed Nikolai Ivanov to go to Tsarskoye Selo) but was unable to reach Petrograd as revolutionaries controlled railway stations around the capital. Around midnight the train was stopped at Malaya Vishera , turned, and in the evening of 1 March O.S (14 March N.S) Nicholas arrived in Pskov . In the meantime, the units guarding the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo either "declared their neutrality" or left for Petrograd and thus abandoned

18981-458: The mutinies provoked adverse reactions among some French divisional commanders. Pétain and French President Raymond Poincaré , on the other hand, made it their policy to mend the French Army's morale and to avoid acting in a way that could aggravate the loss. When the news of the revolution in Russia and the abdication of the Tsar reached France there were some demonstrations amongst Russian units in France. When an order from Russia to elect soviets

19152-477: The mutinies was the extreme optimism and dashed hopes of the Nivelle offensive, pacifism (stimulated by the Russian Revolution and the trade union movement ) and disappointment at the non-arrival of American troops . French soldiers on the front had unrealistically been expecting US troops to arrive within days of the U.S. declaration of war . The mutinies were kept secret from the Germans and their full extent

19323-463: The mutinies were akin to labour strikes and could be considered, at least partly, political in nature. The soldiers demanded more leave, better food and objected to the use of colonial workers on the home front. They were also deeply concerned about the welfare of their families. The rather subdued repression, according to Smith, was part of the Pétain policy of appeasement. Concurrently, that policy saved

19494-688: The new army manual entitled Provisional Instruction on the Tactical Employment of Large Units , which soon became known as 'the Bible'. On 3 September 1925, Pétain was appointed sole Commander-in-Chief of French Forces in Morocco to launch a major campaign against the Rif tribes, in concert with the Spanish Army, which was successfully concluded by the end of October. He was subsequently decorated, at Toledo , by King Alfonso XIII with

19665-638: The next day. On 28 February, Rodzianko invited the Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich and Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich to put their signatures to the drafting of the Manifesto, in which Emperor Nicholas II was recommended to introduce the constitutional system in Russia. Rodzianko said that the Emperor will be asked to sign this Manifesto on 1 March at the Tsarskoye Selo railway station immediately after his return. Late in

19836-400: The offensive. By 28 May, mutinies broke out in the 9th Division, 158th Division, 5th Division and the 1st Cavalry Division. By the end of May more units of the 5th, 6th, 13th, 35th, 43rd, 62nd, 77th and 170th Divisions mutinied and revolts occurred in 21 divisions in May. A record 27,000 French soldiers deserted in 1917; the offensive was suspended on 9 May. Even in regiments in which there

20007-407: The opening of most of the military archives, fifty years after the events, a delay that was in conformity with French War Ministry procedure. There were still undisclosed archives on the mutinies in the 21st century, which were believed to contain documents mostly of a political nature; they were not to be opened to researchers until 100 years after the mutinies, in 2017. Leonard Smith has argued that

20178-505: The other famous quotation often attributed to him – "Ils ne passeront pas!" (" They shall not pass "!) – was actually uttered by Robert Nivelle who succeeded him in command of the Second Army at Verdun in May 1916. At the very end of 1916, Nivelle was promoted over Pétain to replace Joseph Joffre as French Commander-in-Chief . Because of his high prestige as a soldier's soldier, Pétain served briefly as Army Chief of Staff (from

20349-455: The people. Although few actively joined the rioting, many officers were either shot or went into hiding; the ability of the garrison to hold back the protests was all but nullified. Symbols of the Tsarist regime were rapidly torn down around the city and governmental authority in the capital collapsed – not helped by the fact that Nicholas had earlier that day suspended a session in the Duma that

20520-431: The protests of February 1917. The historiographical reasons for the revolution have varied. Russian historians writing during the time of the Soviet Union cited the anger of the proletariat against the bourgeois boiling over as the cause. Russian liberals cited World War I. Revisionists tracked it back to land disputes after the serf era . Modern historians cite a combination of these factors and criticize mythologization of

20691-438: The real enemy is those who send the proletariat into war, as opposed to the " imperialist war" (whose "link to Capital " must be demonstrated to the masses) and the " social-chauvinists " (such as Georgi Plekhanov , the grandfather of Russian socialism), who supported the war. The theses were read by Lenin to a meeting of only Bolsheviks and again to a meeting of Bolsheviks and Mensheviks , both being extreme leftist parties, and

20862-533: The report. After the autumn manoeuvres, which Pétain had reinstated, a report was presented to Pétain that officers had been poorly instructed, had little basic knowledge and no confidence. He was also told by Maurice Gamelin that, if the plebiscite in the Territory of the Saar Basin went for Germany, "it would be a serious military error" for the French Army to intervene. Pétain responded by again petitioning

21033-477: The request of the Empress. "In the seventeen months of the 'Tsarina's rule', from September 1915 to February 1917, Russia had four Prime Ministers , five Ministers of the Interior , three Foreign Ministers , three War Ministers , three Ministers of Transport and four Ministers of Agriculture. This "ministerial leapfrog", as it came to be known, not only removed competent men from power, but also disorganized

21204-513: The revolution such as participation in World War I and land. At the same time, the Petrograd Soviet (or workers' council) began organizing and was officially formed on 27 February. The Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional Government shared dual power over Russia. The term dual power came about as the driving forces in the fall of the monarchy, opposition to the human and widespread political movement, became politically institutionalized. While

21375-513: The riots on 25 February O.S (10 March N.S) by wiring garrison commander General Khabalov , an inexperienced and extremely indecisive commander of the Petrograd military district , to disperse the crowds with rifle fire and to suppress the "impermissible" rioting by force. On 26 February O.S (11 March N.S) the centre of the city was cordoned off on decree by Khabalov; schools and parks closed. Nikolai Pokrovsky reported about his negotiations with

21546-567: The role played by the forts during the Battle of Verdun in 1916. Captain Charles de Gaulle continued to be a protégé of Pétain throughout these years. He even allegedly named his eldest son after the Marshal, although it is more likely that he named his son after his family ancestor Jean Baptiste Philippe de Gaulle, before finally falling out over the authorship of a book he had said he had ghost-written for Pétain. In 1928, Pétain had supported

21717-459: The same restaurant as Pétain; he came over to shake his hand in silence and they never met again. The Assembly, both Senate and Chamber, were also at Bordeaux and immersed themselves in the armistice debate. At cabinet on 15 June, Reynaud urged that France follow the Dutch example, that the Army should lay down its arms so that the fight could be continued from abroad. Pétain was sympathetic. Pétain

21888-482: The soldiers of the Fourth Company were disarmed by the Preobrazhensky Regiment . This marked the first instance of open mutiny in the Petrograd garrison. On 26 February O.S (11 March N.S) Mikhail Rodzianko , Chairman of the Duma , had sent the Tsar a report of the chaos in a telegram (exact wordings and translations differ, but each retains a similar sense ): The situation is serious. The capital

22059-453: The soldiers, urban workers, and peasants who claimed that little had been gained by the February Revolution. Kerensky was expected to deliver on his promises of jobs, land, and food, and failed to do so. In August 1917 Russian socialists assembled for a conference on defense, which resulted in a split between the Bolsheviks, who rejected the continuation of the war, and moderate socialists. The Kornilov Affair arose when Commander-in-Chief of

22230-672: The spirit of the Geneva Disarmament Conference . In 1938, Pétain encouraged and assisted the writer André Maurois in gaining election to the Académie française – an election which was highly contested, in part due to Maurois' Jewish origin. Maurois made a point of acknowledging with thanks his debt to Pétain in his 1941 autobiography, Call no man happy  – though by the time of writing their paths had sharply diverged, Pétain having become Head of State of Vichy France while Maurois went into exile and sided with

22401-513: The start of World War I in 1914. Disaffected soldiers from the city's garrison joined bread rioters , primarily women in bread lines, and industrial strikers on the streets. As more and more troops of the undisciplined garrison of the capital deserted, and with loyal troops away at the Eastern Front , the city fell into chaos, leading to the Tsar's decision to abdicate under his generals' advice. In all, over 1,300 people were killed during

22572-470: The straitened circumstances but to agree. Pétain disapproved of the whole thing, pointing out that North Africa still had to be defended and in itself required a substantial standing army. But he recognised, after the new Army Organisation Law of 1927, that the tide was flowing against him. He would not forget that the Radical leader, Édouard Daladier , even voted against the whole package, on the grounds that

22743-481: The streets of Petrograd, demanding an end to Russian food shortages, the end of World War I, and the end of autocracy . By the following day 24 February O.S. (9 March N.S), nearly 200,000 protesters filled the streets, demanding the replacement of the Tsar with a more progressive political leader. They called for the war to end and for the Russian monarchy to be overthrown. By 25 February O.S (10 March N.S), nearly all industrial enterprises in Petrograd were shut down by

22914-574: The tanks and the Americans.") The year 1918 saw major German offensives on the Western Front. The first of these, Operation Michael in March 1918, threatened to split the British and French forces apart, and, after Pétain had threatened to retreat on Paris, the Doullens Conference was called. Just prior to the main meeting, Prime Minister Clemenceau claimed he heard Pétain say "les Allemands battront les Anglais en rase campagne, après quoi ils nous battront aussi" ("the Germans will beat

23085-527: The thumb of her confidant – Grigori Rasputin , himself so unpopular that he was assassinated by members of the nobility in December 1916. The Tsarina proved an ineffective ruler in a time of war, announcing a rapid succession of different Prime Ministers and angering the Duma. The lack of strong leadership is illustrated by a telegram from Octobrist politician Mikhail Rodzianko to the Tsar on 26 February O.S. (11 March N.S) 1917, in which Rodzianko begged for

23256-729: The town of Vichy in central France. It voted to transform the French Third Republic into the French State , better known as Vichy France, an authoritarian puppet regime that was allowed to govern the southeast of France and which collaborated with the Axis powers . After Germany and Italy occupied all of France in November 1942, Pétain's government worked closely with the Nazi German military administration . After

23427-687: The two men reminisced about their experiences in the Great War. "When Göring returned to Germany he spoke admiringly of Pétain, describing him as a 'man of honour'". In November, the Doumergue government fell. Pétain had previously expressed interest in being named Minister of Education (as well as of War), a role in which he hoped to combat what he saw as the decay in French moral values. Now, however, he refused to continue in Flandin's short-lived government as Minister of War and stood down – in spite of

23598-483: The unfulfilled promise of British fighter aircraft. He and Pétain regarded the military situation as hopeless. Colonel de Villelume subsequently stated before a parliamentary commission of inquiry in 1951 that Reynaud, as Premier of France, said to Pétain on that day that they must seek an armistice. Weygand said that he was in favor of saving the French army and that he "wished to avoid internal troubles and above all anarchy". Churchill's man in Paris, Edward Spears , urged

23769-570: The uprising. Although all gatherings on the streets were absolutely forbidden some 250,000 people were on strike. The president of the Imperial Duma Rodzianko asked the chairman of the Council of Ministers Golitsyn to resign; the minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolai Pokrovsky proposed the resignation of the whole government. There were disturbances on the Nevsky Prospect during the day. The Tsar took action to address

23940-540: The war regarded "without a doubt, the most accomplished defensive tactician of any army" and "one of France's greatest military heroes" and was presented with his baton of Marshal of France at a public ceremony at Metz by President Poincaré on 8 December 1918. He was summoned to be present at the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919. His job as Commander-in-Chief came to an end with peace and demobilisation, and with Foch out of favour after his quarrel with

24111-462: The war, Pétain was tried and convicted for treason . He was originally sentenced to death, but due to his age and World War I service his sentence was commuted to life in prison. His journey from military obscurity, to hero of France during World War I, to collaborationist ruler during World War II, led his successor Charles de Gaulle to declare that Pétain's life was "successively banal, then glorious, then deplorable, but never mediocre". Pétain, who

24282-414: The work of government since no one remained long enough in office to master their responsibilities." The Duma President Mikhail Rodzianko , Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna and British ambassador Buchanan joined calls for Alexandra to be removed from influence, but Nicholas still refused to take their advice. Many people came to the conclusion that the problem was not Rasputin . According to Rodzianko

24453-449: The year, Pétain was stripped of his right of direct appeal to the French government and requested to report to Foch, who increasingly assumed the co-ordination and ultimately the command of the Allied offensives. On the day of the armistice , Pétain wanted to continue offensive operations into Germany to prevent another war but was overruled by Foch. After the war ended Pétain was made Marshal of France on 21 November 1918. Pétain ended

24624-572: Was 84 years old when he became Prime Minister and later Chief of State, remains both the oldest person to become the head of government and the oldest person to become the head of state of France. Pétain was born into a peasant family in Cauchy-à-la-Tour , in the Pas-de-Calais department, northern France, on 24 April 1856. He was one of five children of Omer-Venant Pétain (1816–1888), a farmer, and Clotilde Legrand (1824–1857), and

24795-583: Was a French general who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the collaborationist regime of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944, during World War II . Pétain was admitted to the Saint-Cyr Military Academy in 1876 and pursued a career in the military, achieving the rank of colonel by the outbreak of World War I. He led the French Army to victory at the nine-month-long Battle of Verdun , for which he

24966-507: Was admitted to Saint-Cyr in 1876, beginning his career in the French Army . Between graduating in 1878 and 1899, he served in various garrisons with different battalions of the chasseurs , the elite light infantry of the French Army. Thereafter, he alternated between staff and regimental assignments. Pétain's career progressed slowly, as he rejected the French Army philosophy of the furious infantry assault, arguing instead that "firepower kills". His views were later proved to be correct during

25137-555: Was also published. He believed that the most effective way to overthrow the government was to be a minority party and to give no support to the Provisional Government. Lenin also tried to take control of the Bolshevik movement and attempted to win proletariat support by the use of slogans such as "Peace, bread and land", "End the war without annexations or indemnities", "All power to the Soviet" and "All land to those who work it". Initially, Lenin and his ideas did not have widespread support, even among Bolsheviks . In what became known as

25308-583: Was appalled by what he had seen. Addressing the Conseil on the 23rd, Pétain claimed that it would be fruitless to look for assistance to the United Kingdom in the event of a German attack. On 1 March 1935, Pétain's famous article appeared in the Revue des deux mondes , where he reviewed the history of the army since 1927–28. He criticised the reservist system in France, and her lack of adequate air power and armour. This article appeared just five days before Adolf Hitler 's announcement of Germany's new air force and

25479-524: Was appointed as one of the 24 commissars of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma. Its first meeting was on the same evening and ordered the arrest of all the ex-ministers and senior officials. The Duma refused to head the revolutionary movement. At the same time, socialists also formed the Petrograd Soviet . In the Mariinsky Palace the Council of Ministers of Russia , assisted by Mikhail Rodzianko , held its last meeting. Protopopov

25650-422: Was being published in French socialist newspapers and anonymous pacifist propaganda leaflets were very widely distributed. In Soissons , Villers-Cotterêts , Fère-en-Tardenois and Cœuvres-et-Valsery , troops refused orders or to go to the front. On 1 June, a French infantry regiment took over the town of Missy-aux-Bois . Ashworth wrote that the mutinies were "widespread and persistent" and involved more than half

25821-457: Was called " the Lion of Verdun " (French: le lion de Verdun ). After the failed Nivelle Offensive and subsequent mutinies , he was appointed Commander-in-Chief and succeeded in restoring control. Pétain remained in command for the rest of the war and emerged as a national hero. During the interwar period , he was head of the peacetime French Army, commanded joint Franco-Spanish operations during

25992-532: Was compounded by food shortages and military failures. In 1905, Russia experienced humiliating losses in its war with Japan , then during Bloody Sunday and the Revolution of 1905 , Tsarist troops fired upon a peaceful, unarmed crowd. These events further divided Nicholas II from his people. Widespread strikes, riots, and the famous mutiny on the Battleship Potemkin ensued. The revolution

26163-556: Was conservative, Pétain's high reputation was bipartisan; socialist Léon Blum called him "the most human of our military commanders". Pétain did not get involved in non-military issues when in the Cabinet, and unlike other military leaders he did not have a reputation as an extreme Catholic or a monarchist . He remained on the Conseil superieur . Weygand had been at the British Army 1934 manoeuvres at Tidworth Camp in June and

26334-469: Was direct confrontation, such as the 74th Infantry Regiment, the men did not harm their officers but refused to attack. Most mutineers were veterans who did not refuse to fight but wanted the military authorities to be more attentive to the realities of modern war. The soldiers had come to believe that the attacks they were ordered to make were futile. News on the February Revolution in Russia

26505-495: Was disastrous on three grounds. Firstly, it associated the monarchy with the unpopular war; secondly, Nicholas proved to be a poor leader of men on the front, often irritating his own commanders with his interference; and thirdly, being at the front made him unavailable to govern. This left the reins of power to his wife, the German Tsarina Alexandra, who was unpopular and accused of being a German spy, and under

26676-487: Was encouraged by friends to go into politics, although he protested that he had little interest in running for an elected position. He nevertheless tried and failed to get himself elected President following the November 1919 elections . Shortly after the war, Pétain had placed before the government plans for a large tank and air force, but "at the meeting of the Conseil supérieur de la Défense Nationale of 12 March 1920,

26847-623: Was established. However, the Soviet asserted de facto supremacy as early as 1 March O.S (14 March N.S) (before the creation of the Provisional Government), by issuing Order No. 1 : The orders of the Military Commission of the State Duma [part of the organisation which became the Provisional Government] shall be executed only in such cases as do not conflict with the orders and resolution of

27018-573: Was in getting Daladier's previous proposal to reduce the number of officers repealed. He improved the recruitment programme for specialists and lengthened the training period by reducing leave entitlements. However, Weygand reported to the Senate Army Commission that year that the French Army still could not resist a German attack. Marshals Louis Franchet d'Espèrey and Hubert Lyautey (the latter died suddenly in July) added their names to

27189-422: Was intended to discuss the issue further, leaving it with no legal authority to act. Attempts were made by high-ranking military leaders to persuade the Tsar to resign power to the Duma. The response of the Duma, urged on by the Progressive Bloc , was to establish a Provisional Committee to restore law and order; the Provisional Committee declared itself the governing body of the Russian Empire. Chief among them

27360-522: Was just a "fantasy". Churchill then said the French should consider "guerrilla warfare". Pétain then replied that it would mean the destruction of the country. Churchill then said the French should defend Paris and reminded Pétain of how he had come to the aid of the British with forty divisions in March 1918 , and repeated Clemenceau's words: I will fight in front of Paris, in Paris, and behind Paris. To this, Churchill subsequently reported, Pétain replied quietly, and with dignity that he had in those days,

27531-407: Was not revealed until decades later. The German failure to detect the mutinies has been described as one of the most serious intelligence failures of the war. More than one million French soldiers ( 306,000 in 1914, 334,000 in 1915, 287,000 in 1916, 121,000 in early 1917), out of a population of twenty million males of all ages, had been killed in fighting by early 1917. The losses had weakened

27702-416: Was now in his 80th year. Some argue that Pétain, as France's most senior soldier after Foch's death, should bear some responsibility for the poor state of French weaponry preparation before World War II. Others say that Pétain was one of many on a large committee responsible for national defence, and interwar governments frequently cut military budgets. In addition, with the restrictions imposed on Germany by

27873-435: Was opposed to such a move. During a cabinet meeting that day, Reynaud argued that before asking for an armistice, France would have to get the United Kingdom permission to be relieved from their accord of March 1940 not to sign a separate cease-fire. Pétain replied that "the interests of France come before those of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom got us into this position, let us now try to get out of it." . On 10 June,

28044-420: Was promoted yet again and became XXXIII Corps commander. After leading his corps in the spring 1915 Artois Offensive , in July 1915 he was given command of the Second Army , which he led in the Champagne Offensive that autumn. He acquired a reputation as one of the more successful commanders on the Western Front. Pétain commanded the Second Army at the start of the Battle of Verdun in February 1916. During

28215-493: Was provoked by Russian military failures during the First World War . In August 1914, all classes supported and virtually all political deputies voted in favour of the war. The declaration of war was followed by a revival of nationalism across Russian society, which temporarily reduced internal strife. The army achieved some early victories (such as in Galicia in 1915 and with the Brusilov Offensive in 1916) but also suffered major defeats, notably Tannenberg in August 1914,

28386-402: Was raised by relatives after his father remarried. He attended the Catholic boarding school of Saint-Bertin in the nearby town of Saint-Omer , where he was an excellent student, showing an aptitude for geography and arithmetic . In 1875, with the intention of preparing for the Saint-Cyr Military Academy , Pétain enrolled in the Dominican college of Albert-le-Grand in Arcueil . Pétain

28557-413: Was received on 16 April, the French Army whisked the Russians away from the front and moved them to central France. The Russians put on a big May Day parade and then mutinied. The First Russian Brigade was encircled by loyal Russian troops in September 1917 at Camp de La Courtine and bombarded with artillery, killing eight men and wounding 28. That episode became the basis of widespread false rumours that

28728-405: Was sent to speak to Weygand (who was waiting outside, as he was not a member of the cabinet) for around fifteen minutes. Weygand persuaded him that Reynaud's suggestion would be a shameful surrender. Chautemps then put forward a 'fudge' proposal, an enquiry about terms. The Cabinet voted 13–6 for the Chautemps proposal. Admiral Darlan , who had been opposed to an armistice until 15 June, now became

28899-445: Was the desire to bring the war to a successful conclusion in conjunction with the Allies, and the very cause of their opposition was the ever-deepening conviction that this was unattainable under the present government and under the present regime. Meanwhile, the socialist parties re-established the Petrograd Soviet , first created during the 1905 revolution, to represent workers and soldiers. The remaining loyal units switched allegiance

29070-415: Was their only son. His father had previously lived in Paris , where he worked for photography pioneer Louis Daguerre , before returning to the family farm in Cauchy-à-la-Tour following the Revolution of 1848 . One of his great-uncles, a Catholic priest, Father Abbe Lefebvre (1771–1866), served in the Grande Armée during the Napoleonic Wars . Pétain's mother died when he was 18 months old, and he

29241-458: Was told to resign and offered to commit suicide. By nightfall, General Khabalov and his forces faced a capital controlled by revolutionaries. The protesters of Petrograd burned and sacked the premises of the district court, the headquarters of the secret police, and many police stations. They also occupied the Ministry of Transport, seized the arsenal, and released prisoners into the city. Army officers retreated into hiding and many took refuge in

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