TheMaquis du Limousin was one of the largest of theMaquis groups fighting in theFrench Resistance during World War II.
The region ofLimousin was an active area of resistance beginning in 1940.
Edmond Michelet distributed tracts in all ofBrive-la-Gaillarde's mailboxes on 17 June 1940, calling for continued fighting. It is considered to be the first act of resistance of World War II in France. But the Limousin was south of the line of demarcation and the resistance was mainly a passive one againstVichy France. The Maquis du Limousin, the first in France, was formed in 1942. Its first act of sabotage was the dynamiting of a power plant nearUssel in June 1942. MarshalPhilippe Pétain's visit toCorrèze in July was seen by the population as a provocation and strengthened popular support for the maquis.
The maquis increased fast, reinforced by many young men trying to escape the German troops who invaded in November 1942 and instituted theSTO in early 1943. Maquis operations changed from sabotages in 1943 to massive attacks against occupation troops in 1944. At its peak, the Limousine maquis is estimated to have reached between 8,000 and 12,000 fighters. However, it was troubled by continuing antagonisms between theArmée secrète and theFrancs-Tireurs et Partisans concerning operational methods (particularly atTulle andGuéret), how local powers should be distributed after the liberation, as well as the degree to which "cleansing" ofcollaborators from the political system should take place.
The Limousin population paid a heavy toll for its resistance. Numerous maquisards were killed, executed, tortured or deported. Following theNormandy landings, the2nd SS Division Das Reich, stationed inMontauban, was ordered to make its way across the country to help stop the Allied advance. Along their way intoCorrèze andHaute-Vienne, the Germans came under continuous attacks from the maquisards. In reprisal, they slaughtered hundreds of civilians inTulle on June 9 and atOradour-sur-Glane on 10 June 1944. Limousin and France were profoundly affected by these massacres.
The region was entirely freed by the Resistance by the end of the summer of 1944. German troops, mostly made up of veterans from theEastern Front, were subject to so many attacks and sabotages that they called the Limousin "Little Russia".Brive-la-Gaillarde was the first city in France to be freed by maquisards on 15 August 1944, ten days before Paris.
Led byGeorges Guingouin for the military operations and Gontran Royer for theMouvements unis de la Résistance, the best known figures in the Maquis du Limousin wereEdmond Michelet andAndré Malraux —who later both became ministers ofCharles de Gaulle—, Roger Lescure, Louis Lemoigne, René Vaujour and Marius Guedin.Jacques Renouvin, André Delon, Martial Brigouleix, Raymond Farro and Florentin Gourmelen, also prominent maquisards in Limousin, were killed during the war.
The Maquis du Limousin was led fromBrive-la-Gaillarde andLimoges. The maquis was split into several main sectors:
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