Before the blaze, the spark: The nature of armed resistance and its motivations in World War II

Cynthia Ross

One of the often-overlooked areas in the otherwise vibrant field of World War II historical research is the study of motivations of resistance groups that formed throughout the world in response to occupation by the primary Axis powers--Germany, Italy, and Japan. In response, millions of civilians worldwide took up arms in anti-Axis resistance. Indeed, the harshness and intrusive quality of the Axis occupation, carried out to achieve dominance and control, worked against the occupation forces by creating a sea of opposition. Since resistance occurred in all occupied countries, encompassing a diverse political, religious, social, and cultural community the question arises, did this widely varying group of people all choose resistance based on common motivations that cut across all differences? In examining this topic, this paper approaches anti-Axis resistance motivations from a world history perspective through selection of four case study countries - France, Yugoslavia, Burma, and the Philippines. One key to resistance was the amount of coercive or aggressive force used by the occupation to exert control, termed here as intensity of occupation; meaning, the higher the intensity, the more likely resistance was to occur. Yet if motivations related only to the intensity of occupation, resistance would be a variable as the occupation itself. Thus, while intensity of occupation is part of the key to understanding resistance motivations, other, more fundamental themes also play important roles. Therefore, this paper argues that resisters made their choices based on concepts of human dignity and identity that the experience of occupation sharpened. Severe attacks on these shared and possibly universal concepts, at the individual and collective level, created a sustained resistance response. Indeed, although intensity is important, repeated attacks on dignity and identity are the very foundation of all resistance motivations. In an ever-expanding world of global connections and human interaction, the study of resistance from a world history perspective is critical. For that reason, this study rests on the assumption that a comparative and thematic study of resistance as a worldwide phenomenon is the most fruitful approach rather than reliance on a narrow national perspective that might obscure its global significance.

Before the blaze, the spark: The nature of armed resistance and its motivations in World War II

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