Pierre Laval

Pierre Laval, prime minister of Vichy France

Pierre Laval (June 28, 1883 – October 15, 1945) was a French politician and four times Prime Minister of France, the final time being under the Vichy government. For his role in Vichy France during World War II, he was found guilty of high treason and executed after the war. Today, Pierre Laval is generally remembered in France as a despicable traitor.

Career

He was born in Châteldon in the Puy-de-Dôme département of the Auvergne region. After earning a law degree, he worked as a lawyer, in Paris from 1907. A socialist, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a member of French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) in 1903. He did not serve in World War I but the period saw a change to his politics as he moved towards the right. He lost the first post-war election. He became mayor of Aubervilliers in 1924 and left the socialist party; he was elected to the French Senate in 1927.

Laval was a prominent figure in the 1930s governments. He was frequently in cabinet and was Prime Minister from January 27, 1931 to February 6, 1932 (succeeding André Tardieu) and again after the February 6, 1934 riots organized by far right leagues (whom maintained connections with right-wing parliamentary figures such as Laval and Marshall Pétain) from June 7, 1935. He was named TIME magazine's 1931 Man of the Year. At that time, Laval was opposed to Germany and tried to push France into an alliance with Mussolini's Italy and Stalin's USSR in order to encircle the "hereditary enemy". He thus met Mussolini in Rome on January 4, 1935 [1], a policy which led to the signature of the Stresa front (UK, Italy and France) in April 1935.

During his second stint as Prime Minister in October 1935, together with the British foreign minister, Samuel Hoare, he proposed a solution to the Abyssinia crisis. Leaked to the media in December, the realpolitik Hoare-Laval Pact was widely denounced as an appeasement to Mussolini and Laval was forced to resign on January 22, 1936.

Out of 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. Following the Nazi occupation, his publications and broadcasts outlets played a prominent part in forcing out the government and then supporting the new government of Philippe Pétain. On July 12, 1940, Laval became vice-premier and named Fernand de Brinon to lead negotiations with the Germans.

Laval was enthusiastically pro-Nazi; his demands for a Franco-German military alliance led to him being sacked from the government and arrested in December 13, 1940. The German ambassador in France, Otto Abetz, had him freed and moved to Paris. He was injured in an assassination attempt on August 27, 1941 at a Légion des Volontaires Français review but recovered and was recalled into the Vichy government on April 18, 1942. This time he became Prime Minister and succeeded Admiral François 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. The creation of the Vichy Milice, the wartime secret police, in January, 1943 has also been credited to Laval.

Following the Allied invasion of France, the government moved from Vichy to Belfort and then to Germany and Sigmaringen in August, 1944. (He appears as a character in Louis Ferdinand Céline's novel Castle to Castle, which is set largely at Sigmaringen.) In May 1945 Laval fled. He first went to Spain but was deported and ended up in Austria where he was given over to the Allied Forces. On July 30, 1945 he was handed over to the new French government. Charged with treason and violating state security, Laval was tried and after being found guilty despite vigorously defending himself in the first part of his trial, was sentenced to death. After a failed attempt at suicide (the cyanide had lost its full potency), he was executed by firing squad at Fresnes prison, near Paris, half-unconscious and vomiting.

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

*Pierre Laval - President of the Council and Minister of the Interior
*Aristide Briand - Minister of Foreign Affairs
*André Maginot - Minister of War
*Pierre Étienne Flandin - Minister of Finance
*François Piétri - Minister of Budget
*Adolphe Landry - Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
*Léon Bérard - Minister of Justice
*Charles Dumont - Minister of Marine
*Louis de Chappedelaine - Minister of Merchant Marine
*Jacques-Louis Dumesnil - Minister of Air
*Mario Roustan - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
*Auguste Champetier de Ribes - Minister of Pensions
*André Tardieu - Minister of Agriculture
*Paul Reynaud - Minister of Colonies
*Maurice Deligne - Minister of Public Works
*Camille Blaisot - Minister of Public Health
*Charles Guernier - Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
*Louis Rollin - Minister of Commerce and Industry

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

*Pierre Laval - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
*André Tardieu - Minister of War
*Pierre Cathala - Minister of the Interior
*Pierre Étienne Flandin - Minister of Finance
*François Piétri - Minister of Budget
*Adolphe Landry - Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
*Léon Bérard - Minister of Justice
*Charles Dumont - Minister of Marine
*Louis de Chappedelaine - Minister of Merchant Marine
*Jacques-Louis Dumesnil - Minister of Air
*Mario Roustan - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
*Auguste Champetier de Ribes - Minister of Pensions
*Achille Fould - Minister of Agriculture
*Paul Reynaud - Minister of Colonies
*Maurice Deligne - Minister of Public Works
*Camille Blaisot - Minister of Public Health
*Charles Guernier - Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
*Louis Rollin - Minister of Commerce and Industry

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

*Pierre Laval - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
*Jean Fabry - Minister of War
*Joseph Paganon - Minister of the Interior
*Marcel Régnier - Minister of Finance
*Ludovic-Oscar Frossard - Minister of Labour
*Léon Bérard - Minister of Justice
*François Piétri - Minister of Marine
*Mario Roustan - Minister of Merchant Marine
*Victor Denain - Minister of Air
*Philippe Marcombes - Minister of National Education
*Henri Maupoil - Minister of Pensions
*Pierre Cathala - Minister of Agriculture
*Louis Rollin - Minister of Colonies
*Laurent Eynac - Minister of Public Works
*Louis Lafont - Minister of Public Health and Physical Education
*Georges Mandel - Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
*Georges Bonnet - Minister of Commerce and Industry
*Édouard Herriot - Minister of State
*Louis Marin - Minister of State
*Pierre Étienne Flandin - Minister of State

Changes

*17 June 1935 - Mario Roustan succeeds Marcombes (d. 13 June) as Minister of National Education. William Bertrand succeeds Roustan as Minister of Merchant Marine.

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

*Pierre Laval - President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior, and Minister of Information
*Eugène Bridoux - Minister of War
*Pierre Cathala - Minister of Finance and National Economy
*Jean Bichelonne - Minister of Industrial Production
*Hubert Lagardelle - Minister of Labour
*Joseph Barthélemy - Minister of Justice
*Gabriel Auphan - Minister of Marine
*Jean-François Jannekeyn - Minister of Air
*Abel Bonnard - Minister of National Education
*Jacques Le Roy Ladurie - Minister of Agriculture
*Max Bonnafous - Minister of Supply
*Jules Brévié - Minister of Colonies
*Raymond Grasset - Minister of Family and Health
*Robert Gibrat - Minister of Communication
*Lucien Romier - Minister of State

Changes

*11 September 1942 - Max Bonnafous succeeds Le Roy Ladurie as Minister of Agriculture, remaining also Minister of Supply
*18 November 1942 - Jean-Charles Abrial succeeds Auphan as Minister of Marine. Jean Bichelonne succeeds Gibrat as Minister of Communication, remaining also Minister of Industrial Production.
*26 March 1943 - Maurice Gabolde succeeds Barthélemy as Minister of Justice. Henri Bléhaut succeeds Abrial as Minister of Marine and Brévié as Minister of Colonies.
*21 November 1943 - Jean Bichelonne succeeds Lagardelle as Minister of Labour, remaining also Minister of Industrial Production and Communication.
*31 December 1943 - Minister of State Lucien Romier resigns from the government.
*6 January 1944 - Pierre Cathala succeeds Bonnafous as Minister of Agriculture and Supply, remaining also Minister of Finance and National Economy.
*3 March 1944 - The office of Minister of Supply is abolished. Pierre Cathala remains Minister of Finance, National Economy, and Agriculture.
*16 March 1944 - Marcel Déat succeeds Bichelonne as Minister of Labour and National Solidarity. Bichelonne remains Minister of Industrial Production and Communication.

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