Basically what the title says — how did people who wanted to fight back go about joining the resistance movement (I understand how the Parisian communists ended up creating their resistance movement, so my question is more focused on those who didn’t support communism), and what would someone’s life be like once they joined up? How often would they meet, what was the leadership infrastructure like, what things would they be doing to disrupt/fight back, etc.
Also — once the war was over, what impact did being in the Résistance have on people’s lives? For example: did their involvement become public knowledge, and how common was it for people to pretend that they were involved when they weren’t? And were there any attempts to keep the network active in peacetime (e.g. as a political party, even a criminal organization, etc.)?
Thanks in advance for your answers!
Interesting question! The first Resistance movements were created right after the 17th june of 1940,but were still unorganized. While Charles de Gaulle was in London trying to maintain the colonies, Jean Moulin was coordinating and federating all those movements of resistance (the birth of the FFI, Forces Françaises Intérieures). As you said, there was a lot of disagreements inside : the Communists still functionned like a clandestine party, while the Gaullists followed more often De Gaulle's order.
Usually, you could join the Gaullists if you knew someone who was part of it (you usually didn't know), if a résistant approached you, or if you joined a "maquis" (an autonomous territory controled by the Résistance), but there weren't maquis near Paris.
Once you were in it, you usually only knew first 2 other resistants, then 5 (2 with an "upper" grade and 3 with a "lower" grade). You probably wouldn't directly commit sabotages, but you were more likely to print and distribute tracts, or transmitting information for the Allies intelligent Services.
At the end of the Occupation of France (1943-1945),things became way more developed for the Résistance : more and more joined it, actions were more and more frequent, and it played a huge role during the Libération of France and Paris. The FFI helped the Allies by giving them informations, practicing guerrilla and making insurrection (an important part of France was liberated by the Résistants, when the German occupation forces collapsed).
The former Résistants played a huge political role during the aftermath of the war : the CNR (Conseil National de la Résistance) ruled France right after the Armistice in order to recreate the République, and a lot of Résistants became political figures, after that.
I hope I answered your questions, sorry if my English isn't perfect, feel free to ask for further infos!