In June of 1940, the unthinkable happened to the citizens of beautiful Paris, German tanks began to roll through her streets. The impenetrable Maginot Line had simply been bypassed thus leading to the fall of France. However, the French will would not be beaten so easily. A massive underground resistance was formed and put into action. Among the hundreds of men that took part in the resistance were also valiant women who chose to stand with them. This paper will seek to describe the reasons for women being involved in the resistance and to portray the actions of their involvement therefore demonstrating the necessity of their contributions to the success of the resistance. Woodrow Wilson once said, "Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance.".
Once the Germans entered France and began their move toward Paris, the French people began to evacuate the cities and move to the country. "La Grande Peur -the great fear- swept like a tidal wave through the boulevards of the capital" (Josephs, 1989). This fear caused a quarter of the population of Paris to flee the city in a mass exodus that resulted in ninety thousand children being separated from their parents. Some would never find their parents again. German rule was strictly enforced. The German policy of Jewish laws and forced labor were imposed. The normal war repercussions of food shortages, damaged structures and unemployment were also present. .
The French resistance began immediately after the German occupation, only not in an organized manner. Here and there, individuals began to refuse to follow the German decrees. Out of their linked gestures of charity in an uncharitable time, some of the future organized resistance was born. Many of the great leaders of the resistance-to-be were those individuals who escaped from prison camps.