Philippe Henriot, a devout Roman Catholic, and poet who had written several books of poetry during the early 1920s,[1] became politically active during the Republican Federation, and was elected to the Third Republic's Chamber of Deputies for the Gironde department in 1932 and 1936.

However, in 1941 Henriot began to support Nazi Germany after it invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, as he hoped for the defeat of communism, believing that Bolshevism was the enemy of Christianity.

He broadcast twice daily on Radio-Vichy, "repeatedly and eloquently attacking all those he considered lukewarm in their attitude to collaboration and calling on all good Catholics to support the German cause in the fight against communism.

"[4] He continued the propaganda programmes after the Germans decided, due to the new Allied presence in North Africa, to extend their military occupation in 1942 over Southern France, formerly the Free Zone controlled by the French government at Vichy.

"[5] Henriot was a natural target for the Résistance,[4] and on 28 June 1944, in the Ministry building where he lived, he was assassinated by a group of COMAC members of the Maquis, an organisation designated by the French government at Vichy as "terrorists".