02355cam a2200301 i 4500 892810062 TxAuBib 20230829120000.0 230202s2023||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 2023002544 9780674248892 HRD 35.00 0674248899 HRD 35.00 TxAuBib rda Jackson, Julian, 1954-, author. France on trial [BOOK] : the case of Marshal Pétain / Julian Jackson. First Harvard University Press edition. Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2023. xxxii, 444 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier Includes bibliographical references and index. In the terrible month of October 1940, few things were more shocking than the sight of Marshal Philippe Pétain―supremely decorated hero of the First World War, now head of the French government―shaking hands with Hitler. Pausing to look at the cameras, Pétain announced that France would henceforth collaborate with Germany. “This is my policy,” he intoned. “My ministers are responsible to me. It is I alone who will be judged by History.” Five years later, in July 1945, after a wave of violent reprisals following the liberation of Paris, Pétain was put on trial for his conduct during the war. He stood accused of treason, charged with heading a conspiracy to destroy France’s democratic government and collaborating with Nazi Germany. The defense claimed he had sacrificed his personal honor to save France and insisted he had shielded the French people from the full scope of Nazi repression. Former resisters called for the death penalty, but many identified with this conservative military hero who had promised peace with dignity. Julian Jackson uses Pétain’s three-week trial as a lens through which to examine one of history’s great moral dilemmas. Provided by publisher. 20230829. Pétain, Philippe 1856-1951 Trials, litigation, etc. Trials (Treason) France Paris. France History German occupation, 1940-1945.