Spanish Maquis by the Civil Guard, nearly wiping out the movement. The term ""maquis"" comes from the French term ""maquis"", which in turn comes from the Corsican term ""macchia"", the maquis shrubland, a type of biome found in the Mediterranean basin, mostly associated with Corsica. In France, the term was first used to refer to a group of guerrillas of the French resistance against the German occupation of France during World War II. The resistance fighters in these encampments were referred to as ""maquisards"". The anti-Franco guerrilla resistance in Spain began before the 1939 end of the Spanish Civil War. The outbreak
French prisoners of war in World War II French prisoners of war in World War II During World War II, the French prisoners of war were primarily soldiers from France and its colonial empire captured by Nazi Germany. Although no precise estimates exist, the number of French soldiers captured during the Battle of France between May and June 1940 is generally recognised around 1.8 million, equivalent to around 10 percent of the total adult male population of France at the time. After a brief period of captivity in France, most of the prisoners were deported to Germany. In Germany, prisoners were incarcerated in "Stalag" or "Oflag" prison camps,