Academic Review 2024

78 ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

Another factor which undermines the military influence of the passive resistance was the establishment of the Service de Travail Obligatoire (STO) in late 1942, through which forced labour was imposed on the French by the Nazi occupiers. The legal establishment of enforced labour generated strong resentment among the French population and created an ‘atmosphere more vulnerable to militant resistance’ (Almond, 1947). Through this new law, Vichy sent 300,000 French workers to German factories, where poor treatment also provided another incentive to resist (Albertelli, Blanc, & Douzou, 2019). Of this total, 30-40,000 are believed to have escaped (Albertelli, Blanc, & Douzou, 2019). While this figure is relatively low, it is important to consider the number of active members of the Resistance in France at the time, as well as the life threatening risks involved in escaping German control. Many fled to the mountains or regrouped in remote rural areas, forming a resistance group called the Maquis . Known for their prolific use of guerilla tactics against the Nazi occupiers, the Maquis ultimately became one of the most prominent rural resistance Conclusion To conclude, this investigation has demonstrated that the passive resistance was ideologically significant, and politically and militarily decisive during the German occupation. By motivating a small but effective group of early members of the French Resistance passive resistance was ideologically significant but not decisive. Other factors, including the ‘deteriorating standards of living’ (Blumenson, 1977) under the Nazi regime, were important motivations and therefore it can be argued that the best promoters of anti-German ideology were, in fact, the Germans themselves. The passive resistance was politically decisive, through the foundation of a diverse spectrum of political movements. While merging political groups proved complicated, significant cooperation was

groups. In accepting that the establishment of the STO was an additional cause for the shift to a militarised resistance, the passive resistance can still be argued to have been influential in encouraging and instructing the maquisards on how to resist actively. Grenard, for instance, states that through transmissions the BBC in London organised and instigated acts of sabotage performed by the Maquis (Grenard, 2020). Therefore, while the STO was certainly an independent factor in instigating a militarised resistance, the passive resistance remained an important element to its success through its communicative role. The passive resistance was decisive in laying the foundations for military resistance against the German occupiers by acting as a training ground and by inciting the French to engage in a militarised resistance. Despite Germany’s declaration of war on the USSR and the establishment of the STO , the passive resistance remained central to engaging the French in a militarised response, uniting members of the Resistance and preparing them for taking up arms. achieved, providing a crucial step towards military resistance. Passive resistance was also militarily decisive, as a consequence of the ideological and political foundations established between 1940 and 1942. The military resistance emerged directly from political movements which provided training in organisation and secrecy and acted as a source of military recruitment through the clandestine press. Importantly, through unification, the strength of the resistance grew exponentially. While the military resistance is still praised for its role in the liberation of France, this investigation has highlighted that it was dependent on the efforts of the passive resistance. Therefore I conclude that passive resistance was decisive during the German occupation between 1940 and 1944.