Academic Review 2024

76 ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

However, the decisiveness of these political movements can be questioned, for the passive resistance may not have achieved complete unity or coordination between the movements it helped create. For example, a Polish secret agent and member of the Resistance stated in 1941: ‘each movement wishes to keep its political independence and only merge on a minimum program of ideas’ (Albertelli, Blanc, & Douzou, 2019). Even after the creation of the MUR (Mouvements unis de la Résistance) , the main political movements insisted on keeping their propaganda services and their political agendas independent. Furthermore, the MUR only included movements from the Unoccupied Zone and excluded traditional socialist and communist movements alongside unions, which were themselves highly politicised (Albertelli, Blanc, & Douzou, 2019). Additionally, until 1943, constant debate between resistance movements that pushed for coordination, and the French Communists who pushed for an immediate armed resistance, undermined efforts to create a united political front (Albertelli, Blanc, & Douzou, 2019). This may suggest that passive resistance was not entirely decisive politically as, at least initially, it lacked coordination. counterproductive, this issue was only temporary. Ultimately, the unification of the resistance groups under the MUR in January 1943 marked a turning point as the primary resistance groups in France, including Libération , Combat , and Franc-Tireur, set aside their political differences to resist against the greater threat of the Nazis (Albertelli, Blanc, & Douzou, 2019). Therefore, from 1943, the impact of the passive resistance was augmented and arguably counteracted the previous lack of coordination between resistance movements. The passive resistance was therefore politically decisive during the German occupation of France. Despite strong internal tensions and individual rivalries, the combination of the formation of diverse political movements as well as the establishment of the MUR , successfully united the French against the common enemy. While the diversity of the clandestine press and resistance movements was arguably

formation of political parties, the passive resistance was a catalyst in shifting the Resistance into a greater political framework. Another way that the passive resistance was politically decisive was through achieving unity through its diversity. The clandestine press represented an array of political ideologies. Humanité, La Vie Ouvrière, and Front National represented the extreme left, Libération-Nord and Libération-Sud shared close ties with the Socialist party, and Combat and Défense de la France were considered leftist publications (Hadsel, 1946). Other publications, notably, Résistance and Courrier Français du Témoignage Chrétien disseminated the views of Catholic liberals. Through such diversity, Krivopissko argues that the clandestine press was able to ‘penetrate (...) the entirety of French territory and society’ (Krivopissko & Willard, 1986). On one hand, the clandestine publications were arguably not completely diverse, as they did not represent the far right, however this can be understood, for such publications would be seen as supporting Hitler’s fascist ideology, and would therefore have limited appeal among the resistance readership. According to Albertelli, Blanc, and Douzou, the diversity of the clandestine press represented an array of views appealing to the political persuasions of existing and potential resisters. In doing so, it arguably united many French, despite their varying political backgrounds, with one common goal: ‘hostility to German domination’ (Hadsel, 1946). It could also be argued that the political impact of the passive resistance was also decisive as political movements partially filled a void left by France’s political, administrative, and military leadership, which had been dissolved. Through the formation of structured political, legal and constitutional bodies such as the Noyautage des Administrations Publiques (NAP) , a vision of French political and administrative organisation post-war began to materialise (Albertelli, Blanc, & Douzou, 2019). Established in 1942, the NAP infiltrated public administration departments, town halls and rail services to inform and prepare de Gaulle’s London-based “government in waiting” (Gidea, 2015). It could be argued that this extension of political resistance provided reassurance and inspired further resistance activity (Albertelli, Blanc, & Douzou, 2019).