Flandin, Pierre-Étienne

born April 12, 1889, Paris, France

died June 13, 1958, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat

French politician.

He served in the Chamber of Deputies (1914–40) and held various ministerial posts in the Third Republic, serving briefly as premier (1934–35). As foreign minister when the Germans marched into the Rhineland in 1936, he failed to convince the French and British governments to act and accepted German dominance, though when he returned briefly as foreign minister in the Vichy regime, he resisted German demands. Later charged with treason, he was acquitted in 1946.

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▪ French politician

born April 12, 1889, Paris, France

died June 13, 1958, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat

      lawyer, politician, and several times a minister during the final years of France's Third Republic.

      Flandin was a deputy from 1914 to 1940 and, in addition, held various ministerial posts. He also served as premier from November 1934 to May 1935. When in March 1936 the Germans sent their troops into the Rhineland, Flandin, as foreign minister, suggested the use of French armed forces to evict them, but he was supported by only a minority of ministers. His failure to induce the French and British governments to act convinced him that Germany would dominate Europe and that France should accept the inevitable.

      In the Vichy (Vichy France) regime Flandin was associated with the more moderate collaborators. They succeeded in bringing him into the government as foreign minister in Pierre Laval's place, but his inclusion lasted only until February 1941, when Admiral Jean Darlan replaced him. After the liberation of France, the high court of justice in 1946 acquitted him of treason and sentenced him to five years of “national unworthiness” but remitted this sentence on account of some services he had rendered to the Résistance.

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