Pierre Laval

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
 The neutrality of this article is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.(February 2008)
Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.
This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)
Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval
In office
January 27, 1931 – February 20, 1932
Preceded by Théodore Steeg
Succeeded by André Tardieu
In office
June 7, 1935 – January 24, 1936
Preceded by Fernand Bouisson
Succeeded by Albert Sarraut
In office
July 11, 1940 – December 13, 1940
Preceded by Philippe Pétain
Succeeded by Pierre Étienne Flandin
In office
April 18, 1942 – August 20, 1944
Preceded by François Darlan
Succeeded by Charles de Gaulle
Born 28 June 1883(1883-06-28)
Died 15 October 1945 (aged 62)
Political party None
Religion Roman Catholic

Pierre Laval (28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician and Prime Minister. He was a socialist before World War I, but after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, he became an independent to avoid association with Communism. From 1925 to 1936, he held ten ministerial offices, and was twice Prime Minister. During World War II, he was Vice-Premier and later Prime Minister of the Vichy government. After the war, he was executed for high treason.

Contents

[edit] Career during the Third Republic

Further information: French Third Republic

Laval was born in Châteldon in the Puy-de-Dôme département of the Auvergne region. He became an active socialist. Iin 1903 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a member of the SFIO (Section Française de l'Internationale Ouvrière - the French socialist party). He was re-elected three times. He earned a law degree, and practiced law in Paris from 1907.

Laval did not serve in World War I. During this period, his politics moved towards the political right. He was defeated in the first post-war election in 1919. In 1924, he became mayor of Aubervilliers, a town in the northern suburbs of Paris, and left the SFIO. Despite this, his power in national affairs continued to increase. In 1925, he first served in ministerial office, as Minister of Transportation under Painlevé. In 1926 he was Minister of Justice under Briand. He was elected to the Senate in 1927, and again in 1936.

Laval held no offices in 1927-1929, but he was a prominent figure in most of the right-wing governments formed in 1930-1932 and 1934-1936. He was Prime Minister from 27 January 1931 to 6 February 1932, and was named Time's 1931 Man of the Year.[1]

The second Cartel des gauches (Left-Wing Cartel) was driven from power by the riots of 6 February 1934, staged by fascist, monarchist, and other far-right groups. (These groups had contacts with some conservative politicians, among whom were Laval and Philippe Pétain.) Laval became Minister of Colonies in the new right-wing Doumergue government. In October, Foreign Minister Barthou was assassinated; Laval succeeded him, holding that office until 1936.

At this time, Laval was opposed to Germany, the "hereditary enemy" of France. He pursued anti-German alliances with Mussolini's Italy and Stalin's USSR. He met with Mussolini in Rome, and they signed the Franco–Italian Agreement of 1935 on 4 January. The agreement ceded parts of French Somaliland to Italy and allowed Italy a free hand in the Abyssinia, in exchange for support against any German aggression[2]. In April 1935, Laval persuaded Italy and Great Britain to join France in the Stresa Front against German ambitions in Austria.

In June 1935, he became Prime Minister as well.

Also in 1935, Laval's daughter Josée Marie married René de Chambrun, son of Count Aldebert de Chambrun. (De Chambrun was a descendant of the Marquis de Lafayette. René's mother, Clara Longworth de Chambrun, was the sister of Theodore Roosevelt's son-in-law.)

In October 1935, Laval and British foreign minister Hoare proposed a "realpolitik" solution to the Abyssinia crisis. When leaked to the media in December, the Hoare-Laval Pact was widely denounced as appeasement to Mussolini. Laval was forced to resign on 22 January 1936, and was driven completely out of ministerial politics.

Laval returned to his business career, but soon had major political influence after he assembled an extensive media empire through acquisitions of newspapers and radio. The victory of the Popular Front in 1936 meant that Laval had a left-wing government as a target for his media.

[edit] Under Vichy France

Further information: Vichy France

After the defeat of France in June 1940, Laval's papers and radio stations played a prominent part in forcing the resignations of the Reynaud government and then supporting the new Vichy regime of Philippe Pétain. On 12 July 1940, Laval became Vice-Premier (Pétain had no Prime Minister at this time).

From July to December 1940, Laval's policy was active collaboration with Nazi Germany. He named Fernand de Brinon, a Nazi sympathizer, to lead the surrender negotiations with Germany. He met Adolf Hitler in Montoire on 22 October 1940, and proposed an alliance between France and Germany. Two days later, he arranged the meeting between Pétain and Hitler in Montoire, where collaboration was solidified. Laval also delivered the Belgian Central Bank's gold to Germany, which Belgium had sent to France for protection. He ceded France's stake in the copper mines of Bor in Yugoslavia, which were the largest mines in Europe producing this strategic metal. He also proposed the return of the government to Paris, where it would be under more surveillance from the Germans.[citation needed]

In November 1940, at a meeting with Hermann Göring, Laval suggested a military alliance with Germany. He made plans for a joint reconquest of Chad, whose governor, Félix Eboué, had joined Free France. Some members of the government found him too radical, while Pétain worried about Laval's unpopularity and ambition. On 13 December 1940, Pétain removed Laval, replacing him with Flandin and then Darlan. Laval was briefly arrested, but Otto Abetz, the Reich's ambassador in France, had him quickly freed and moved to Paris, where he lived under German protection and continued his political activity.

On 27 August 1941, several top Vichyites including Laval attended a review of the Légion des Volontaires Français (LVF), a collaborationist militia. Paul Collette, a disgruntled ex-member of the Croix-de-Feu, attacked the reviewing stand; he shot and wounded Laval (and also Marcel Déat, another prominent collaborationist). Laval soon recovered from the injury.

Pétain recalled Laval to the Vichy government on 18 April 1942. This time he became Prime Minister and succeeded Darlan as the leading figure in the regime after Pétain himself. Laval was largely blamed for the increase in anti-Jewish activities and the decision to send French workers to Germany through la relève and later the Service du Travail Obligatoire.[citation needed] The creation of the Vichy Milice in January 1943 has also been ascribed to Laval. After the Allied invasion of France, the government moved from Vichy to Belfort and then, in August 1944, to Sigmaringen in Germany. (Laval appears as a character in Louis Ferdinand Céline's novel Castle to Castle, which is set largely at Sigmaringen.) In May 1945 Laval fled to Spain, but he was deported from there, ending up in Austria, where he was handed over to Allied forces.

[edit] Trial and execution

On 30 July 1945 Laval was handed over to the new French government. Charged with treason and violating state security, he was tried and found guilty, despite vigorously defending himself in the first part of his trial. He was sentenced to death on 9 October. After a failed attempt at suicide (the cyanide had lost its full potency), he was executed, half-unconscious and vomiting, by firing squad at Fresnes prison near Paris on 15 October 1945.

[edit] Parliamentary offices

  • 10/05/1914 - 07/12/1919 : Deputy of the Seine department
  • 11/05/1924 - 17/02/1927 : Deputy of the Seine - Not registered in any parliamentary group
  • Senator from 1927 to 1936 and from 1936 to 1944 [3]

[edit] Laval's First Government, 27 January 1931 - 14 January 1932

Laval portrayed in Frank Capra documentary film Divide and Conquer (1943)
Laval portrayed in Frank Capra documentary film Divide and Conquer (1943)

[edit] Laval's Second Government, 14 January - 20 February 1932

[edit] Laval's Third Ministry, 7 June 1935 - 24 January 1936

[edit] Changes

[edit] Laval's Fourth Ministry, 18 April 1942 - 20 August 1944

[edit] Changes

[edit] Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
  1. ^ Original TIME article
  2. ^ André Larané, 4 janvier 1935: Laval rencontre Mussolini à Rome, Hérodote (French)
  3. ^ Biographical notice of Laval on the French National Assembly's website (French)

[edit] References

  • Man of the Year profile, Jan. 4, 1932
  • Article on the Laval treason trial, Oct. 15, 1945
  • Article on Laval's testimony in Petain's trial, Aug. 13, 1945
  • Laval, P. The Unpublished Diary of Pierre Laval, Falcon Press Ltd. London, 1948.


Preceded by
Victor Peytral		 Minister of Transportation
1925		 Succeeded by
Anatole de Monzie
Preceded by
René Renoult		 Minister of Justice
1926		 Succeeded by
Maurice Colrat
Preceded by
Louis Loucheur		 Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
1930		 Succeeded by
Édouard Grinda
Preceded by
Théodore Steeg		 President of the Council
1931–1932		 Succeeded by
André Tardieu
Preceded by
Georges Leygues		 Minister of the Interior
1931–1932		 Succeeded by
Pierre Cathala
Preceded by
Aristide Briand		 Minister of Foreign Affairs
1932		 Succeeded by
André Tardieu
Preceded by
Adolphe Landry		 Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
1932		 Succeeded by
Albert Dalimier
Preceded by
Henry de Jouvenel		 Minister of Colonies
1934		 Succeeded by
Louis Rollin
Preceded by
Louis Barthou		 Minister of Foreign Affairs
1934–1936		 Succeeded by
Pierre Étienne Flandin
Preceded by
Fernand Bouisson		 President of the Council
1935–1936		 Succeeded by
Albert Sarraut
Preceded by
Philippe Pétain		 Vice President of the Council
1940		 Succeeded by
—
Preceded by
Paul Baudoin		 Minister of Foreign Affairs
1940		 Succeeded by
Pierre Étienne Flandin
Preceded by
Philippe Pétain		 President of the Council
1942–1944		 Succeeded by
Charles de Gaulle
Preceded by
François Darlan		 Minister of Foreign Affairs
1942–1944		 Succeeded by
Georges Bidault
Preceded by
Pierre Pucheu		 Minister of the Interior
1942–1944		 Succeeded by
Adrien Tixier
Preceded by
Paul Marion		 Minister of Information
1942–1944		 Succeeded by
Pierre-Henri Teitgen
v • d • e
Time Persons of the Year

Charles Lindbergh (1927) · Walter Chrysler (1928) · Owen D. Young (1929) · Mahatma Gandhi (1930) · Pierre Laval (1931) · Franklin D. Roosevelt (1932) · Hugh Samuel Johnson (1933) · Franklin D. Roosevelt (1934) · Haile Selassie I (1935) · Wallis Simpson (1936) · Chiang Kai-shek / Soong May-ling (1937) · Adolf Hitler (1938) · Joseph Stalin (1939) · Winston Churchill (1940) · Franklin D. Roosevelt (1941) · Joseph Stalin (1942) · George Marshall (1943) · Dwight D. Eisenhower (1944) · Harry S. Truman (1945) · James F. Byrnes (1946) · George Marshall (1947) · Harry S. Truman (1948) · Winston Churchill (1949) · The American Fighting-Man (1950)
Complete roster · 1927–1950 · 1951–1975 · 1976–2000 · 2001–present
Persondata
NAME Laval, Pierre
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION French politician
DATE OF BIRTH 28 June 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Châteldon, Puy-de-Dôme, France
DATE OF DEATH 15 October 1945
PLACE OF DEATH Paris, France
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Laval"
Personal tools