Overview
The French Resistance Movement is an umbrella term for the several resistance movements across German-occupied France. Groups took orders from a variety of authorities including the Special Operations Executive (or SOE, a task force created by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill), the French Communist resistance, groups loyal to French general Charles de Gaulle, and others. But all of them had the same goals to undermine the Nazis and to help the Allies in any way possible. To join the Resistance took an extreme act of courage, because when joining the Resistance a person put himself, his family, and his friends at risk. Members knew that if they were caught they would not be given the rights of a prisoner of war, and they could be tortured, killed, or interrogated. To join the Resistance took more courage than that required of an ordinary soldier. The men and women of the Resistance took on a brave and selfless role and had a large role in the Battle of Normandy, which was a turning point in the war. Without these people, the Allies may not have won World War II.
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French Marquis fighters standing with American soldiers
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The Early Days of the Resistance
A French underground newspaper
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When France surrendered to Germany in 1940, it came as a major blow to the French people's pride. They had been assured that the French army and the Maginot line of bunkers created by the French would be strong enough to repel any German attack. And for some, the formation of the Nazi puppet government in the southern state of Vichy, France was more proof that the politicians had let France down. Resistance began to spring up in the north to help the Allies, to undermine the Germans, and to aid in the escape of Allied airmen. In southern France there was still some anti-British sentiment, so very little resistance sprang up in the south early on. Then, on June 18, 1940, French General Charles de Gaulle addressed the people of France from London, telling them not to give up, and to fight the Germans. Resistance then began to grow in the south as the Vichy government collaborated with the Nazies. The first resistances such as the Organisation Civile et Militaire had started in the North, and by the end of 1940 there were six regularly printed underground newspapers in northern France.
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Resistance Grows
On June 22, 1941 Germany launched its invasion of Russia, and this prompted all of the French Communist groups to join together, which greatly increased their potency. On November 11, 1941 Germany occupied all of France and the feelings of resistance from the north quickly spread to the newly occupied south. Politics took a backseat and the French Communists gained a reputation as skilled and successful resistance fighters. Meanwhile in the south, the treatment of Jews by the Vichy government became a reason for people in the south to join the resistance as a way to oppose a policy they found abhorrent.
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Woman French communist resistance fighters.
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Britain and the Resistance
Resistance fighters being taught to use and maintain weapons supply dropped by SOE angents
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The collaboration between British and the French Resistance began with the first British SOE agent being dropped into France in May, 1941. The British supplied the French Resistance with equipment and trained agents, and in return, the Resistance supplied Britain with vital intelligence reports. For example, the British attack on a radio base at Bruneval, France in 1942 could have been a lot more costly had it not been for the Resistance intelligence reports mentioning the building of new block houses there. With this information, the British paratroopers could plan accordingly. British agents sent into France started a general re-grouping of all resistance movements and a Conseil National de la Résistance movement was established which was subordinated to General de Gaulle. By the end of 1942, de Gaulle became head of the Comité Français de Libération Nationale which headed all resistance movements in France. As a result of this greater organizational security, the Resistance became more effective in 1943. Attacks on the French rail system, used by Germans to transport troops and supplies, increased greatly. Between January and June 1943, there were 130 acts of sabotage against rail lines every month. By September 1943, this had increased to 530. The Resistance created massive disruption to the Germans' ability to move equipment and people.
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Leading up to D-Day
Deliverance Day, known as D-Day, was a coordinated Allied attack against the Germans on June 6, 1944, and a major turning point in the war. By then there were an estimated 100,000 members in the French Resistance, as opposed to 40,000 members just one year earlier. By the spring of 1944, there were 60 intelligence cells whose task was solely to collect intelligence as opposed to carrying out acts of sabotage. In the build up to D-Day, the intelligence they gathered was vital. In May 1944 alone, they sent 3,000 written reports to the Allies and 700 wireless reports. Between April and May, the Resistance destroyed 1,800 railway engines. When this figure is added to the 2,400 destroyed by Allied bombers, it is easy to understand why the Germans had such difficulty transporting equipment across France.
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American troops storming the beaches of Normandy, France on June 6, 1944
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