- On June 18th, 1940, Charles de Gaulle called on the people of France to continue the fight against the Germans and while the message was well received in the north it was not well received in Vichy France. Even though many did not agree with or approve of the Vichy government, it was still run by French people. However, when the Vichy government began to openly collaborate with Germany, opinions changed quickly. There were many resistance groups, such as the movements that took direct orders from the Special Operations Executive (SOE), the communist resistance, groups loyal to Charles de Gaulle, regional groups that wanted independence and many more. The target in northern France was simply the Germans while in southern France, the resistance was fighting the Vichy government as well as the Germans.
- Some of the first resistance movements, including the OCM (Organisation Civile et Militaire), occurred in northern France and by the end of 1940, six underground newspapers were being printed.
- In May 1941, the first SOE agent was dropped into northern France to assist the resistance movement
- June 22nd 1941, (Operation Barbarossa) all communist groups in France united into one group which greatly increased its potency and the quickly made a reputation for being aggressive and successful resistance fighters
- October 1941, the British Government and Charles de Gaulle reached a compromise regarding the resistance operations. Charles set up a Central Intelligence and Operations Agency and a National Council of the Resistance movement was established
- November 11th 1942, German forces occupied all of France and the attitudes of the north quickly transferred to those attitudes of the south
- Many French people joined the resistance due to the compulsory labor service that had been brought in and the treatment of the Jews, they wanted to fight against a policy that the vast majority found abhorrent
- By the end of 1942, Charles de Gaulle was the head of the French Committee of National Liberation which headed all resistance movements in France
- In 1943 the resistance became more effective due to this greater organizational security and attacks on the French rail system increased greatly
- January - June 1943, there were 130 acts of sabotage against rail lines each month and by September, this had increased to 530
- By 1944, there were an estimated 100,000 members of various resistance movements
- By the spring of 1944, there were 60 intelligence cells that were tasked with collecting intelligence rather than acts of sabotage
- May 1944, more than 3,000 written reports were sent to the Allies along with 700 wireless reports
- Between April and May 1944, the resistance destroyed 1,800 railway engines
- Between 1943 and 1944, the 150 most successful acts of sabotage used just 3,000 lbs of explosives- the equivalent of a bomb load of one single Mosquito plane