Hidden from view: foreigners in the French Resistance 1940-1944

Finnemore, Sheila Ann (2014). Hidden from view: foreigners in the French Resistance 1940-1944. University of Birmingham. M.Phil.

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Abstract

This study is prompted by awareness that hundreds of foreigners were part of the French resistance and that current research has marginalised their role. It examines the evolution of foreign resistance in France from 1939, when thousands of immigrants and exiles volunteered to join the French army, through to 1944 when deserters from the German army joined the maquis. The study establishes the reasons for the presence of thousands of foreigners on French soil, who were then willing to support France in the defence of its sovereignty. It details the organisation of foreigners into resistance by the communist associations of the Main d’Oeuvre Immigré, the MOI, in conjunction with the French communist party, following the occupation of France in 1940. It outlines the growth of resistance organisations which had been established during 1941 and 1942 and examines their transition from urban resistance to the rural maquis in 1943. In 1944, growing numbers of deserters from the German army defected to the maquis to participate in the eventual liberation of France. This study concludes that foreign resisters played an important role within the French resistance, but the fact that many were communists contributed to the general reluctance to acknowledge their existence.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Masters by Research > M.Phil.)

Award Type:

Masters by Research > M.Phil.

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