The Socialist Action Committee (CAS) was a

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

movement founded in March 1941 by

Daniel Mayer Daniel Raphaël Mayer (29 April 1909 – 29 December 1996) was a French politician and a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and president of the ''Ligue des droits de l'homme'' (LDH, Human Rights League) from 1958 ...

and

Suzanne Buisson Suzanne Buisson (, 19 September 1883 – 5 July 1944) was a French political activist and French Resistance member. Léon Blum André Léon Blum (; 9 April 1872 – 30 March 1950) was a French socialist politician and three-time Prime Minister of France. As a Jew, he was heavily influenced by the Dreyfus affair of the late 19th century. He was a disciple of socialist l ...

. Its purpose was to reorganize the underground

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (, SFIO) was a major socialist political party in France which was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the present Socialist Party. The SFIO was founded in 1905 as the French representativ ...

(SFIO) and coordinate socialist resistance against the German occupation and the

Vichy regime Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

. The movement ceased to exist in March 1943, when it was replaced by the clandestine SFIO.

Formation of the CAS (1940-1941)

The Call to Resist

Following the collapse of France in the summer of 1940, and up until his arrest on September 15,

Léon Blum André Léon Blum (; 9 April 1872 – 30 March 1950) was a French socialist politician and three-time Prime Minister of France. As a Jew, he was heavily influenced by the Dreyfus affair of the late 19th century. He was a disciple of socialist l ...

urged SFIO leaders to resist the occupation. Blum insisted on continuing political action within France. To

and his wife Cletta, who considered leaving for London, he said: "You will be just two more mouths to feed there and have no military expertise. There is work to be done here. We must continue the war, rebuild the Party, and lead the fight against the occupiers and Vichy. You will be more useful here."D. Mayer, ''Les Socialistes dans la résistance''. PUF, 1968, p.12

The First Signs of Socialist Resistance

During autumn 1940, scattered acts of individual resistance began to appear. Groups gradually formed in response to the occupation.

In the Occupied Zone

A socialist activist, Jean Texcier, wrote and circulated "Advice to the Occupied" as early as September 1940. Initially a clandestine publication,

Libération-Nord ("Liberation-North") was one of the principal resistance movements in the northern occupied zone of France during the Second World War. It was one of the eight great networks making up the National Council of the Resistance. History Initial ...

emerged as a structured resistance movement in December 1940, advocating for non-communist CGT unions, CFTC, and the underground SFIO, under the leadership of

Christian Pineau Christian Pineau (; 14 October 1904 – 5 April 1995) was a noted French Resistance fighter, who later served an important term as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1956 through 1958. Life and career Pineau was born in 1904 in Chaumont-en-Bass ...

and the team behind the "Manifesto of the Twelve." Although not exclusively socialist, the SFIO held significant influence within the movement. Stripped of his office by the Vichy regime,

Jean-Baptiste Lebas Jean-Baptiste Lebas (; 24 October 1878 – 10 March 1944) was a French Socialist politician, deputy to the National Assembly of France during the Third Republic, who served twice as minister under Léon Blum’s governments. He was mayor of Rou ...

, SFIO deputy-mayor of

Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...

, called for resistance as early as August 1940 through a pamphlet titled "Socialism Continues!" By late summer, he founded one of the first Resistance networks in occupied France, "L'Homme libre" ("The Free Man"), which also published an underground newspaper of the same name. Around 300 socialist militants immediately joined the movement. "L'Homme libre" declared in October 1940, "It is not a question of reconstituting the Socialist Party, as the Socialist Party has never been dissolved." By January 1941, "L'Homme libre" expanded its circulation to

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

and

Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...

. That same month, Jean-Baptiste Lebas established a Socialist Action Committee (CAS) to coordinate socialist resistance efforts. This committee later merged with the CAS for the entire northern zone, originally founded in September 1940.

In the Free Zone

The southern CAS was founded on March 30, 1941, in

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

by among others

, his wife Cletta,

Félix Gouin Félix Gouin (; 5 October 1884 – 25 October 1977) was a French Socialist politician who was a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). Personal life Félix Gouin was born in Peypin, Bouches-du-Rhône, the son of ...

and

Suzanne Buisson Suzanne Buisson (, 19 September 1883 – 5 July 1944) was a French political activist and French Resistance member. French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

(PCF), the CAS did not integrate party reconstruction with Resistance network-building. Consequently, except for

, where socialists dominated, the CAS lacked strong organizational footholds. Nevertheless, socialist militants played a key role in

Libération-Sud ''Libération-sud'' ( French for "Liberation-South") was a resistance group active between 1940-1944 and created in the Free Zone of France during the Second World War in order to fight against the Nazi occupation through coordinated sabotage a ...

Combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

Ceux de la Résistance ''Ceux de la Résistance'' ("Those of the Resistance") (CDLR) was a French resistance movement during the German occupation of France in World War II. At first, the members of CDLR distributed copies of the underground newspaper Combat in the nor ...

, the Brutus network, and the

Organisation civile et militaire The ''Organisation civile et militaire'' (OCM, "Civil and military organization") was one of the great movements of the French Resistance in the '' zone occupée'', the German-occupied region of northern France, during the Second World War. The O ...

(OCM), particularly in

Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...

under

Guy Mollet Guy Alcide Mollet (; 31 December 1905 – 3 October 1975) was a French politician. He led the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) from 1946 to 1969 and was the French Prime Minister from 1956 to 1957. As Prime Ministe ...

. On May 15, 1942, the CAS launched the underground newspaper ''

Le Populaire ''Le Populaire'' is a major independent daily newspaper in Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal ...

''.

Transition to the Clandestine SFIO (1943)

In March 1943, the CAS officially became the clandestine SFIO. ''Le Populaire'' declared: "The Socialist Action Committee is no more. The Socialist Party continues its mission. ..To reaffirm the continuity of our doctrine, the Socialist Party reclaims its flag intact. New methods, new modes of action, new tones in its propaganda, but the same doctrine—confirmed and even rejuvenated by recent events." Shortly after, at a secret meeting in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on June 17-18, the northern CAS integrated into the clandestine SFIO. By early 1944, the clandestine SFIO had approximately 50,000 members, though the actual number of socialist militants engaged in the Resistance was likely higher due to the difficulties of clandestine activities.

Notable Members of the Socialist Action Committee

Jean-Fernand Audeguil Jean-Fernand Audeguil (5 January 1887 – 23 November 1956) was a French professor, a member of the resistance and a politician. Early life and education Born in Monclar in the department of Lot-et-Garonne, Audeguil studied at the Univer ...

Camille Bedin Camille Fernand Bedin (18 January 1893 – 7 February 1979) was a French politician. Biography Camille Bedin was born at Saint-Satur in the Cher département. He worked as a cloth merchant. During the First World War he served in the French A ...

Jean Biondi Jean Dominique Biondi (9 May 1900 – 10 November 1950) was a French politician. Biography Jean Biondi was born in Sari-d'Orcino, on the island of Corsica. Educated in Ajaccio, the island's capital, and in Paris, he taught at the Lycée C ...

Élie Bloncourt Élie Bloncourt (5 May 1896 – 4 March 1978) was a French politician who represented the department of Aisne in the French National Assembly from 1936 to 1946. He was blinded by a shrapnel blast in the First World War and was part of the French ...

Suzanne Buisson Suzanne Buisson (, 19 September 1883 – 5 July 1944) was a French political activist and French Resistance member. Félix Gouin Félix Gouin (; 5 October 1884 – 25 October 1977) was a French Socialist politician who was a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). Personal life Félix Gouin was born in Peypin, Bouches-du-Rhône, the son of ...

(died in deportation) *

André Philip André Philip (28 June 1902 – 5 July 1970) was a French politician of the SFIO who served in 1942 as Interior Minister under the Free French provisional government of General Charles de Gaulle. He also served as a finance minister in 1946 and ...

* Jean Pierre-Bloch *

( Companion of the Liberation) * Pierre Viénot ( Companion of the Liberation)