N. 42 - Giugno 2011
(LXXIII)
The Resistance in occupied Europe
Origins, aims and strategies
by Marco Siddi
The
Resistance
was
essentially
an
armed
struggle
against
the
German
army
and
its
collaborators
that
took
place
in
most
European
countries
occupied
by
the
Third
Reich
during
the
Second
World
War.
It
was
a
spontaneous
movement
made
up
of
people
with
different
social
backgrounds,
involving
primarily
guerrilla
and
sabotage
actions.
Its
main
aims
included
crippling
the
Nazi
war
effort,
liberating
occupied
areas
and
facilitating
the
Allies’
military
operations.
Foreign
invasion
and
the
harshness
of
the
occupation
were
the
main
reasons
for
the
formation
of
resistance
movements.
By
the
summer
of
1942
Hitler’s
armies
had
conquered
vast
areas
of
Europe.
Nazi
occupation
involved
the
brutal
exploitation
of
local
resources
in
order
to
boost
Germany’s
war
effort.
The
agriculture
and
the
industry
of
occupied
countries
were
geared
to
the
Reich’s
war
production
needs.
Hundreds
of
thousands
of
civilians
were
deported
to
work
in
German
factories.
The
German
military
administration
requisitioned
grain
and
livestock
in
the
countryside,
which
alienated
local
peasants
and
farmers,
leading
them
to
support
the
Resistance.
The
Slavic
populations
of
Eastern
Europe,
which
the
Nazis
considered
“racially
inferior”,
were
subject
to
even
more
atrocious
suffering,
unprecedented
material
destruction
and
mass
deportations
to
concentration
camps.
Such
brutality
resulted
in
spectacular
anti-Nazi
revolts,
such
as
the
Warsaw
uprising
in
August-September
1944.
The
introduction
of
conscription
in
some
of
the
occupied
areas
greatly
contributed
to
the
growth
of
resistance
movements.
Many
decided
to
join
the
partisans
rather
than
fight
on
the
side
of
the
Fascists.
This
phenomenon
was
particularly
widespread
in
Italy
and
France,
where
the
Germans
had
created
puppet
governments
that
drafted
soldiers
to
fight
the
war
on
Germany’s
side.
In
Italy,
half
of
the
partisans
were
people
below
the
age
of
25
who
had
evaded
Fascist
conscription.
Although
its
role
was
often
overestimated
in
post-war
political
discourse,
ideology
was
an
important
factor
in
the
formation
of
resistance
groups.
The
partisans
considered
their
struggle
as
an
essential
part
of
the
contention
between
Fascism,
on
one
side,
and
democracy,
freedom
and
communism,
on
the
other
side.
Communist
ideals
were
particularly
widespread
in
the
ranks
of
European
resistance
movements.
In
France,
Italy,
Yugoslavia,
Greece
and
the
Soviet
Union
the
Communist
parties
played
a
fundamental
role
in
the
organization
of
armed
resistance
against
Nazi
occupation.
In
most
of
these
countries
the
Communist
party
had
been
banned
before
the
Nazi
occupation;
thus,
when
the
Germans
arrived,
the
party
could
rely
on
clandestine
and
underground
networks
built
in
previous
years.
The
Italian
Communist
party
had
survived
clandestinely
since
Mussolini’s
rise
to
power
in
the
early
1920s.
In
France,
the
Communist
party
had
been
outlawed
in
1939,
in
response
to
the
Soviet
stipulation
of
the
Molotov-Ribbentrop
non-aggression
pact
between
the
Soviet
Union
and
Nazi
Germany.
When
the
Germans
invaded
France
and
Italy,
the
party’s
underground
networks
enabled
the
Communists
to
organize
active
resistance
better
and
faster
than
other
political
groups
that
lacked
such
clandestine
structures.
In
Italy,
the
Communist
party
re-emerged
from
clandestinity
during
the
45
days
between
the
fall
of
Mussolini
and
the
armistice
(25
July
– 8
September
1943),
with
a
political
campaign
that
demanded
Italy’s
exit
from
the
war.
After
the
Nazi
invasion,
the
party
returned
underground,
organized
the
Resistance
in
central
and
northern
Italy
and
played
a
crucial
role
in
coordinating
the
final
uprisings
of
April
1945,
which
resulted
in
the
liberation
of
all
the
main
northern
Italian
cities
before
the
arrival
of
the
Allies.
In
Yugoslavia
and
in
Greece
the
main
resistance
organizations,
Avnoj
and
ELAS,
were
dominated
by
the
Communists.
They
achieved
considerable
successes
and
also
liberated
vast
areas
before
the
arrival
of
the
Allies.
Partisan
republics
were
founded
in
the
territories
temporarily
freed
by
the
Resistance
in
Greece
and
northern
Italy.
In
these
areas,
elections
took
place
with
universal
male
and
female
suffrage
and
women
were
guaranteed
the
same
rights
as
men.
Communist
propaganda
was
very
active
and
appealed
to
the
masses
thanks
to
its
program
of
land
and
wealth
redistribution,
as
well
as
the
promise
of
an
egalitarian
society
at
the
end
of
the
war.
In
addition,
the
Communists
could
rely
on
the
popularity
of
the
Soviet
Union,
which
had
inflicted
the
first
and
most
decisive
defeats
upon
Nazi
Germany.
The
formation
of
armed
resistance
groups
controlled
by
Communists
also
provided
the
party
with
a
good
opportunity
to
politicize
the
masses
of
volunteers.
As a
result,
Communist
parties
polled
very
well
in
post-war
elections
in
countries
such
as
France
and
Italy.
We
can
therefore
generalize
on a
considerable
number
of
aspects
concerning
European
resistance
movements.
Firstly,
the
Resistance
emerged
as a
response
to
German
occupation
and
exploitation.
Many
civilians
decided
to
join
the
Resistance
rather
than
go
to
work
in
Germany
or
fight
for
a
Nazi
puppet
government.
The
ruthlessness
of
Nazi
occupation
policies
led
civilians
to
support
or
join
the
Resistance
even
in
countries
where
the
arrival
of
the
Germans
had
initially
been
welcomed,
such
as
in
the
Baltic
states
and
western
Ukraine.
Secondly,
the
methods
adopted
by
resistance
movements
were
similar
throughout
Europe.
Clandestine
resistance
groups
were
present
in
the
cities,
as
for
instance
the
Italian
Gruppi
di
Azione
Patriottica,
but
were
smaller
in
number,
as
German
and
Fascist
authority
was
much
stronger
in
the
urban
centres
and
the
risk
of
retaliatory
actions
was
very
high.
The
partisans
concentrated
most
of
their
units
in
the
countryside
and
in
mountainous
regions,
where
the
conditions
to
fight
a
regular
army
were
more
favourable
due
to
the
limited
striking
power
of
tanks
and
airplanes.
The
Greek
and
Yugoslav
territory
is
largely
mountainous
and
constituted
a
suitable
terrain
for
guerrilla.
Vast
areas
of
these
countries
fell
under
the
control
the
partisans,
especially
when
the
Italian
armies
in
the
Balkans
dissolved
in
September
1943.
Italian
partisans
sought
refuge
in
the
valleys
of
the
Alps
and
the
Appennines.
From
these
positions,
they
could
launch
quick
offensives
against
German
and
Fascist
units
in
the
Po
valley,
and
then
withdraw
back
to
the
mountains.
In
France
the
partisans
hid
in
the
mountains
of
the
Massif
Central
and
in
the
countryside
of
central
and
western
France.
In
the
Soviet
Union
the
Resistance
was
very
active
in
the
Ukrainian
and
Byelorussian
countryside,
in
the
rear
of
the
German
army,
where
it
attacked
the
Wehrmacht’s
long
supply
lines.
A
great
part
of
partisan
activities
consisted
in
sabotage
actions.
Bridges,
telephone
lines
and
railways
were
attacked
in
order
to
disrupt
German
communication
lines
and
slow
down
war
production.
The
sabotage
of
communication
lines,
as
well
as
the
intelligence
gathered
by
local
Resistance
groups,
greatly
favoured
Allied
offensives
in
the
occupied
areas.
The
tactics
and
actions
of
the
Resistance
could
only
be
effective
if
the
partisans
enjoyed
the
support
of
the
local
populations.
Resistance
fighters
were
greatly
reliant
on
the
supplies
provided
by
civilians
and
could
hide
successfully
only
if
they
enjoyed
the
“protective
silence”
of
local
inhabitants.
For
this
reason,
resistance
leaders
gave
enormous
importance
to
their
relationship
with
the
local
populations.
Banditry
was
severely
punished.
The
partisans
helped
civilians
by
distributing
goods
captured
from
the
Fascists,
attacking
draft
patrols
and
burning
draft,
police
and
animal
records.
The
Greek
and
Italian
Resistance
imposed
price
ceilings
in
the
areas
that
they
controlled
and
punished
those
who
sold
goods
in
the
black
market.
In
addition,
the
partisans
burglarized
tax
offices
and
postal
services
in
order
to
be
able
to
pay
for
the
goods
that
they
bought
from
civilians.
Undoubtedly,
there
were
moments
of
tension
between
partisans
and
local
populations,
especially
during
the
winter
of
1943-1944
in
Greece
and
the
following
winter
in
Italy.
The
partisans
sometimes
had
to
resort
to
the
use
of
force
to
secure
their
supplies.
Furthermore,
their
hit-and-run
tactics
often
left
the
civilians
who
had
helped
them
exposed
to
terrible
retaliations
by
the
Germans.
This
had
a
double
effect.
On
the
one
hand,
retaliations
scared
civilians,
who
became
more
reluctant
to
support
the
Resistance.
On
the
other
hand,
they
alienated
civilians
even
more
and
forced
the
Fascists
to
fight
in
an
increasingly
hostile
environment.
The
political
implications
of
the
emergence
of
mass
resistance
groups
during
the
war
extended
well
beyond
the
end
of
the
conflict
and
influenced
considerably
the
political
life
of
numerous
states
in
the
post-war
years.
In
Italy,
France
and
Yugoslavia
the
Resistance
provided
both
the
ideological
base
and
the
political
leadership
of
the
post-war
states.
In
Italy,
the
Resistance
became
the
foundational
myth
of
the
republican
state
and
a
source
of
national
pride,
symbolizing
the
re-birth
of
the
country
after
years
of
dictatorship
and
the
disastrous
defeats
of
the
war.
In
France
the
main
figure
of
anti-Nazi
Resistance,
Charles
de
Gaulle,
played
a
prominent
role
in
post-war
politics
for
almost
25
years.
In
Yugoslavia,
resistance
leader
Josip
Broz
“Tito”
became
the
country’s
post-war
president
and
remained
in
power
until
his
death
in
1980.
Riferimenti
bibliografici:
Farmer,
Sarah.
The
Communist
Resistance
in
the
Haute-Vienne,
in
French
Historical
Studies,
Vol.
14
No.
1
(Spring
1985)
Ginsborg,
Paul.
A
history
of
contemporary
Italy
1943-1988.
London:
Penguin,
1990
Mazower,
Mark.
Structures
of
authority
in
the
Greek
Resistance
1941-1944,
in
Opposing
Fascism,
edited
by
Tim
Kirk
and
Anthony
McElligott,
Cambridge
University
Press
(1999)
Mazower,
Mark.
Inside
Hitler’s
Greece.
Yale
University
Press
(2001)
Travis,
D.J.
Communism
in
Modena.
The
provincial
origins
of
the
Partito
Comunista
Italiano
(1943-1945).
In
The
Historical
Journal,
Vol.29
No.
4
(Dec.
1986).
