The Importance of the Resistance

Submission Type

Synchronous Research Talk

Area of Study or Work

Western European Studies

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Christopher Callahan

Expected Graduation Date

2021

Start Date

4-11-2021 1:15 PM

End Date

4-11-2021 1:30 PM

Abstract

The French Resistance in World War II is known for the strength of all of the resistors and the many ways they fought against the Germans. It is worth noting that for one thing, some of the most influential leaders of the Resistance were young people, and for another, because of specific gender roles at the time, women did much of the recruiting and the behind the scenes while men destroyed anything and everything that was German. Furthermore, the memoirs and stories of the many brave resistors are only now being discovered and analyzed, and they reveal much about France's response to the Nazi occupation, the war itself, and the French culture. In this paper, I intend to compare and contrast the styles of resistance used by women and men; to do this, I will analyze the memoirs by Nancy Wake, an immigrant from New Zealand who was Chief of Parachute Operations and reported to London what was going on in France, Lucie Aubrac, a history teacher who also played a key role in the Resistance, and many other memoirs and letters from young men who resisted, including Jacques Lusseyran, a blind man who helped recruit an army of adolescent men to resist the Germans.

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Apr 11th, 1:15 PM Apr 11th, 1:30 PM

The Importance of the Resistance

The French Resistance in World War II is known for the strength of all of the resistors and the many ways they fought against the Germans. It is worth noting that for one thing, some of the most influential leaders of the Resistance were young people, and for another, because of specific gender roles at the time, women did much of the recruiting and the behind the scenes while men destroyed anything and everything that was German. Furthermore, the memoirs and stories of the many brave resistors are only now being discovered and analyzed, and they reveal much about France's response to the Nazi occupation, the war itself, and the French culture. In this paper, I intend to compare and contrast the styles of resistance used by women and men; to do this, I will analyze the memoirs by Nancy Wake, an immigrant from New Zealand who was Chief of Parachute Operations and reported to London what was going on in France, Lucie Aubrac, a history teacher who also played a key role in the Resistance, and many other memoirs and letters from young men who resisted, including Jacques Lusseyran, a blind man who helped recruit an army of adolescent men to resist the Germans.