General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The famous La Marseillaise scene from Casablanca. [View all]BobTheSubgenius
(11,563 posts)spectacularly successful. By the time D Day rolled around, he had affiliated groups of French freedom fighters that totaled 10,000.
The French were not "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" in the slightest. Of course there were collaborators - every horrible cause has adherents - but I believe they did the right thing in surrendering after Germany bypassed the Maginot Line, but before their country was decimated. That came later.
In the meantime, they had resources enough to raise a small, well-trained army in secret. In many ways, superior to 10,000 regular troops. They probably would not have been able to do that if they'd fought on. For one thing, its likely thousands of those patriots would have been doing the fighting and been killed of captured.