Georges Achille Marie Joseph Robert, better known in Martinique under the nickname "Admiral Robert" was a former French naval officer and administrator. He ended his military career with the rank of Admiral.
Georges Robert comes from a family of lace manufacturers. He is the eldest of a family of 5 children. In 1893, then aged 18, he entered the Naval Academy. Ensign of boat in 1900, he was Lieutenant of the ship, commander of the submarine Phoque then the destroyer Mameluk in 1915, he took part in the battle of the Dardanelles, where he intervened in the rescue of the castaways of the state transport Amiral Hamelin. Gradually he reached the highest ranks of the army by becoming Admiral in 1937.
On September 14, 1939, he was appointed High Commissioner of the Republic to the West Indies, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon and French Guiana and on September 15 in Fort de France, he took office. After the armistice of 1940, he moved to the Vichy camp and decided to apply the motto "Work, family, fatherland".
The United States having recognized the Vichy Government, Admiral Robert negotiated with them. By guaranteeing its neutrality, he obtained the necessary supplies. After the United States entered the war, he confirmed to Admiral Horne, the head of American naval operations, that he would remain faithful to past commitments.
He imposed very harsh measures such as deprivation of liberty, repression and censorship. His main obsession was to preserve the interests of France against the inclinations of American, English or German annexation.
He established Martinique as the central point of his administration and gave it a central naval role that it had lost for nearly 50 years.
But after French Guiana rallied to fighting France in March 1943, an insurrection broke out in Fort-de-France on June 24, 1943, in front of the war memorial at Fort de France. On June 29, the garrison of the Balata camp joined the dissidence under the orders of Commander Tourtet. On July 14, 1943, Henri Hoppenot then ambassador of the fighting France in Washington landed in Martinique.
The next day, Admiral Robert transfers his powers to him and leaves the island for the United States. Although he often defended the fact that he wanted to preserve French interests in the Antilles, the fact remains that Admiral Robert chose the Vichy and Pétain regime over the Free French Forces of General de Gaulle.
In September 1944, Admiral Robert was accused of collaboration and imprisoned in Fresnes. Provisionally released on March 24, 1946, he appeared before the High Court of Justice on March 14, 1947. He was sentenced to 10 years of forced labor. He was finally amnestied on April 15, 1954 and released three years later in 1957. The High Court considered that he had been very favorable to the English and that his attachment to Vichy was the only solution to keep the West Indies in France. His medals and ranks are returned to him.
He died in Paris on March 2, 1965.