Conseil National de la Résistance

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The Conseil National de la Résistance (CNR) or the National Council of the Resistance is the body that directed and coordinated the different movements of the French Resistance - the press, trade unions, and members of political parties hostile to the Vichy regime, starting from mid-1943.

1 Background
2 Formation
- 2.1 Conference of anti-Nazi resistance fighters
3 Arrest of Jean Moulin
4 Program of the Conseil National de la Résistance
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Background

Various resistance movements had arisen in France since the start of the German occupation in June 1940. With the possible exception of the Francs-tireurs partisans and other groups loyal to the Communist Party of France, the maquis groups were mostly unorganised and unrelated to one another. This lack of coordination made them less effective in their actions against the Nazi occupiers.

[edit] Formation

Charles de Gaulle, exiled in London and recognized by the UK as leader of a French government in exile, began seeking the formation of a committee to unify the resistance movements. On January 1, 1942, he delegated this task to Jean Moulin. Moulin achieved the feat on May 27, 1943 with the first meeting of the Conseil National de la Résistance in the apartment of René Corbin on the second floor of 48, Rue du Four, in Paris.

[edit] Conference of anti-Nazi resistance fighters

Aside from Moulin and his two assistants, Pierre Meunier and Robert Chambeiron, conference participants included representatives of eight other French resistance movements, members of six of France's major political parties and two trade unions. Pierre Villon of the Front National, Roger Coquoin of Ceux de la Libération, Jacques Lecompte-Boinet (Ceux de la Résistance), Charles Laurent (Libération-Nord), Pascal Copeau of Libération-Sud, Jacques-Henri Simon of Organisation Civile et Militaire, Claude Bourdet of Combat, and Eugène Claudius-Petit of Franc-Tireur were all present, as well as representatives of the two large pre-war trade unions, Louis Saillant for the Confédération générale du travail and Gaston Tessier for the Confédération Française des Travailleurs Chrétiens.

In addition the six main political parties of the French Third Republic were also represented: André Mercier of the French Communist Party, André Le Troquer of the Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, Marc Rucart for the Radical-Socialists, Georges Bidault of the Parti démocrate populaire (the Christian Democrats), Joseph Laniel for l'Alliance démocratique, and Jacques Debu-Bridel of the Fédération républicaine all attended the Rue du Four meeting.

[edit] Arrest of Jean Moulin

However, shortly after the CNR's creation, its president Jean Moulin was arrested at Caluire by the SS. Over the next three days, Moulin was tortured by Klaus Barbie himself, and would die during his transfer to Germany. He divulged no information to his torturers and his silence likely allowed the CNR to pursue its activities.

After Moulin's capture and death, the Conseil National de la Résistance decided for security reasons to end its plenary sessions and created an executive office of five members, with each member representing his own group and two others. The new office was under the direction of Alexandre Parodi, delegate-general, and Georges Bidault, the new president. On September 9, 1944, Louis Saillant succeeded Bidault as head of the CNR.

[edit] Program of the Conseil National de la Résistance

On March 15, 1944, the CNR adopted, after months of negotiations, the Program of the Conseil National de la Résistance ^{(in French)}. The document was strongly influenced by communist groups like the Front National, especially in part II, "Measures to be taken immediately after the liberation of the territory", which envisioned the establishment of a social democracy with a planned economy in France following liberation. Some of these proposed measures were applied, at least to a certain extent, after liberation, including the nationalisation of energy (Électricité de France was founded in 1946), insurance companies (AGF in 1945) and banks (Crédit Lyonnais in 1945, Société Générale in 1946), the creation of social security programs and the independence of trade unions (granted in 1946 by the Charter of Amiens). They constitute a large part of the so-called acquis sociaux of the second half of the twentieth century in France.