Philippe Petain

Philippe Petain was a French military officer who became a national hero during the First World War for his defensive command at the Battle of Verdun in 1916, an achievement that earned him the epithet the Lion of Verdun, and was later made Marshal of France. Following France's rapid military collapse in June 1940 during the Second World War, he became head of state of the collaborationist Vichy regime, a position he held until 1944. After the war he was tried and convicted of treason for his wartime collaboration with Nazi Germany, and he died in prison in 1951.