Peter Lieb

Vercors 1944 (eBook, ePUB)

Resistance in the French Alps
Illustrator: Dennis, Peter

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Fighting insurgents has always been one of the greatest challenges for regular armed forces during the 20th century. The war between the Germans and the French resistance, also called FFI (Forces Françaises d'Intérieur), during World War II has remained a near-forgotten chapter in the history of these 'Small Wars'. This is all the more astonishing as agencies like the British SOE (Special Operations Executive) and the American OSS (Office of Strategic Services) pumped a good amount of their resources into the support of the French resistance movement. By diversionary attacks on German forces in the occupied hinterland the Allies hoped the FFI could provide assistance in disrupting German supply lines as well as crumbling their morale. The mountain plateau of the Vercors south-west of Grenoble was the main stronghold of the FFI, and in July 1944 some 8,000 German soldiers mounted an operation on the plateau and destroyed the insurgent groups there. The battle of the Vercors was the largest operation against the FFI during World War II and the German's suit and crushing victory has caused traumatic memories for the French that persist to the present day.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury UK
• Seitenzahl: 96
• Erscheinungstermin: 20. Dezember 2012
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781780961163
• Artikelnr.: 40472824

Autorenporträt

Dr Peter Lieb is a senior lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Department of War Studies, and Research Fellow at the European Studies Research Institute, University of Salford. Prior to this he was a research fellow at the Institut für Zeitgeschichte in Munich, and the German Historical Institute in Paris. He holds a PhD and an MA from the University of Munich. His research interests are the German Army in WWI and WWII, and insurgencies and counterinsurgency in the 20th century. He has written a number of chapters and articles including "Zwischen den Fronten. Die normannische Zivilbevölkerung während der Invasionskämpfe im Sommer 1944" in Besatzung. Funktion und Gestalt militärischer Fremdherrschaft von der Antike bis zum 20. Jahrhundert (2006), and "Répression et massacres. L'occupant allemand face à la Résistance française, 1943-1944" in Occupation et repression militaire allemandes 1939-1945. La politique de "maintien de l'ordre" en Europe occupée (2007).

Inhaltsangabe

Origins of the campaign
Chronology
Opposing commanders
Opposing armies
Orders of battle
Opposing plans
The campaign
Aftermath
The battlefield today
Further reading
Index