Pétain oversaw the successful defence of Verdun and was appointed French Commander-in-Chief after the failure of the Nivelle Offensive in 1917. After the German spring offensive of March 1918 Pétain saw his priority as the defence of Paris, even at the risk of breaking contact with his allies. In 1940 he was called on to lead a government which would negotiate an armistice with the invading Germans, and he served as Head of State in the collaborationist Vichy regime. He was arrested in 1945 and condemned to death, but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and he died in prison on the Ile d'Yeu.
Pétain's First World War service included: Commandant of the 33rd infantry regiment at Arras and the 4th Brigade at St Omer, 1914; Brigadier-General August 1914 (Charleroi); commanded the 6th Division of Infantry (Marne), the 33rd Army Corps, 20 October 1914; stormed Carency, May 1915; took command of the 2nd Army, June 1915; in charge of operations in front of Verdun, February-May 1916; commanded a group of Armies, May 1916; Commander-in-Chief, May 1917. After the war he became Inspector-General of the French Army, 1922-1931, then Secretary of War, France, 1934 and French Ambassador to Spain, 1939-1940. In 1940 Pétain became Minister of State and Vice-President of the Council, as well as Chief of the French State (1940-1944) and Prime Minister of France (1940-1942).