''Libération-Nord'' ("Liberation-North") was one of the principal resistance movements in the northern occupied zone of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. It was one of the eight great networks making up the

National Council of the Resistance The National Council of the Resistance (also, National Resistance Council; in French: ''Conseil National de la Résistance'' (CNR), was the body that directed and coordinated the different movements of the French Resistance: the press, trade uni ...

History

Initially an underground newspaper, from December 1940 to November 1941 Libération-Nord was transformed into a resistance movement. Aiming to express the secret movements of the non-communist unions among the

Confédération générale du travail The General Confederation of Labour (french: Confédération Générale du Travail, CGT) is a national trade union center, founded in 1895 in the city of Limoges. It is the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions. It is ...

the

Confédération Française des Travailleurs Chrétiens The French Confederation of Christian Workers (french: italic=no, Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens; CFTC) is one of the five major French confederation of trade unions, belonging to the social Christian tradition. It was f ...

and the

Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was foun ...

(SFIO), Libération-Nord was formed around

Christian Pineau Christian Pineau (; 14 October 1904, in Chaumont-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne, France – 5 April 1995, in Paris) was a noted French Resistance fighter, who later served an important term as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1956 through 1958. Life ...

and the team of the ''Manifeste des douze''. The movement was not entirely

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

but the leadership was socialist. In 1942, two resistance networks were created from within Libération-Nord under the command of the

Bureau central de renseignements et d'action The Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action (, Central Bureau of Intelligence and Operations), abbreviated BCRA, was the World War II-era forerunner of the SDECE, the French intelligence service. The BCRA was created by the Free French chief- ...

: * Phalanx in the ''zone Sud'', created by Christian Pineau * Cohors-Asturies in the ''zone Nord''. In early 1943 Libération-Nord began to organise armed groups under the impetus of

Jean Cavaillès Jean Cavaillès (; ; 15 May 1903 – 4 April 1944) was a French philosopher and logician who specialized in philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of science. He took part in the French Resistance within the '' Libération'' movement and was a ...

and Colonel Zarapoff. Represented at the National Council of the Resistance, where he exerted the influence of the underground SFIO, the movement withheld its participation from the

Mouvements unis de la Résistance The Communist Party of Belgium (french: Parti Communiste de Belgique, or PCB; nl, Communistische Partij van België) is a communist party in Belgium. It was founded in Wallonia in 1989 as the Communist Party of Wallonia after the Communist Party ...

in December 1943. With the instar of the Organisation civile et militaire, Libération-Nord failed to create a great workers' party with its origins in the resistance.

Principal members

* Pierre Boursicot * Jean Aimé Caillau *

* Michel Collinet * Jean-Baptiste Daviais *

Paul Rassinier Paul Rassinier (18 March 1906 – 28 July 1967) was a political activist and writer who is viewed as "the father of Holocaust denial". Totten, Samuel; Bartrop, Paul Robert; Jacobs, Steven L. "Rassinier, Paul", ''Dictionary of Genocide'', Vo ...

* Jean Gosset *

René Iché René Iché (21 January 1897 – 23 December 1954) was a 20th-century French sculptor. Life and work René Iché was born in Sallèles-d'Aude, France. He fought in World War I, where he was injured and gassed. After the war, he earned a degre ...

* Marcel Mérigonde *

* Yves Rocard *

Louis Saillant Louis André Saillant (27 November 1910 – 28 October 1974) was a French trade unionist and resistance fighter. Born in Valance, Saillant worked as a cabinet maker. He became active in the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), becoming s ...

François Tanguy-Prigent François Marie Tanguy Prigent (11 October 1909 – 20 January 1970) was a French Socialist politician who became a resistance fighter during World War II (1939–45). He was Minister of Agriculture from September 1944 to October 1947 and was Mini ...

* Colonel Zarapoff

Bibliography

* Alya Aglan, ''La Résistance sacrifiée. Le mouvement Libération-Nord'', Flammarion, 1999 (), nouvelle édition, « Champs », 2006. * Christian Pineau, ''La Simple Vérité. Regard sur la période 1940-1945'', Juillard, 1960 * Marc Sadoun, ''Les Socialistes sous l'Occupation'', Presses de la Fondation nationale des sciences politiques, 1982 ()

History

Principal members

Bibliography

See also