- Philippe Petain assissted in the Holocaust and deported thousands of Jews
- Macron said that Marshal Petain made some bad choice in the Second World War
- He said 'I don't hide any page of history' as he praised Petain's greatness in WWI
- The Lion of Verdun began working with Nazis against Britian during WWII
French president Emmanuel Macron sparked outrage yesterday by paying tribute to his country's most infamous Nazi collaborator.
The head of state said Philippe Petain was 'a great soldier' during the First World War, and simply made some bad choices during the Second World War.
These included supporting the German war effort, and assisting in the Holocaust by allowing thousands of French Jews to be deported to their deaths in concentration camps.
Marshal Philippe Petain (left) shakes hands with Adolf Hitler (right) during his visit to Vichy France in October 1940
French President Macron addressing Renault employees at a factory in Maubeuge, northern France on November 8
Speaking during a walkabout in Charleville-Mezieres, in the eastern Ardennes department, Mr Macron said: 'I don't take shortcuts, and I don't hide any page in history.
'Marshal Petain was, during the First World War, also a great soldier.
'There, that's a reality of our country. It's also the case that political life is, like human nature, sometimes more complex than we would like to believe.
'You can be a great soldier in the First World War, and have taken catastrophic choices in the Second.'
Paris writer Maxime Cochard led a chorus of outrage on Twitter, writing: 'Macron dares to affirm that Marshal Petain was, during the First World War, also a great soldier.'
Referring to those who died under Petain's command, Mr Cochard said: '1.4 million French soldiers sent to the butcher's shop, 300,000 mutilated, 1 million invalides, 600,000 widows, 700,000 orphans... What a beautiful balance sheet indeed!'
Ian Brossat, a deputy mayor of Paris dealing with housing, in turn wrote: 'In 1945 the Republic branded Petain as a national shame. It is unthinkable that [President Macron] undertakes to rehabilitate him'.
An account named 'Adrenaline', meanwhile wrote: 'Macron will also tell us that Germany between 1939 and 1945 was a very good country'.
Marshal Petain was a celebrated First World War hero until he betrayed the values of the French Revolution in supporting the Nazis
A portrait of the 'Lion of Verdun' published in the French newspaper L'Illustrationon August 4, 1917
Marshal Petain was initially a hero of the 1914-18 conflict, becoming known as the 'Lion of Verdun' because of his leadership during the bloody battle in eastern France against Imperial Germany.
But at the age of 84, he started to work with the Nazis, supporting their war effort against Allied powers including Britain.
He was convicted of high treason and sentenced to death after the war, but this was commuted to life in prison before his death in 1951.
French nationalist parties, including the far-Right National Rally, formerly National Front, still revere Petain, with founder Jean-Marie Le Pen calling him the 'Son of the Nation.'
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