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Résistance cells were small groups of armed men and women (called the Maquis in rural areas), who, in addition to their guerrilla warfare activities, were also publishers of underground newspapers, providers of first-hand intelligence information, and maintainers of escape networks that helped Allied soldiers and airmen trapped behind enemy lines.
The French Resistance played a significant role in facilitating the Allies' rapid advance through France following the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944,
De Gaulle's influence grew in France, and by 1942 one resistance leader called him "the only possible leader for the France that fights". Other Gaullists, those who could not join Britain , remained in the territories ruled by Vichy and built networks of propagandists, spies and saboteurs to harass and discomfit the occupiers. Eventually, leaders of all of these separate and fragmented Résistance organizations were gathered and coordinated by Jean Moulin under the auspices of the National Council of Resistance (CNR), de Gaulle's formal link to the irregulars throughout occupied France.
By 1942,..., about 300,000 copies of underground publications reached around two million readers. Resistance workers used friendly print-shop facilities at night. This showed one way the Resistance affected France's civilian mindset, and encouraged them to consider their responsibility to France. Of course, de Gaulle said that a civilian's duty to France was to come join his army and fight for freedom with him.
Several color-coded plans were co-ordinated for sabotage, most importantly Plan Vert for railways, Plan Bleu (Blue) for power installations and Plan Violet (Purple) for telecommunications. To complement these missions, smaller plans were drafted: Plan Rouge (Red) for German ammunition depots, Plan Jaune (Yellow) for German command posts, Plan Noir (Black) for German fuel depots and Plan Tortue (Tortoise) for road traffic. Their paralysis of German infrastructure is widely thought to have been very effective. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill later wrote in his memoirs praising the role the Résistance played in the liberation of Brittany, "The French Resistance Movement, which here numbered 30,000 men, played a notable part, and the peninsula was quickly overrun."
The French Resistance played a significant role in facilitating the Allies' rapid advance through France following the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944,
De Gaulle's influence grew in France, and by 1942 one resistance leader called him "the only possible leader for the France that fights". Other Gaullists, those who could not join Britain , remained in the territories ruled by Vichy and built networks of propagandists, spies and saboteurs to harass and discomfit the occupiers. Eventually, leaders of all of these separate and fragmented Résistance organizations were gathered and coordinated by Jean Moulin under the auspices of the National Council of Resistance (CNR), de Gaulle's formal link to the irregulars throughout occupied France.
By 1942,..., about 300,000 copies of underground publications reached around two million readers. Resistance workers used friendly print-shop facilities at night. This showed one way the Resistance affected France's civilian mindset, and encouraged them to consider their responsibility to France. Of course, de Gaulle said that a civilian's duty to France was to come join his army and fight for freedom with him.
Several color-coded plans were co-ordinated for sabotage, most importantly Plan Vert for railways, Plan Bleu (Blue) for power installations and Plan Violet (Purple) for telecommunications. To complement these missions, smaller plans were drafted: Plan Rouge (Red) for German ammunition depots, Plan Jaune (Yellow) for German command posts, Plan Noir (Black) for German fuel depots and Plan Tortue (Tortoise) for road traffic. Their paralysis of German infrastructure is widely thought to have been very effective. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill later wrote in his memoirs praising the role the Résistance played in the liberation of Brittany, "The French Resistance Movement, which here numbered 30,000 men, played a notable part, and the peninsula was quickly overrun."