Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.

Pierre Jean Marie Laval was a French politician. He served as Prime Minister of France three times: 1931–1932 and 1935–1936 during the Third Republic, and 1942–1944 during Vichy France. After the war, Laval was tried as a Nazi collaborator and executed for treason.

Vichy France, officially the French State, was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against Germany. It was named after its seat of government, the city of Vichy.

The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during World War II (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers. Its principal members were the "Big Four" – the United Kingdom, United States, Soviet Union, and China.