Heroes and Villains: The Effects of Heroism on Autocratic Values and Nazi Collaboration in France

Abstract

We measure how a network of heroes can legitimize and diffuse extreme political behaviors. We
exploit newly-declassified intelligence files, novel voting data and regimental histories to show that
home municipalities of French line regiments arbitrarily rotated under Philippe P´etain’s generalship
through the heroic WWI battlefield of Verdun diverge politically thereafter, particularly following
P´etain’s own overt espousal of authoritarian views. Further, under P´etain’s collaborationist Vichy
regime (1940-44), they raise 7% more active Nazi collaborators per capita. These effects extend
across all forms of Nazi collaboration and diffuse beyond the veterans themselves.

Keywords: Heroes, Leaders, Democratic Values, Autocracy, Identity, Networks, Votes, Legitimacy

JEL Classification: D74, N44, L14