Historically, Philippe Petain was the leader of the collaborator French State after the Fall of France and the Armistice with Petain, hitherto revered as a war hero, being someone who permanently stained his reputation with his collaboration with Nazi Germany, authoritarian domestic politics, and cooperation in the Holocaust. However, as Petain was 84 years old in 1940, a question I might as well ask would be what the Vichy Government would have looked like without Petain as a result of him dying just after the June 22 Armistice (and before the National Assembly voted to give him full powers) from a stroke or heart attack brought about by old age? Who would have replaced Petain as the leader of the French State, especially as Albert Lebrun was nominally President until July 11 when Petain became Head of State? What would “Vichy without Petain” have looked like compared to OTL’s Vichy Regime?
For starters, regarding the question of how it would affect the war, I’d imagine that this Vichy without Petain would probably be less “legitimate” without having a prestigious war hero as its top leader with how I doubt Laval or Darlan could be able to gather the initial popular support Petain did due to his actions in the Great War.
For starters, regarding the question of how it would affect the war, I’d imagine that this Vichy without Petain would probably be less “legitimate” without having a prestigious war hero as its top leader with how I doubt Laval or Darlan could be able to gather the initial popular support Petain did due to his actions in the Great War.
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