So what do you mean only 10% of the populations supported the resistance? Like did only 10% actively support the resistance (by joining or bringing in supplies and intelligence)? Or were they basically polling at a 10% approval rate?
Note: My answer is informed by a university module I took four years ago – I do not speak French, nor am I up to date with Vichy historiography. All errors are my own, and would greatly appreciate any corrections by scholars of modern France down below.
You’re a French waiter at a nice outdoor café near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Every day, the Parisian elite gather at your café to drink overpriced coffee, exchange gossip, shoo away inquisitive pigeons, and complain about the government. No, this is not Emily in Paris, but 1940s France. The Germans have broken through the Maginot Line. The poor French boys who defended the Dunkirk beachhead so valiantly are now in captivity, abandoned by the fleeing British. De Gaulle? Who’s that? Half of France is now under German control, the other half administrated by the new French government at the spa resort of Vichy. The older cafegoers nod approvingly when they hear that Petain heads the Vichy government. The First World War hero will protect French interests and restore stability to the nation, you hear them say.
The German officers sit apart from the Parisians. Nobody is comfortable with their presence, you least of all. You consider yourself a patriot, and would have served in the army if not for a long-term foot injury. Their boisterousness gets on your nerves, and you only grow in anger as they call you over and try to place their orders in broken French. You have several options. You could join the French Resistance and listen in on their conversations. It feels like the morally right thing to do, but you have no idea how long the occupation will be and you don’t want to stress of always looking over your shoulder in fear of being caught by the Gestapo. Joining countryside guerrilla bands sounds romantic and dashing, but the thought of living hand to month, hunted constantly by the police and the paramilitary orders, has little appeal to an urbanite like you. On a smaller scale, you could carry out civil disobedience and refuse to serve German officers. You would be certainly sacked for doing so. How would you then feed your old mother and fund the school expenses of your younger brother? A new job would be hard to find, especially considering the hundreds of demobilised veterans applying for every single job opening. You could, of course, do nothing. You will rage against the Germans with all one’s heart, but smile outwardly as you take their orders. You feel guilty as you take their generous tips, but food prices are rising, and you need every franc you can get. Over time, you might even befriend the regular German patrons to your café. Are you collaborating? Yes, you are, but the cynic inside you replies: what else can one do?
There has been some justifiable comments over the validity and source of the 10% quoted by the OP. My best guess would be that it comes from Robert O. Paxton’s Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944, published in 1972, which argues a majority of the French population supported the Vichy government after its establishment in 1940. But Paxton’s argument is much more nuanced than just a number (and to my knowledge, Paxton never explicitly stated a percentage of 10% - happy to be corrected here).
Firstly, sources. The construction of public opinion remains difficult for historians – public polling is very much a modern phenomenon. As several other comments note, neither Germany nor Vichy France conducted polls on the level of the Mass Observation Project over in Britain. Nor can public opinion be determined through the reading of free press or public debate due to its suppression in Vichy France. For post-war historians, public opinion in occupied France remained an unsolvable mystery, and many chose to uncritically accept the Gaullist myth of widespread French resistance. Henri Michel, one of the foremost scholars in the 1950s and 1960s, could claim that “the French… had been, in their great majority, heroes, patriots, and victims.” Others, such as Robert Aron, relied on the post-war trials and testimonies from former Vichy officials to construct a ‘Sword and Shield’ theory that sympathised with the Vichy position. ‘Sword and Shield’ supporters argued that while De Gaulle served as France’s sword overseas, Petain’s government served as the shield that protected the French from German depravities.
/u/beached_snail provided a pretty good comprehensive answer
I'm a big fan of the book An Army of Amateurs by Philippe de Vomecourt. He and his brothers were French/British citizens/residents and became operators of SOE units in France.
Philippe specifically had been a rail-worker and obtained papers where he could travel freely through the 3 areas of France. Occupied (Nazi) France in the North, Vichy France in the South, and the Atlantic Wall along the coast. All 3 areas required permission to be anywhere else. Him being able to travel freely allowed him to attempt to set up cells and communicate with others.
His brothers operated groups or coordinated from the UK.
One thing the author notes is that there were multiple types of people. Those who were eager to help and provide actionable assistance (fighting, sabotaging, gathering intel, etc. dangerous stuff.). Those who were willing to report information and hide members in their houses. Those who were willing to speak up if they saw something. Those who were willing to ignore seeing you do illegal stuff. Finally, those who would report you for doing things.
Various reasons for various people, certainly, however he acknowledges that there are obviously reasons for different levels of comfort for operating in the Resistance. Are you in Vichy France where the Nazis are much less noticeable early in the war? Are you in Northern France where you see them daily? Why risk ruining a comfortable life by volunteering for the Resistance?
If you're already participating in a black market or something else and don't want to draw attention to yourself, the Resistance would only bring attention to your area.
The book was interesting to me because he talks about how it was exciting or almost like a game at first, but the Nazis weren't playful. You quickly learned that it was extremely serious work and that you were playing against someone who was experienced in hunting people down. Many times a single person (enemy) inserted in the wrong place as an agent of the Resistance could gain knowledge of many others. Their first air drops from the UK were a headache. You're standing in a field at night and an enemy plane is flying over the area. Then you have to retrieve and hide the package. What do you say to your neighbors? In the book he says he called up the local Nazi forces the next day to report a plane flying low the previous night. Remember, he's a rail administrator so that he has a special travel permission so they think he's trustworthy. They find nothing and thank him for being vigilant.
The closer to the end of the war, or as the Nazis were more oppressive or following the takeover of the Vichy territory, it began to get easier to recruit as the Nazis were more unpopular.
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