ABSTRACT
M aquis The Maquis, as an organization of the French re sistance, did not exist until 1943. Prior to that time fugitives hid in the mountains, but the small groups had neither organization, arms, money, direction, nor a name. As more young Frenchmen fled the forced labor programs, however, they asked the resistance for help. These requests came as the interior resistance groups in the southern zone were negotiating a merger. Combat, the larg est and most effective non-Communist resistance group, combined with Liberation and Franc-Tireur to form Mouvements Unis de la Resistance (MUR).