Défense de la France
Encyclopedia
Défense de la France is the name given to a group of the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...

 during the Second World War.

Essentially developed in the Northern Zone
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...

, Défense de la France distinguishes itself by an activity centred on the distribution of a clandestine newspaper created in August 1941 by a group of Parisian students, of the Christian faith. Philippe Viannay
Philippe Viannay
Philippe Viannay was a French journalist.-School foundation:He founded the Centre de formation des journalistes, and, later, the sailing school Les Glénans.-French resistance:...

 was the founder of it and the main editor. With a circulation of 450 000 in January 1944, it represented the largest circulation out of the whole clandestine press.

The niece of Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....

, Genevièvea, known later under the name of Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz
Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz
Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz , was a niece of General Charles de Gaulle, a member of the French Resistance, and the president of ATD Quart Monde.-Biography:...

 was part of the founding group of the movement.

The newspaper denounced the attacks and actions of the army up until 1942. It firstly supported General Henri Giraud
Henri Giraud
Henri Honoré Giraud was a French general who fought in World War I and World War II. Captured in both wars, he escaped each time....

 before turning to de Gaulle in June 1943. Not represented at the Conseil National de la Résistance
Conseil National de la Résistance
The Conseil National de la Résistance or the National Council of the Resistance is the body that directed and coordinated the different movements of the French Resistance - the press, trade unions, and members of political parties hostile to the Vichy regime, starting from...

(National Resistance Council), at the end of 1943 Défense de la France adhered to the Mouvement de Libération Nationale (National Liberation Movement), which would participate to the foundation of the right-of-center Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance was a French political party found at the Liberation and in activity during the Fourth Republic...

(UDSR).
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