French Resistance Research Paper

Throughout the book “Au Revoir Les Enfants” Louis Malle highlights at several points the typical associations which the majority of people have when discussing the role of the Germans during the war. However Malle approaches the topic from a more complex angle thus forcing the reader to question the general stereotypes and examine the varying attitudes of both the French and Germans, by portraying them in certain situations in which they adopt a sometimes unexpected attitude.

Nazi’s had occupied France at the time and had taken control. France was part of the allied forces and was under attack by the Nazi’s. As part of the Allied Powers America, Canada, and Great Britain came to the rescue. Dwight Eisenhower was the leader behind this invasion. In December 1943, Eisenhower was put in charge of Operation Overlord – the long waited for attack on mainland Europe. Such an attack would require detailed and meticulous planning which is why Eisenhower was picked to lead this plan by the combined chief of staffs. In excerpts from General Eisenhower’s document the Order of The Day which he gave to the soldiers on D-Day he states In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world. / But this is the year 1944!/The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to victory! I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory!(Eisenhower 1944). General Eisenhower explains that the allies should come together, and they will bring forth destruction upon the Germans. He also states that in the document they will force the Nazi’s out of Europe and France will be freed. Eisenhower

" France was challenged from the outside by foreign invaders. They couldn't stand there and be penetrated by enemy firepower, they has to make a movement that would hurt, but benefit in the long run greatly. Moreover, In Document C it states that in September 1792 France fought back and won three Famous Battle of Valmy. It is stated that 80,000 people died in both sides. Imagine if France did not fight back, France would be in shambles.

During the terror the “committee of public safety” was set up to keep the French people safe and after that one leader from the jacobins name Maximilien Robespierre became the dictator(making all the decisions for the country)of French, and he was one of the worst ruler of French. He killed more than 17 thousand people in the guillotine and people didn't want him as A leader,so he got executed at the end, and then napoleon came to power. Who was a military leader,and he took over most of Europe and made French empire huge but when he, and his army invaded Russia, he was failed to take over Russia, where he lost his army and that's how he lost his power.

May 1940, Hitler and his German army invaded France, it would only take a little over a month before France would surrender to Hitler’s Germany and the Nazi Party. The German occupation of France not only expanded the Nazi’s territory, but it also encouraged many French citizens to rise up and go against Hitler and his cruel rule. From young to old, around one hundred-thousand men and women, by 1944, took up arms and fought against the occupation. Not all the resistance fighters were violent though, some helped by just gathering intelligence and spying, but the Maquis were more focused on hunting down the Nazis. After France’s surrender Charles de Gaulle urged the French to keep fighting the Germans.

In 1940, was a big time to quite a bit of French people if you talking about pride. Alot of the citizens and more people believed they let the people down. Then they decided to approve Vichy Government by the creation of Nazi. Mainly in the southern part of the country not as must as the northern half, is where there was more proof that politicians had let down France. The French Resistance helped the Allies alot with their intelligence, way to plan things out and ability to escape("History of the French Resistance - the Alliance Reseau, Maquis, FTP and

This also shows why the Reign of Terror was unjustified because they were taking away Christianity, making part of the French population upset, being one of the reasons why of the counterrevolution. Another reason for why people rebelled was the military drafts because they were putting people into the military against their will and that made people agitated. With so many inside threats, there were also outside threats from Austria and Prussia. Since they were both monarchies, they were afraid that the revolution could spread, so they attacked to prevent it from fanning out to other countries. Generally speaking, the fact that the people inside of France are against the Reign of Terror, including foreign enemies afraid of the revolution spreading, shows that the Reign of Terror was

First off when the Prussians and Russians tried to invade France, the French held their ground and beat them in war that took many resources but they succeeded (Document B). When the French won the war and took over the Netherlands, they got more followers and took even more land because as a rule more followers meant that they could march into countries because they were a very large nation. When the French executed the government leaders on a guillotine this made them stronger as a nation too (Document F). As a rule when they executed the leaders they inserted fear into everyone and fear is a powerful tool that got people not to betray or turn against them. Lastly when the French finally killed their radical leader Robespierre they became stronger (Document C). When they killed him they finally became independent and stronger because Robespierre didn’t kill everyone anymore and more people ot to follow ideals of freedom without Robespierre telling them what to

While this was going on in France, the army was trying to make France’s government better, but while doing it, the rights of the people were violated. From Louis XVI’s unfair treatment to the citizens, it caused them to revolt. Since the citizens did not agree with the authority, they were not treated right for speaking out. The rights they deserve were not given to them. For example, “People here fiercely fought against the military draft called levée en masse and against laws that tried to abolish Christianity in France.” (Doc C). They were not given the right for freedom of

The French Revolution national mobilization politically and economically and Napoleonic warfare, including utter destruction of the opposition

With a strong backup, the Allied troops were able to advance through the enemy-occupied countries with lightening speed. Therefore, the attack not only led to the French people’s freedom, but also to the quick downfall of Nazi Germany. (Naval History and Heritage- D-Day, the Normandy Invasion, 6 - 25 June 1944)

As the operation began, the Americans and British hoped the French would not resist the Allied landings, and further expected French forces in North Africa would rejoin the anti-Axis alliance. In order to facilitate these hopes, the Allies designated General Dwight D. Eisenhower to command the invasion forces. With an American general leading the forces, the Allies sought to restrict any resistance from Anglophobic French officials and officers in the areas around the invasion beaches and ports. Despite such measures, however, the French did put up some level of resistance at nearly every landing point. Nonetheless, dissension among the various French factions in North Africa limited the cohesiveness and effectiveness of the opposition. Ultimately, the magnitude and rapidity of the Allied

The French Resistance (La Résistance française) was a collaboration of individual movements against the German occupation of France and the Vichy regime that complied with the Nazis during World War II. Starting in 1940 and ending with the liberation of France, French people from all ends of the economic and political spectrum united in different Résistance groups to perform guerilla attacks, run underground newspapers, provide intelligence to and from the allies, and manage escape networks to allied territory for political enemies and others persecuted by the Nazis (Aubrac, 3).

The external thread of foreign armies on French soil and the internal threat to the french revolutionary government , which

Although they may have somewhat succeeded in suppressing the opposing sentiment within France, the Revolutionary Army managed to establish more enemies to clash with later on. Desmoulins in document 6 asked “Could you make a single man perish on the scaffold without making ten enemies for yourself from his family or his friends”. In Desmoulins’s opinion, it is impossible to go about killing a man without creating enemies out of that man’s affiliations in the process. Quite simply, the Army’s belief that they are moving towards a common good is negated by the sheer fact that they are murdering mass amounts of French citizens. The public opinion of the matter includes “bitter complaints [are] already expressed numberless times” (document 10). This is a great disadvantage because the Army established a mutual disdain for the revolutionary government. Without support of the government, it is rather difficult to flourish.