"He was a great soldier, it's a fact," Macron said, though he stressed that Petain had made "disastrous choices" during World War II. "Petain is a traitor and an anti-Semite," tweeted Jean-Luc Melenchon of the far-left France Unbowed party, echoing a flurry of angry postings. Yet the marshal has long been considered an excellent tactician during the Great War, not least for halting the German advance at Verdun in 1916. As head of Vichy France, he replaced the country's motto of "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity" with the more paternalistic "Work, Family and Country". Macron has said he understands their grievances and promised relief, but added Wednesday that "some people are sincere in their anger, and some are insincere".

Source: Bangkok Post November 07, 2018 15:45 UTC