The
Maquis were the predominantly rural
guerrillaGuerrilla warfare is the irregular warfare warfare and combat in which a small group of combatants use mobile military tactics in the form of ambushes and raids to combat a larger and less mobile formal army....
bands of the
French ResistanceThe French Resistance is the collective name used for the French resistance movements which fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and the collaborationist Vichy Regime during World War II...
. Initially they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid
conscriptionConscription is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by an established authority. It is most often used in the specific sense of requiring citizens to serve in the armed forces...
into
Vichy FranceVichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944. This government, which succeeded the Third Republic, officially called itself the French State , in contrast with the previous designation, "French Republic." Marshal...
's
Service du travail obligatoireDuring the German occupation of France in the Second World War, the Service du travail obligatoire was the forced enlistment and deportation of hundreds of thousands of French workers to Germany in order to work as forced labour for the German war effort...
(STO) to provide
forced labour for GermanyUse of forced labour in Nazi Germany during World War II occurred on a large scale. It was an important part of the German economic exploitation of conquered territories; it also contributed to the extermination of populations of German–occupied Europe...
. In an effort to escape capture and deportation to Germany, what had started as loose groups of individuals became increasingly organized; initially fighting only to remain
freeLiberty is a concept of political philosophy and identifies the condition in which an individual has the right to act according to his or her own will....
, these bands eventually became active resistance groups.
Meaning
Originally the word came from the kind of terrain in which the armed resistance groups hid, the type of high ground in southeastern France covered with scrub growth. Although strictly meaning
thicketA thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large amounts of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in the shelter of the maternal plants...
, maquis could be roughly translated as "
the bush"The Bush" is a term used for-Australia:In Australia the term has a number of distinct meanings, usually clear in context. In reference to the landscape, the term describes any wooded area, generally where eucalyptus are present....
".
Members of those bands were called
maquisards. Eventually the term became an honorific that meant “armed resistance fighter.” The Maquis have come to symbolize the French Resistance.
Operations
Most maquisards operated in the mountainous areas of
BrittanyBrittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Brittany was previously a kingdom and then as a duchy it was a fief of the Kingdom of France. It was at one time called Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
and southern France, especially in the
AlpsThe Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
and in
LimousinLimousin is a former province of France around the city of Limoges in central France. The province of Limousin lies in the foothills of the Massif Central, with cold weather in the winter...
. They relied on guerrilla tactics to harass the
MiliceThe Milice française , generally called simply Milice, was a paramilitary force created on January 30 1943 by the Vichy Regime, with German aid, to help fight the French Resistance. The Milice's formal leader was Prime Minister Pierre Laval, though its chief of operations, and actual leader, was...
and German occupation troops. The Maquis also aided the escape of downed
AlliedThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . The involvement of the Allies in World War II was either natural and inevitable they were invaded or under the direct threat of invasion by the Axis or compelled by concerns that the Axis powers...
airmen, Jews and others pursued by the
VichyVichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944. This government, which succeeded the Third Republic, officially called itself the French State , in contrast with the previous designation, "French Republic." Marshal...
and German authorities. Maquisards usually relied on some degree of sympathy or cooperation from the local populace. In March 1944, the German Army began a terror campaign throughout France. This included reprisals against civilians living in areas where the French Resistance was active. The Maquisards were later to take their revenge in the
épuration sauvage that took place after the war's end.
Most of the Maquis cells — like the
Maquis du LimousinThe maquis du Limousin was one of the largest Maquis groups of French resistance fighters.The region of Limousin was an active area of resistance since 1940. Edmond Michelet distribued tracts calling to continue the war in all Brive-la-Gaillarde's mailboxes on June 17, 1940. It is considered to be...
or the
Maquis du VercorsThe massif du Vercors is a prominent scenic plateau region in the French départements of Isère and Drôme in Eastern France. It was used by the rural Free French Resistance group, known as the Maquis du Vercors, as a refuge and a sanctuary for the French Resistance against the 1940-1944 German...
- took names after the area they were operating in. The size of these cells varied from tens to thousands of men and women.
In
French Indochina||-|French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887. Laos was added in 1893 and Kouang-Tchéou-Wan in 1900...
, the local resistance fighting the Japanese since 1941 was backed up by a special forces airborne commando unit created by de Gaulle in 1943, and known as the Corps Léger d'Intervention (CLI). They were supplied by airlifts of the British Force 136.
Politics in Maquis
Politically, maquis were very diverse — from right-wing nationalists to communists and anarchists. Some Maquis bands that operated in southwest France were composed entirely of left-wing Spanish veterans of the
Spanish Civil WarThe Spanish Civil War was a major conflict that devastated Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939. It began after an attempted coup d'état by a group of Spanish Army generals against the government of the Second Spanish Republic, then under the leadership of president Manuel Azaña...
.
When Germans began a forced labor draft (
Service du travail obligatoireDuring the German occupation of France in the Second World War, the Service du travail obligatoire was the forced enlistment and deportation of hundreds of thousands of French workers to Germany in order to work as forced labour for the German war effort...
, STO) in France in the beginning of 1943, thousands of young men fled and joined the Maquis. The British
Special Operations ExecutiveThe Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct warfare by means other than direct military engagement...
(SOE) helped with supplies and agents. The American
Office of Strategic ServicesThe Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was the predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency .-Origins and activities:...
(OSS) also began to send its own agents to France in cooperation with the SOE and the French
BCRAThe Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action , commonly referred as just BCRA is the World War II era forerunner of the SDECE French intelligence service...
agents in
Operation JedburghJedburgh was an operation in World War II in which men from the British Special Operations Executive, the U.S. Office of Strategic Services joined with men from the Free French Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action , and the Dutch or Belgian Army to parachute into Nazi occupied France,...
.
The British government also helped and supplied
Charles de GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II...
to unify the
Free FrenchThe Free French Forces were French fighters in World War II who decided to continue fighting against Axis forces after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation.-Definition:...
, resistance movement included.
Role
During the
Allied invasion of NormandyOperation Overlord was the code name for the invasion of western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation began on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy Landings when an airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault...
, the Maquis and other groups played some role in delaying the German mobilization. The French Resistance (FFI
Force Françaises de l'Interieur for "
French Forces of the InteriorThe French Forces of the Interior refers to French resistance fighters in the latter stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation of these groups to FFI occurred as France's status changed from that of an occupied nation...
") blew up railroad tracks and repeatedly attacked German Army equipment and garrison trains on their way to the Atlantic coast. Thanks to coded messages transmitted over the
BBC radioRadio Londres was a radio broadcast from 1940 to 1944 from the BBC in London to Nazi occupied France. It was entirely in French and was operated by Free French Forces who had escaped the German occupation...
, each Maquis group was alerted of the impending D-Day by listening for seemingly meaningless messages such as "the crow will sing three times in the morning" or any other pre-arranged messages read in a continuous flow over the British airwaves. As Allied troops advanced, the French Resistance rose against the Nazi
occupationBelligerent military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
forces and their garrisons en masse. For example,
Nancy WakeNancy Grace Augusta Wake AC, GM served as a British agent during the later part of World War II. She became a leading figure in the maquis groups of the French Resistance and became one of the Allies' most decorated servicewomen of the war.-Early life:Born in Roseneath, Wellington, New Zealand,...
's group of 7,000 maquisards was involved in a pitched battle with 22,000 Germans on June 20, 1944. Some Maquis groups took no prisoners so some
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
soldiers preferred to surrender to Allied soldiers instead of facing maquisards. Captured Maquis faced torture and death or being sent to concentration camps, where few survived.
The Allied offensive was slowed and the Germans were able to counterattack in southeast France. On the
Vercors plateauThe Vercors is a plateau in the départements of Isère and Drôme in Eastern France. It is one of the ranges that form the French Prealps. It lies west from the Dauphiné Alps, from which it is separated by the rivers Drac and Isère. The cliffs at its eastern edge face the city of Grenoble. It...
, a Maquis group fought about 8000 soldiers under general Karl Pflaum and was defeated with 600 casualties.
When
De GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II...
dismissed resistance organizations after the liberation of Paris, many maquisards returned to their homes. Many also joined the new French army to continue the fight.
Customs
It was standard practice among the Maquis to identify members by wearing a Basque
beretA beret is a soft round cap, usually of wool felt, with a flat crown, which is worn by both men and women and usually associated with France although it is also the traditional headgear of Northern Spain...
because it was common enough not to arouse suspicion but distinctive enough to be effective.
Notable maquis
- Maquis de l'Ain et du Haut-Jura
The Maquis de l'Ain et du Haut-Jura were a group of maquis fighters in the French resistance during World War II.On the 11th November 1943, the Maquis de l'Ain et du Haut-Jura, on orders from Colonel Henri Romans-Petit, took possession of the town of Oyonnax in the Ain departement, and...
- Maquis de Corrèze
- Maquis de Fontjun
The Maquis de Fontjun was a one of the maquis networks of French resistance fighters against the German occupation during World war II. The Fontjun maquis was active in the west of the Hérault département, between Saint-Pons and Béziers....
in the HéraultHérault is a department in the south of France named after the Hérault river.-History:Hérault is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc....
- Maquis des Glières
The Maquis des Glières was a Free French Resistance group, which fought against the 1940-1944 German occupation of France in World War II. The name is also given to the military conflict that opposed Resistance fighters to German, Vichy and Milice forces....
in the French Alps
- Maquis du Grésivaudan in the French Alps
- Maquis du Limousin
The maquis du Limousin was one of the largest Maquis groups of French resistance fighters.The region of Limousin was an active area of resistance since 1940. Edmond Michelet distribued tracts calling to continue the war in all Brive-la-Gaillarde's mailboxes on June 17, 1940. It is considered to be...
in Massif centralThe Massif Central is an elevated region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus....
- Maquis de Lozère directed by the German antifascist Otto Kühne
Otto Kühne was a German communist militant, who led a maquis group of German antifascist fighters in the French region of Lozère in 1943 and 1944 during World War II....
- Maquis du Mont Mouchet
The Maquis du Mont Mouchet was a group of French resistance fighters during the Second World War. Based at Mont Mouchet, its goal was to delay the convergence of German forces in the south of France with those in Normandy, in order to aid the Allies in the reconquest of France.The Germans, having...
en AuvergneAuvergne is one of the 26 administrative regions of France.The current administrative region of Auvergne is larger than the historical province of Auvergne, and includes provinces and areas that historically were not part of Auvergne...
- Maquis de Saffré
The Maquis de Saffré was one of the maquis groups of French resistance fighters active in the Loire-Atlantique region, in the triangle formed by the communes of Héric, Nort-sur-Erdre et Saffré....
- Maquis de Saint-Marcel
The Maquis de Saint-Marcel was a force of French resistance fighters during World War II operating in Brittany. It was created just before the Normandy landings with the objectives of preventing German army reinforcements from reaching the coast, thus facilitating the task of the allied landing...
in BrittanyBrittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Brittany was previously a kingdom and then as a duchy it was a fief of the Kingdom of France. It was at one time called Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
- Corps Franc du Sidobre (Tarn)
- Maquis La Tourette
The maquis La Tourette was one of the maquis groups of French resistance fighters during the German occupation of France of World War II.The maquis was created by Jean Bène, inserted into the high cantons of the Hérault département in the Ferrières-Poussarou commune. It operated as far as Béziers....
in the Hérault created by Jean Bène
- Maquis de Vabre
The Maquis de Vabre were an organisation of French Resistance fighters in the east of the Tarn departement during the Second World War, which was gradually built up by local militants. They were officially recognised in December 1943, affiliated to the Armée secrète under the name Maquis Pol Roux...
(Tarn)
- Maquis Vallier
The maquis Vallier was one of the maquis groups of resistance fighters during World War II. The maquis operated in the north of the Var département, particularly in the Verdon valley....
(Var)
- Maquis du Vercors
The massif du Vercors is a prominent scenic plateau region in the French départements of Isère and Drôme in Eastern France. It was used by the rural Free French Resistance group, known as the Maquis du Vercors, as a refuge and a sanctuary for the French Resistance against the 1940-1944 German...
in the French AlpsThe French Alps are those parts of the Alps mountain range which lie in France. They are within the regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Rhône-Alpes.The specific subranges of the Alps that are at least partly in France include :...
- Maquis des Vosges
The Maquis des Vosges were groups of French resistance fighters in the Department of the Vosges during the the Second World War. They were associated through an amalgamation of different resistance groups roughly when the Conseil national de la Résistance was created on 27 May 1943...
- Maquis de Rieumes
The Maquis de Rieumes was one of the maquis groups of French resistance fighters during the Second World War.In 1942, the Juge d'instruction of Muret, André Reboul, along with other patriots, founded the group which in 1944 would become the Maquis de Rieumes.In 1943, the group reinforced itself and...
in the Haute-GaronneHaute-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Garonne river. Its main city is Toulouse.-History:Haute-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
- Meo Maquis (Indochina
Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly east of India, south of China.The word has French origins, Indochine, and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory to bordering countries.Historically, the countries of...
)
See also
- Francs-Tireurs et Partisans
The phrase francs-tireurs was used to describe irregular military formations deployed by France during the early stages of the Franco-Prussian War and from that usage it is sometimes used to refer more generally to guerrilla fighters who fight outside the laws of war...
(FTP)
- French Forces of the Interior
The French Forces of the Interior refers to French resistance fighters in the latter stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation of these groups to FFI occurred as France's status changed from that of an occupied nation...
(FFI)
- Free French Forces
The Free French Forces were French fighters in World War II who decided to continue fighting against Axis forces after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation.-Definition:...
(FFL)
- Chant des Partisans
The Chant des Partisans was the most popular song of the Free French during World War II.The piece was written and put to melody in London in 1943 after Anna Marly heard a Russian song that provided her with inspiration. Joseph Kessel and Maurice Druon wrote the French lyrics...
- Spanish Maquis
The Spanish Maquis were Spanish guerrillas exiled in France after the Spanish Civil War who continued to fight against the Franco regime until the early 1960s, carrying out sabotage, robberies , occupations of the Spanish Embassy in France and assassinations of Francoists, as well as contributing...
- Vang Pao
Vang Pao is a former Major General in the Royal Lao Army. He is an ethnic Hmong and a leader of the Hmong American community in the United States.-Early life:...
"Meo Maquis", Indochina WarsThe Indochina Wars were a series of wars fought in Southeast Asia from 1947 until 1979, between nationalist Vietnamese against French, American, and Chinese forces. The term "Indochina" originally referred to French Indochina, which included the current states of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia...
leader of Hmong peopleThe terms Mong and Hmong refer to an Asian ethnic group in the mountainous regions of southeast Asia. Hmong are also one of the largest sub-groups in the Miao minzu population in southern China. Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration in the 18th century due to political unrest and to...
- Vichy France
Vichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944. This government, which succeeded the Third Republic, officially called itself the French State , in contrast with the previous designation, "French Republic." Marshal...