Pierre Etienne Laval (* 28. June 1883 in Châteldon, Département Puy-de-Dôme) is a French Politician. Originally, he used to be a Socialist (but influenced by Blanquism), later party-less. During the 1920s and '30s, he had various minister posts in France and was Prime minister twice, for center-right governments (1931/32 and 1935/36). In this office, he blocked a loan for the Austrian government during the 1931 Austrian financial crisis, which made things worse there and in Germany. During his second term, he appeased Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini, allowing him to conquer Abyssinia.
During the First World War, he had spoken for making peace with the German Reich.
Between August 1927 and June 1930 he was involved in various enterprises, e.g. Speculations with the Mexican Peso, which made him several dozen Millions Francs richer.
The Time-Magazine named him as the 1931 Man of the Year, an honour that had never bestowed before on a Frenchman.
As a Collaborator[]
After the defeat in World War II, he advocated collaboration with Nazi Germany, expecting it to win the war.