Editing Maquis (World War II) (section)

==Meaning==
The maquis made up one component of the mosaic of the resistance in France and Belgium. The maquis refers to the organization of bands of resistance guerrillas which emerged in rural France, mainly in the south. The maquis were emergent in 1943 and were also active in 1944.<ref>Kedward (1993), p. vii.</ref>

Originally the word came from the kind of terrain in which the armed resistance groups hid, high ground in southeastern France covered with scrub growth called ''[[Maquis shrubland|maquis]]'' (scrubland).<ref>{{cite dictionary |title=maquis |publisher=Random House |dictionary=Online Dictionary.com |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/maquis |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315120746/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/maquis/ |archive-date=15 March 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The term ''maquis'' signified both the group of fighters and their rural location.{{sfn|Kedward|1993|p=30}} Members of those bands were called ''maquisards''. Their image was that of a committed and voluntary fighter, a {{lang|fr|combattant}}, as opposed to the previous {{lang|fr|réfractaire}} ({{lit|refractory}}; 'unmanageable').{{sfn|Kedward|1993|p=30}} The term became an honorific meaning "armed resistance fighter". The Maquis came to symbolize the French Resistance and was used to describe resistance groups that fought in France before the [[Allied invasion of Normandy]] in 1944. Once the [[Allies (World War II)|Allies]] had secured a foothold in France, the government of [[Free France]] attempted to unite the separate groups of Maquis under the banner of the [[French Forces of the Interior]] (FFI).{{sfn|Davies|2001|p=8}}

The national denomination given to all Maquis forces during the war is {{lang|fr|Forces françaises de l'intérieur}}, known as the "FFI"; in English, the French Forces of the Interior. This large corp of about 400,000 active members (in 1944) is divided in three major sections, corresponding to three political or professional inclinations:
* The ''[[Francs-Tireurs et Partisans]]'' (FTP), a para-military organism created and controlled by the {{lang|fr|Parti Communiste français}}, the [[French Communist Party]].
* The {{lang|fr|[[Armée secrète]]}} (the AS; {{lit|Secret Army}}), mostly led by [[French army]] officers and with a right-wing tilt.
* The {{lang|fr|[[Organisation de résistance de l'armée]]}} (the ORA; 'Resistance organisation of the army'), formally created in January 1943 as a more "official" and apolitical organism for the continuation of armed struggle by ex-French military personnel in the ''[[Zone libre]]'' (southern half of [[metropolitan France]]).

All three groups were deemed "terrorists" by the Vichy regime of the [[French State]] and by German authorities and other neighbouring fascist regimes. Other (rare) local groups did not affiliate with these organisations.