World War II
Read this text for an overview of the conflict of World War II.
Resistance and Collaboration
Resistance during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation, disinformation, and propaganda to outright warfare.
Members of the Dutch Eindhoven Resistance with troops of the U.S. 101st Airborne in front of the Eindhoven cathedral during Operation Market Garden in September 1944.
Among the most notable resistance movements were the Polish Home Army, the French Maquis, and the Yugoslav Partisans. Germany also had an anti-Nazi movement. The Communist resistance was among the fiercest since they were organized and militant before the war and ideologically opposed to the Nazis.
Before D-Day on June 6, 1944, the French Resistance performed many operations to help the forthcoming invasion. They cut communications lines, derailed trains, roads, and water towers, destroyed ammunition depots, and attacked some German garrisons.
Although Great Britain did not suffer invasion in World War II, the British made preparations for a British resistance movement called the Auxiliary Units. Various organizations were formed to establish foreign resistance cells or support existing resistance movements, such as the British SOE and the American OSS.