Laval joined the right-wing government of Gaston Doumergue in 1934, serving as Minister of the Colonies and then Foreign Minister. In 1935, he again became Prime Minister. Seeking to contain Germany, Laval pursued foreign policies favourable to Italy and the Soviet Union, but his handling of the Abyssinia Crisis—widely denounced as appeasement of Benito Mussolini—prompted his resignation in 1936. Following France's defeat and armistice with Germany in 1940, Laval served in prominent roles in Philippe Pétain's Vichy Regime, first as the vice-president of the Council of Ministers from July 1940 to December 1940, and later as the head of government from April 1942 to August 1944. The collaborationist government provided French labourers for Germany and organized the deportation of Jews.