Multiple Resistances
Early in the Occupation, widely scattered acts of "civil resistance" provided proof that the population rejected the occupying forces. The most spectacular demonstration of this was a protest march on November 11, 1940 at the Étoile. Sparked by various incidents, the march involved several thousand protestors, mostly high school students and was savagely attacked. Clandestine resistance groups gradually emerged. Networks arose for rescuing Jewish families, underground railways for helping Allied soldiers and pilots to escape, military intelligence networks, as resistance movements of every political stripe were growing in the capital. A blend of patriotic and democratic responses to the war, as well as a sign of the survival instinct, an expression of solidarity, and faith in the future combined to motivate the growth of a vast web of networks. The web gradually centered on the unifying symbol of France at war, General de Gaulle. When the line of demarcation was cancelled in March 1943, Paris became the capital of internal Resistance. Resistance movements, parties, and clandestine labor unions were federated under the Conseil national de la Résistance (CNR) [National Resistance Council], which was headquartered in Paris.
Jean Moulin presided over the first meeting on May 27, 1943 at 48 Rue du Four in the 6th arrondissement. Nearly any activity could become part of clandestine action, but some actions were publicized via inscriptions on walls, stickers, tracts, and clandestine newspapers intended to provide news but also to transmit instructions and support morale; protests by housewives and the looting of food stores; the organization of attacks and sabotage whose purpose was to harm the occupying forces and demoralize Nazi troops.
