So I saw this post about Vichy propaganda promoting propaganda and Pétain. What did they mean by "Pétain gave himself to France to ease your suffering"? How exactly did Pétain give himself to France?
This is both a cultural and linguistic question. I'm a doctoral student focusing on French culture in the interwar years, so I'm not specifically an expert on Pétain, but I hope I can give you some insight.
Phrasing is important here. The handbill doesn't literally say "in giving himself to France," it says "en faisant le don de sa personne à la France". The word don has a couple of related, overlapping meanings:
a donation, as in le don de sang (blood donation).
a gift, in the sense of a talent or aptitude, as in le don de jouer du piano (a gift for piano playing).
Most importantly, the phrase le don de soi is roughly equivalent to the English phrase "self-sacrifice".
So the phrase carries a multi-layered connotion: that at great personal sacrifice, Pétain is giving the whole of his being over to his country. The purpose of the poster is to sell devotional portraits of Pétain, which it urges every home to display proudly, much as the Germans were urged (that is, required) to display portraits of the Führer. This reflects a concerted effort to make him a symbol of the nation to be revered - like the flag - and, more subtly, to make any criticism of him explicitly anti-French.
EDIT: Here's the full text of the poster (my quick translation):
"In sacrificing his person for his nation, Pétain has spared you the worst suffering [i.e., a complete German takeover of France].
"He is fighting for the salvation of the nation, and his best thoughts are with the French family [the foundational social structure of a nation and its traditions].
"YOU OWE HIM A PLACE OF HONOR IN YOUR HOME.
"Purchase official portraits of the maréchal, 5 francs apiece, which will be delivered to you by postal carrier.
"Sold to benefit National Aid Against Poverty."
Sources:
Szaluta, Jacques. "Marshal Pétain and French Nationalism: the Interwar Years and Vichy." History of European Ideas 15:1-3, pp. 113-118.
Jackson, Julian. France: The Dark Years, 1940-1944. Oxford UP, 2003.
The original phrase is "Je fais à la France le don de ma personne pour atténuer son malheur" (I give to France the gift of my person to alleviate her misfortune). It comes from the first speech given on 17 June 1940 by Pétain, who had just been appointed Prime Minister by President Lebrun. The speech is very short (206 words), two-paragraph long, and was probably written by Pétain himself (Vergez-Chaignon, 2018). In the first paragraph, he thanks the army, "gives himself to France", and expresses his compassion for the refugees. In the second one, he asks for a cease-fire and calls for unity.
Pétain, at 84, was a living legend, the celebrated "hero of Verdun". He was what the French called a vieillard (old man), but in good physical shape, looking dignified, and his brand of heroism was undamaged since WW1. This particular speech, and particularly the "gift" part, sort of kickstarted the cult of personality that would later be central to the Vichy propaganda: Pétain is the saviour of France, the old mythical hero, a noble vieillard who comes back to do his sacred duty, to sacrifice himself, because his suffering country calls him. This was not exactly what happened (Pétain had never retired and had spent the interwar in various civilian and military positions) but the core message took root.
To quote cultural historian G.D. Chaitin (2008):
Pétain justifies the armistice in light of the national drama of suffering and redemption. In effect, he indulges in self-sacrifice, or to use the Cornelian lexicon, he martyrs himself in the name of France. In the imaginary scenario that he creates with the French people, Pétain urges them to expiate their sins by adopting the Christian virtues of redemption, abnegation and resignation. In short, he played the role of the redeemer for a defeated and morally lost people.
The "gift" was echoed in countless posters, flyers, booklets etc. celebrating l’Œuvre du Maréchal, from 1941 onwards and even more intensely in 1943 (Rossignol, 1991).
Sources