French Resistance - organized opposition to the occupation of the country by Nazi Germany during the Second World War in the period from 1940 to 1944. It had several organized centers. It included conducting anti-German combat activities, disseminating propaganda and anti-Hitler information, harboring persecuted communists and fascists, activities outside of France, which included strengthening the alliance with the anti-Hitler coalition. It is worth noting that the political movement was heterogeneous, including people of very different views - from communists to right-wing Catholics and anarchists. In this article we will talk about the history of the movement, its number, the most prominent participants.
Vichy mode
The French Resistance strongly opposed the Vichy regime. It was formed in the south of the country after the defeat at the beginning of World War II and the fall of Paris, which took place in 1940.
Almost immediately after that, the country's Atlantic coast and northern France were occupied by Nazi forces with the consent of the Vichy government. Officially, the regime adhered to a policy of neutrality, but in fact acted on the side of the Hitler coalition.
It got its name from the spa town of Vichy, in which in July 1940 the National Assembly decided to transfer dictatorial powers to Marshal Henri Pétain. This was the end of the Third Republic. The Peten government remained in Vichy almost until the very end of his reign. After the complete occupation of the country in November 1942, his power became purely nominal. When Paris was liberated, it existed in exile in Germany until April 1945.
Key executives were convicted of high treason. Cultural and art workers who openly supported the regime were subjected to "public dishonor."
Soon after the occupation of the country, the term "Vishisto-Resistance" appeared in the press. He was designated the prominent politicians of the pro-Hitler government, who in fact acted on the side of the French Resistance, secretly and secretly participated in its activities. Among them were the theologian Marc Benier (convinced Protestant), the future president of François Mitterrand.
Allied Support
The French Resistance movement was actively supported by the special services of Great Britain and the USA. Agents were prepared by General de Gaulle, who actually led the French part of this movement.
The first agent arrived in the country on January 1, 1941. In total, during the occupation of France, about 800 intelligence officers of Great Britain and the USA, and about 900 de Gaulle agents acted on its territory.
When, at the end of 1943, the reserves of French-speaking agents were exhausted, the Allies began to form groups of saboteurs, consisting of three people. Among them were one Frenchman, one American and one Englishman. Unlike secret agents, they acted in military uniform, openly fought on the side of the partisans.
A striking example of a member of the French Resistance is Jacqueline Nearn. After the northern part of the country was occupied by the Nazis, she left for Great Britain. By the end of 1941, she became an agent of the British secret services. After special training, at the beginning of 1943 she was abandoned back to France. Her activities brought great benefit to the allies that were part of the anti-Hitler coalition. Nearne was awarded the Order of the British Empire.
History of the movement in France
The French Resistance in World War II played a large role in the liberation of the country and the victory over the Nazis. Its first participants were workers of the Paris district, as well as the departments of Pas de Calais and Nord.
On November 11, 1940, a large-scale demonstration was held to mark the end of the First World War. In May 1941, more than 100 thousand miners went on strike against the Nazis. Around the same time, the National Front was created. This is a massive patriotic association, which managed to rally the French of different political views and social strata.
Paris rebellion
In 1943, the French Resistance became especially active. The result was the Paris revolt. In fact, it was a battle for the liberation of the French capital, which lasted from August 19 to August 25, 1944. The result was the overthrow of the Vichy government.
The Paris uprising began with armed clashes between resistance fighters and units of the German army on August 19. The next day, full-blown street battles had already begun. The advantage was on the side of the members of the Resistance, who pressed the Germans and adherents of the Vichy regime. In the liberated territories, guarding volunteer squads were created, which were massively joined by local residents.
By noon on August 20, a prison camp that had been operating since 1940 and a city prison were freed. However, the Germans managed to shoot most of the captives.
Despite success, Resistance fighters lacked weapons and ammunition. The Vichy and the Germans expected to receive reinforcements from the front in order to crush the rebellion with a powerful counterattack. By evening, a temporary ceasefire was concluded, and the Swedish consul Raul Nordling acted as an intermediary. This allowed the Vichy and Germans to strengthen the defensive lines in those parts of the city that remained under their control.
Ceasefire violation
On the morning of August 22, the Nazis broke the ceasefire by opening massive fire from tanks and artillery. A few hours later Hitler gave the order to launch an offensive in order to crush the rebellion. The goal was to inflict maximum damage on technology and manpower of the enemy. However, the resources for counterattack were not enough, so they decided to postpone the counteroffensive.
The decisive moment of the Paris uprising was the entry into the city of the armored division "Free France" and the infantry division of the US Army. This happened on the evening of August 24th. With the help of tanks and artillery, they managed to crush the resistance of opponents. Hitler ordered the city to be blown up, but von Koltitz, who led the defense, did not follow the order, saving his life.
On the night of August 25, the last stronghold of the Nazis was captured. Von Koltitz surrendered to the Allies. About 4 thousand Vichyists and almost 12 thousand German soldiers laid down their arms with him.
Number
Estimating the exact strength of the Resistance is not easy, since it was not a strictly structured organization, which included various units, including partisan ones.
According to archival documents and memoirs of active participants, 350 to 500 thousand people are considered its members. This is extremely rough data, because significantly more people fought against the Nazi regime. Many of them were not connected with each other.
Among the main currents, the following should be distinguished:
- members of the Communist Party of France ;
- partisan movement of poppies (accent on the last letter);
- members of the Vichy movement who secretly supported the Resistance;
- the Free France movement, which was headed by de Gaulle.
Among the participants of the Resistance were many German anti-fascists, Spaniards, former Soviet prisoners of war, Jews, Ukrainians, Armenians and Kazakhs.
Fran Tirer
Another active part of the Resistance was the patriotic organization Fran-Tirer, which fought for the independence of the state until 1943, after which it merged with several other organizations.
It was founded in Lyon in 1940. Acted in the south of France. Members of the organization conducted intelligence activities, issued propaganda leaflets and publications.
Poppies
An important role in the Resistance was played by armed groups of partisans who called themselves Maki. They mainly operated in rural areas.
Initially, they consisted of men who went to the mountains in order to avoid mobilization into Vichy labor groups, as well as forced links to work in Germany.
The first poppy organizations were small and scattered groups that tried to avoid capture and deportation. After a while, they began to act more harmoniously. In addition to their original goals, they began to advocate the liberation of France, and joined the Resistance.
Most of the poppies were associated with the French Communist Party.
results
Today it is worth recognizing that an impressive part of Europe was loyal to the Nazi occupation. The governments of various countries collaborated with the Hitler regime. This is evidenced by the growth in labor productivity, which was observed in Germany until the very end of the war.
Few spoke out openly against the Nazis. For example, in France, one of the leaders of the Resistance was General de Gaulle, who led the country after the end of World War II.
In Western Europe, the Resistance movement, in fact, was a means of saving national prestige. Moreover, in Southeast and Eastern Europe, where the Nazi regime acted with particular cruelty, it played one of the decisive roles in the liberation.
Bright participants
Among the members of the Resistance in this country were many famous names. For example, singer Anna Marly, French politician Jean Moulin, historian of Jewish descent Marc Block, writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
Pierre Abraham
French writer, member of the Resistance Pierre Abraham was born in Paris in 1892. Even before the war, he became famous as a journalist, literary critic, and an active public figure.
He was a member of the First World War, fighting in aviation. He became a professional journalist in 1927. He was actively interested in the ideas of the Communist Party. In the second half of the 1930s he was responsible for volumes devoted to art and literature, when creating the "French Encyclopedia".
During World War II, a French writer, communist, member of the resistance movement opposed the Nazi regime. He fought already in the rank of aviation colonel.
In particular, the French writer, communist, member of the Resistance liberated Nice in 1944. After the war, when the communist Jean Medesen became mayor in this city, Abraham received the post of municipal councilor, who held until 1959.
The French Communist, a member of the Resistance, in his work paid much attention to the work of writers of the past. His monographs about Proust and Balzac were published.
After the war, he edited the magazine "Europe". In 1951, the only novel by a French writer, a member of the Resistance movement, called "Hold on tight."
Abraham died in 1974.