Maquis (World War II) Maquis (World War II) The Maquis () were rural guerrilla bands of French Resistance fighters, called "maquisards", during the Nazi Occupation of France in World War II. Initially, they were composed of men and women who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy France's "Service du travail obligatoire" ("Compulsory Work Service" or "STO") to provide forced labor for Germany. To avert capture and deportation to Germany, they became increasingly organized into active resistance groups. Originally the word came from the kind of terrain in which the armed resistance groups hid, high ground in southeastern France covered with
Maquis (World War II) the same sites for months, defying their own rules of mobility. Guerrilla warfare practiced by the Maquis “created a psychosis of fear within the enemy [...], giving an impression of numbers and strength which was more illusory than real". The Maquis de l’Ain’s effectiveness was due to the training school opened at Gorges above Mongriffon in June 1943. Captain Romans described the situation like so: "The watchwords were explicit: no large concentrations of men. No pitched battles. Guerrilla warfare only! We had a few revolvers and some hunting rifles and were reduced to making sketches in order to teach the