Paul Baudouin - Vichy

Vichy

The government subsequently moved from Bordeaux to Clermont-Ferrand, and then, at Baudouin's suggestion, to Vichy, considered to be a perfect place for the administration. On 30 June Pierre Laval suggested to Pétain, Baudouin and Raphael Alibert that the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies should be called together in joint session to consider new constitutional changes. Baudouin was against the proposal, on the grounds that "you do not change the constitution of a country whose capital is in enemy hands". At this point Pétain sided with Baudouin. However, both would change their mind when they heard that President Albert Lebrun was in favour. In the event the Chamber of Deputies carried the proposal by 395 votes to 3, and when both Houses finally voted in joint session it was carried by 569 to 80 (Communist Deputies were not permitted to vote). On 13 July Pétain appointed a new group of twelve ministers as his Council of Ministers and Baudouin continued as Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Cabinet would now meet twice or three times a week. In addition there was an inner circle (Laval, Baudouin, Yves Bouthillier, Admiral Jean Darlan, and General Weygand) which met every day. The following day Pétain discussed in private with Baudouin that he was concerned about the succession should he (Pétain) die, and advised a surprised Baudouin that whilst he was Pétain's choice, his successor should be chosen by the Council of Ministers.

In the summer of 1940 Baudouin gave his backing to Henri Dhavernas, Inspecteur des Finances, and a former chief commissioner for the Catholic Scouts de France, to found a new official youth movement, the 'Compagnons de France', which was formally registered as an association in July 1940. It was, following the armistice, both a pragmatic way to unify French young people and a reflection of the romantic, anti-liberal, anti-modern mentality of many pre-war Catholic intellectuals. The Compagnons, Maréchal Pétain said, were to be "the National Revolution's vanguard". The movement received the enormous sum of 19 million Francs in subsidies, in addition to an initial sum of 6.1 million Francs handed over personally to Dhavernas by Baudouin, between October 1940 and January 1941.

It appears that Baudouin was also a monarchist at heart, as on the 8 October Abetz, the German Ambassador in Paris, wrote to von Ribbentrop that "some (French) ministers, such as Alibert, Baudouin and Bouthillier, are hoping for an eventual restoration of the Bourbons". About this time Pierre Laval, with Pétain's approval, took over most of Baudouin's powers as Foreign Minister. Intrigues followed, and by mid-November Baudouin, Yves Bouthillier, Marcel Peyrouton, (Minister of the Interior), Raphael Alibert, Admiral Darlan and General Huntziger were putting pressure upon Pétain to have Laval dismissed from office. They succeeded in this the following month, in which Baudouin also served briefly as Minister of Information. He resigned from the government of his own accord on 2 January 1941.