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Citation: C N Trueman "The French Resistance"
historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, . .

The French Resistance played a vital part in aiding the Allies to success in Western Europe - especially leading up to D-Day in June 1944. The French Resistance supplied the Allies with vital intelligence reports as well as doing a huge amount of work to disrupt the German supply and communication lines within France.

The surrender of France in June 1940, was a major blow to many French people in terms of their pride. Many believed that the government had let the people down. The creation of a Nazi-approved Vichy government, primarily in the centreand south of the country, was, in the minds of many, further proof that politicians had let down France. The resistance movement developed to provide the Allies with intelligence, attack the Germans when possible and to assist the escape of Allied airmen.

In the immediate aftermath of the June 1940 surrender, France went into a period of shock. The public had been assured that the French army, along with the Maginot Line, was more than strong enough to resist a German attack. The speed and severity of Blitzkrieg had shocked the French people. The non-occupied region of France, known as Vichy France, was set up by the Germans and governed by Marshall Pétain. His reputation was still high and in the early days of Vichy, his leadership gave it some stability and kudos. Also in the days after the British attack on Mers el Kébir, there was a degree of anti-British sentiment in France. Therefore, there was no immediate drive to create a resistance movement en masse in central and southern France.

On June 18th, 1940, Charles de Gaulle addressed the people of France from London. He called on the French people to continue the fight against the Germans. This message hit hard in occupied France but initially it was less well received in Vichy France. Regardless of what many thought of the Vichy government, the area they controlled was run by French people. However, when the Vichy government began to openly collaborate with the Germans, attitudes hardened.

The French Resistance movement is an umbrella term which covered numerous anti-German resistance movements that were based within France. There were resistance movements that took direct orders from the Special Operations Executive, there was the communist resistance, groups loyal to de Gaulle, regional resistance movements that wanted independence etc. In the north, the target was simply the Germans while in the south, the Vichy government was a target as well as the Germans. The first resistance movements were in the north, such as the OCM (Organisation Civile et Militaire) and by the end of 1940, six underground newspapers were being regularly printed in the north. In May 1941, the first SOE agent was dropped into northern France to assist the work of the resistance.

Because of the peculiar political complexities of France, the resistance movement got off to a difficult start. However, by June 1941, the resistance movement had become more organised and its work against the Germans increased accordingly. Two dates are important in explaining the work of the resistance movement in France.

On June 22nd 1941, all the communist groups within France joined forces to create one group. This simple act greatly increased its potency. On November 11th 1942, German forces occupied the whole of France. This meant that the whole country was occupied and the attitude of the north quickly transferred itself to the south.

The German attack on Russia - Operation Barbarossa - led to many French communists joining the resistance movement. Politics took a back step and the French communists gained a reputation for being aggressive and successful resistance fighters. Many French people joined as the support for Vichy quickly waned. Many in the south were angered by the compulsory labour service that had been brought in. But the treatment of the Jews was a major cause of resentment towards the Vichy government and many joined the resistance as a means of fighting against a policy that the vast majority found abhorrent.

The relationship between Britain and the French Resistance movement was vital. Britain, via the SOE, supplied the French with equipment and trained agents. The French Resistance, in turn, supplied vital intelligence reports. As an example, the British attack on the radio base at Bruneval in 1942 could have been a lot more costly in terms of lives lost, if the British had not received intelligence reports from the resistance with regards to the building of new blockhouses there. With such information, the British paratroopers could plan accordingly.

Though the British government and de Gaulle could have a difficult relationship at times, in October 1941, both reached a compromise with regards to resistance operations in France. de Gaulle set up a Central Intelligence and Operations Agency with the support of the British. This acted independently but planning was carried out in co-operation with the SOE which supplied equipment. 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 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 organisational security, the resistance became more effective in 1943. Attacks on the French rail system increased greatly. Between January and June 1943, there were 130 acts of sabotage against rail lines each month. By September 1943, this had increased to 530. The disruption to the Germans ability to move equipment was massive.

By 1944, it is estimated that there were 100,000 members of the various resistance movements that existed in France. Just one year earlier, there were just 40,000 members.. 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.

Post-war analysis of the success of the resistance shows that the 150 most successful acts of sabotage against factories in France between 1943 and 1944, used just 3,000 lbs of explosives - the equivalent of the bomb load of one single Mosquito plane.

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The French Resistance - History Learning Site

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The French Resistance played a vital part in aiding the Allies to success in Western Europe - especially leading up to D-Day in June 1944. The French Resistance supplied the Allies with vital intelligence reports as well as doing a huge amount of work to disrupt the German supply and communication lines within France.

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Research Guides: France in WW II: The French Resistance: Overview of the French Resistance

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Resistance under the Nazi Occupation in WWII with a focus on Women, Free French Africa, the Church, Jewish Partisans, and the D-Day landings in Normandy. Materials range from underground publications to popular historical fiction and graphic novels.

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Vichy's decline was paralleled by the rise of the anti-German underground. Within weeks of the 1940 collapse, tiny groups of men and women had begun to resist. Some collected military intelligence for transmission to London; some organized escape routes for British airmen who had been shot down; some circulated anti-German leaflets; some engaged in sabotage of railways and German installations. The Resistance movement received an important infusion of strength in June 1941, when Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union brought the French Communist Party into active participation in the anti-German struggle. It was further reinforced by the German decision to conscript French workers; many draftees took to the hills and joined guerrilla bands that took the name Maquis (meaning "underbrush"). A kind of national unity was finally achieved in May 1943, when de Gaulle's personal representative, Jean Moulin, succeeded in establishing a National Resistance Council (Conseil National de la Résistance) that joined all the major movements into one federation.

De Gaulle's original call for resistance had attracted only a handful of French citizens who happened to be in Britain at the time. But, as the British continued to fight, a trickle of volunteers from France began to find its way to his headquarters in London. De Gaulle promptly established an organization called Free France and in 1941 capped it with a body called the French National Committee (Comité National Français), for which he boldly claimed the status of a legal government-in-exile. During the next three years, first in London and then (after 1943) in Algiers, he insisted on his right to speak for France and on France's right to be heard as a Great Power in the councils of the Allies. His demands and his manner irked Churchill and Roosevelt and caused persistent tension. The U.S. government unsuccessfully attempted in 1942 to sidetrack him in favour of General Henri Giraud, who immediately after the Allied landings in North Africa was brought out of France to command the French armies in liberated North Africa and to assume a political role as well. De Gaulle arrived in Algiers in May 1943 and joined Giraud as copresident of a new French Committee of National Liberation. By the end of the year he had outmaneuvered Giraud and emerged as the unchallenged spokesman for French resisters everywhere. Even the Communists in 1943 grudgingly accepted his leadership.

Liberation

When the Allied forces landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944, the armed underground units had grown large enough to play a prominent role in the battles that followed-harassing the German forces and sabotaging railways and bridges. As the Germans gradually fell back, local Resistance organizations took over town halls and prefectures from Vichy incumbents. De Gaulle's provisional government immediately sent its own delegates into the liberated areas to ensure an orderly transfer of power. On August 19 Resistance forces in Paris launched an insurrection against the German occupiers, and on August 25 Free French units under General Jacques Leclerc entered the city. De Gaulle himself arrived later that day, and on the next he headed a triumphal parade down the Champs-Élysées. Most high-ranking Vichy officials (including Pétain and Laval) had moved eastward with the Germans; at the castle of Sigmaringen in Germany they adopted the posture of a government-in-exile.

De Gaulle's provisional government, formally recognized in October 1944 by the U.S., British, and Soviet governments, enjoyed unchallenged authority in liberated France. But the country had been stripped of raw materials and food by the Germans; the transportation system was severely disrupted by air bombardment and sabotage; 2.5 million French prisoners of war, conscripted workers, and deportees were still in German camps; and the task of liquidating the Vichy heritage threatened to cause grave domestic stress. An informal and spontaneous purge of Vichy officials or supporters had already begun in the summer of 1944; summary executions by Resistance bands appear to have exceeded 10,000.

A more systematic retribution followed. Special courts set up to try citizens accused of collaboration heard 125,000 cases during the next two years. Some 50,000 offenders were punished by "national degradation" (loss of civic rights for a period of years), almost 40,000 received prison terms, and between 700 and 800 were executed.

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France - Resistance, WWII, Liberation: Vichy's decline was paralleled by the rise of the anti-German underground. Within weeks of the 1940 collapse, tiny groups of men and women had begun to resist. Some collected military intelligence for transmission to London; some organized escape routes for British airmen who had been shot down; some circulated anti-German leaflets; some engaged in sabotage of railways and German installations.

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This image shows older soldiers teaching the newer soldiers to assemble a gun.

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The flag of Vichy France, which was the government of France when it was controlled by the Nazis.

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There were many events that occured in the French Resitance that contributed to the defeat of the Nazis in World War II, and here are three:

-One impact of the French Resistance was the success of D-Day. If the Resistance hadn't given the Allies military intelligence on the enemy, Nazi Germany might have won the war.

-Another big impact of the French Resistance was that the Resistance fighters tore up the railroads, making it difficult for German soldiers to travel across France.

-Finally, another big impact of the French Resistance was that it inspired the French people to resist Nazi oppression, and without this inspiration, France might still be a German puppet state.

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French Resistance fighters resting after a battle

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If you're wondering what the heck you're learning about, maybe this short post can help you:

Who: Charles de Gaulle ("cleaned up" the resistance) and the French people (communists and anti-Germans, mainly)

What: The French Resistance

When: 1940-1945

Where: France

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"Whatever happens, the flame of the French resistance must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished!"

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Important Dates of the French Revolution

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Important Dates of the French Revolution

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There are a plethora of events that occurred in the French Resistance, but this section only covers six of the most significant. Also, note that there were many different groups in the French Resistance, who all wanted the Nazis out for different reasons.

June 18, 1940- A man named Charles de Gaulle, who would soon become the leader of the French Resistance, made a speech from London, persuading the French to keep fighting.

June 22, 1940- With the Franco-German Armistice, France officially fell to the Nazis, who occupied the northern half of the country, but allowed the southern half have a Vichy government.

May 1941- The first SOE agent was put in Vichy France, to help with the resistance.

June 1941- All of the French Communist groups united as one and joined the Resistance.

November 11, 1942- The Nazis decided to occupy the whole country to repress any attempts at resistance.

June 6 1944- August 25 1944 - Liberation of France by the Allies; resistance fighters joined in.

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A leaflet persuading the people to rise up and free France

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I have been talking about the general structure of the French Resistance, but I haven't talked much about the actual fighting. So, that is what this post will do! (I am so sorry that there is only one, there wasn't a lot of information on this.)

The Battle of Vercors (July 21, 1944-Aigust 5, 1944): It started out with German Luftwaffe dropping gliders, a kind of bomb, on the city of Vassieux. This confused the Resistance fighters, but when they finally got into battle, the toll was clear for the Marquis, 600 resistance fighters dead, and only 100 Germans killed. The common people also suffered, with around 200 people killed.

Source of Information

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French resistance soldier carrying the flag of free france

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Flag of the German Empire, which is pretty similar to the Nazi Germany Flag 

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Fun Facts on the French Resistance: Part 3

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Fun Facts on the French Resistance: Part 3

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In 1943, there were only about 40,000 people in the French Resistance, but in 1944, there were 100,000 people, more than double the previous year!

The Free French Republic existed even before the official resistance began; they existed as a government in exile in London.

Another name for the Resistance Fighters was the "Marquis".

When France was officially liberated, the resistance fighters joined the Allies in storming Nazi Germany.

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Fun Facts on the French Resistance: Part 2

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Fun Facts on the French Resistance: Part 2

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The French Resistance actually had a trade with Britain. As long as Free France supplied Britain with military intelligence, Britain would provide the Resistance with experienced soldiers.

Even though France had been taken by Germany, it was still fighting against the Axis Powers in other ways besides the Resistance. Their territories in Africa fought against the Axis Powers' territories there. Britain joined in, as well.

When the Germans left France, they left it trashed and lacking resources. Now isn't that rude?

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New "motto" of France. Means "Work, Family, Fatherland."

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Fun Facts on the French Resistance: Part 1

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Fun Facts on the French Resistance: Part 1

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When the Germans took over France, they actually changed the national motto of France, which was, "Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood," to "Work, Family, Fatherland."

At the beginning of the Resistance, there were many groups of people who wanted the Germans out for their own reasons. Well, Chalres de Gaulle sent out a guy named Jean Moulin to unite these groups as one. Well, it succeeded and formed, "The French Resistance of the Interior."

Well, how did German forces get into France in the first place? I'm so glad you asked! After a period called the "Phony War," the French prepared to defend their border. German forces took Belgium and went into a region called the "Ardennes," which the French left under defended because they thought it was impenetrable, due to the hills and mountains in the region. Well, the Germans got in and took Paris, then France.

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Even though a lot of French people participated in the fighting, the civilians did a lot, as well. Here are three examples of what civilians did to aid in the resistance without fighting:

1. They handed out anti-Nazi propaganda leaflets. This helped more people get involved.

2. Some people saved and took care of Allied spies that had been shot down (like Simon in Projekt 1065).

3. Some people were even spies, and gathered intelligence on German soldiers. This information was key for the success of D-Day and the liberation of France.

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In case you wanted to learn about this guy

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Jean Moulin: The face of the French Resistance • FRANCE 24 English