22. Organizing Combat
In late 1940, Henri Frenay began to organize one of the first resistance movements in the unoccupied zone: Combat. The Combat movement began as an underground network that spread anti-German propaganda and information. It did so chiefly through the secret publication of the newspaper Combat, which became one of the most influential Resistance publications.
As the movement grew, Frenay helped establish a structured underground army that conducted intelligence operations, recruitment, and coordinated with other resistance groups. Frenay tried to unite the various resistance movements, and worked closely with Jean Moulin, who was sent by Charles de Gaulle to organize the Conseil National de la Résistance (CNR). Their politics differed – Frenay leaned right while many in the Resistance were leftist – but they managed to work together. Nonetheless, tensions and ideological differences often caused friction.
