Who was the leader of the French Vichy government during World War 2?
Marshal Petain had fought in World War I and was known as the victor and hero of the terrible battle of Verdun, which was won by the Allies (mostly the French) through great determination. Because this battle became to the French a symbol of heroism and the strength of France, Petain himself became a symbol of these things at a moment of defeat for France–so he enjoyed enormous, almost cultlike popularity at first because there was almost nothing else to be proud of just then.
