Philippe Henriot (7 January 1889 – 28 June 1944) was a French poet, journalist, politician, and minister in the French government at

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a Spa town, spa and resort town and in World ...

, where he directed propaganda broadcasts. He also joined the

Milice The ''Milice française'' (French Militia), generally called ''la Milice'' (literally ''the militia'') (), was a political paramilitary organization created on 30 January 1943 by the Vichy France, Vichy regime (with Nazi Germany, German aid) t ...

part-time.

Career

Philippe Henriot, a devout Roman Catholic, and poet who had written several books of poetry during the early 1920s, became politically active during the

Republican Federation The Republican Federation (french: Fédération républicaine, FR) was the largest conservative party during the French Third Republic, gathering together the progressive Orléanists rallied to the Republic. Founded in November 1903, the party ...

, and was elected to the Third Republic's Chamber of Deputies for the

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...

department in 1932 and 1936. He became "a committed member of the Catholic nationalist right".Chadwick, K. (2003) 'A Broad Church: French Catholics and National-Socialist Germany' In Atkin, N. & Tallett, F. (ed). ''The Right in France: From Revolution to Le Pen''. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, p. 224. By the mid-1930s his anti-republican prejudices made him a natural opponent of the

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

and his speeches showed him to be an

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

anti-Semite Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

Anti-Freemasonry Anti-Masonry (alternatively called anti-Freemasonry) is "avowed opposition to Freemasonry",''Oxford English Dictionary'' (1979 ed.), p. 369. which has led to multiple forms of religious discrimination, violent persecution, and suppression in so ...

, and against the

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

. In 1936 General de Castelnau, the aristocratic leader of the

National Catholic Federation National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, described Henriot as "an ardent defender of religion, the family and society." At the beginning of World War II, he was strongly anti-German. However, in 1941 Henriot began to support

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

after it invaded the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

, as he hoped for the defeat of Communism, believing that Bolshevism was the enemy of Christianity.Chadwick, p. 225.

Propagandist

In 1940, after the surrender of France to Germany, Henriot became active as a journalist working for the French government headed by

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of Worl ...

which had removed to

. In December 1943 he was appointed Secretary of State for Information.Hellman, p. 192. During his career he created programs and broadcast through

Radio Paris Radio Paris was a French radio broadcasting company best known for its Axis propaganda broadcasts in Vichy France during World War II. Radio Paris evolved from the first private radio station in France, called Radiola, founded by pioneering Frenc ...

, becoming the government's spokesman. He developed a war of

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

against the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...

and the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Career

Propagandist

Assassination

References

External links