General Information

The French Resistance, or Résistance, is the name referring to the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy regime during World War II. La Résistance’s work also included acts of sabotage on the electrical grid, transportation facilities, and telecommunicati

Additional Information

Résistance cells were small groups of armed men and women, who, in addition to their guerrilla warfare activities, were also publishers of underground newspapers, providers of first-hand intelligence, and maintainers of escape networks that helped Allied soldiers and airmen trapped behind enemy lines.

The men and women of the Résistance came from all economic levels and political leanings of French society, including émigrés; conservative Roman Catholics, including priests; members of the Jewish community; and citizens from the ranks of liberals, anarchists, and communists.