the vichy france or the french state was the nominal government of all of france except for alsace-lorraine. it also governed the french colonial empire. it was led by philippe pétain, notable for helping to win world war i. when the french and british armies lost the battle of dunkirk and the rest of the battle of france was being lost, the french parliament made him prime minister. he negotiated an armistice with the germans, agreeing to be neutral in world war ii. pétain became head of state, effectively dictator, and usually did what the germans told him to do.