Laval was a lawyer. He became a Socialist Deputy in 1914. Laval held various government positions, steadily moving rigthward. Laval served as Premier of France from 1931 to 1932, after that, as Foreign Minister from 1935-36. The disclosure of a plan he developed, to partition Ethiopia and appease Mussolini, forced him to resign. After the Vichy victory, he became Deputy Prime Minister under Petain. He was accused of collaberating with the Germans. Following the war, he was found guilty and hung.
