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
Maquis (World War II) resistance organizations after the liberation of Paris, many maquisards returned to their homes. Many also joined the new French army. Although the Maquis used whatever arms they could get, they relied heavily on airdrops of weapons and explosives from the British SOE. SOE parachuted agents in with wireless sets (for radio communication) and dropped containers with various munitions including Sten guns, Pencil detonators, plastic explosives, Welrod pistols (a silenced specialized assassination weapon favored by covert operatives) and assorted small arms (pistols, rifles and sub-machine guns). The Maquis also used German weapons captured throughout the occupation, the Mauser 98k rifle and