Vercors Uprising

After the D-Day landings, Resistance forces concentrated on the Vercors plateau in southeastern France in expectation of wider Allied support. Thousands of maquisards gathered there, and in early July the area openly rejected Vichy authority and presented itself as liberated territory.

German forces launched a major assault on 21 July 1944 using ground troops and airborne forces. The maquis were overwhelmed, and fighters and civilians suffered heavy losses before the survivors dispersed. The plateau was liberated later in August as Allied and French forces advanced through the region.