Dien Bien Phu and “The Myth of the Maquis”

1The Resistance is frequently cited as France’s most significant wartime legacy, one that restored French honor and allowed France to reclaim its international prestige, and influence1. The story of how British, American and French intelligence and special operations forces executed the mobilization, weaponization, and operationalization of this resistance has often been told, albeit frequently in a mythologized version. The subsequent “myth of the maquis” which emerged as an important feature of France’s wartime memory had several sources. Embraced as a popular rejection of the 1940 defeat and armistice, the French army post-November 1942 was particularly susceptible to the “maquis myth” for several reasons: a combination of special operations and resistance offered a quick path to modernization that helped to allow the French military to participate in the Liberation2. The requirement to make contact with the internal resistance in France, to transform it into a viable milita