French Resistance

Lore & Background

Resistance cells were small groups of armed men and women (called the Maquis in rural areas) who conducted guerrilla warfare and published underground newspapers. They also provided first-hand intelligence information, and escape networks that helped Allied soldiers and airmen trapped behind Axis lines. The Resistance's men and women came from many parts of French society, including émigrés, academics, students, aristocrats, conservative Roman Catholics (including clergy), Protestants, Jews, Muslims, liberals, anarchists, and communists. The proportion of the French people who participated in organized resistance has been estimated at from one to three percent of the total population. The French Resistance played a significant role in facilitating the Allies' rapid advance through France following the landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944. Members provided military intelligence on German defences known as the Atlantic Wall, and on Wehrmacht deployments and orders of battle for the Allied landings in Provence on 15 August. The Resistance also planned, coordinated, and executed sabotage acts on electrical power grids, transport facilities, and telecommunications networks. After the Allied landings in Normandy and Provence, the paramilitary components of the Resistance formed a hierarchy of operational units known as the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) with around 100,000 fighters in June 1944. By October 1944, the FFI had grown to 400,000 members. Although the amalgamation of the FFI was sometimes fraught with political difficulties, it was ultimately successful and allowed France to rebuild the fourth-largest army in the European theatre (1.2 million men) by VE Day in May 1945.

In Their Own Story

The rain had stopped an hour ago, but the cobblestones still wept. You pressed your back against the cold stone of the chapel wall, counting the seconds between the sentry's footsteps. Three paces to the left, two to the right, a pause at the lamppost where he lit his cigarette. You watched the orange glow catch the wet glass. Then the alley to your right—narrow, choked with laundry lines and the smell of turned earth from the market garden behind it. The radio building was two blocks past the bakery, its antenna rising above the rooftops like a black finger pointing at the sky. You had one shot to get in, one shot to get the charges set, and God willing, one shot to get out. The town held its breath. You held yours. Then you moved.

Reader's Guide

The source article does not provide gameplay or player role information. It describes historical resistance activities, not video game scenarios.

Did You Know?

• The Resistance's work was politically and morally important to France during and after the German occupation.
• The actions of the Resistance contrasted with the collaborationism of the Vichy régime.
• During the occupation, an estimated 30,000 French civilian hostages were shot to intimidate others involved in acts of resistance.