
Henri Philippe BĂ©noni Omer Joseph PĂ©tain (24 April 1856 â 23 July 1951), better known as Philippe PĂ©tain and Marshal PĂ©tain (French: MarĂ©chal PĂ©tain), was a French general who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the collaborationist regime of Vichy France, from 1940 to 1944, during World War II.