Editing Liberation of Paris (section)

===FFI uprising (19–23 August)===
{{Further|French Forces of the Interior}}
[[File:Battle for paris FFI1.png|thumb|left|300px|FFI uprising on 19 August. One skirmisher is wearing an [[Adrian helmet]].]]
All over France, since the end of the battle of Normandy, the population had been hearing news of the Allies' advance toward Paris from the BBC and French public broadcaster ''[[Radiodiffusion Nationale (France)|Radiodiffusion nationale]]'' (''RN''). From 1943, ''RN'' had been operating in Paris under the direction of the Vichy propaganda minister [[Philippe Henriot]]. On 4 April 1944, four months before the liberation of Paris, the Provisional Government of the French Republic had begun operating its own ''RN'' from Algeria. The Provisional Government took over the Paris ''RN'' during the liberation on 22 August 1944.<ref>''Journal Officiel des établissements français de l'Océanie'', Titre V, Dispositions générales, p. 43, [https://lexpol.cloud.pf/document.php?document=188526&deb=41&fin=43&titre=T3Jkb25uYW5jZSBkdSAwNC8wNC8xOTQ0]{{dead link|date=November 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} p. 3.</ref>

On 19 August, continuing their retreat eastwards, columns of German vehicles moved down the [[Avenue des Champs Élysées]]. Posters calling citizens to arm had previously been pasted on walls by FFI members. The posters called for a general mobilization of the Parisians; argued that "the war continues"; and called on the Parisian police, the [[French Republican Guard|Republican Guard]], the [[gendarmerie]], the [[Garde Mobile]], the [[Groupe mobile de réserve]] (the police units replacing the army), and patriotic Frenchmen ("all men from 18 to 50 able to carry a weapon") to join "the struggle against the invader". Other posters assured that "victory is near" and promised "chastisement for the traitors", Vichy loyalists and collaborators. The posters were signed by the "Parisian Committee of the Liberation", in agreement with the [[Provisional Government of the French Republic]], and under the orders of "Regional Chief Colonel Rol" (Henri Rol-Tanguy), the commander of the French Forces of the Interior in [[Île-de-France (region)|Île de France]].

The first skirmishes between the French and the German occupiers then began and the Resistance began to take over buildings in the city, including the Préfecture de Police and the [[Louvre]]. Small mobile units of the [[Red Cross]] moved into the city to assist French and the German wounded. The same day, the Germans detonated a barge filled with [[Naval mine|mines]] in the northeastern suburb of Pantin, setting fire to mills that supplied Paris with flour.<ref name="pantin2"/>

On 20 August, as barricades began to appear, Resistance fighters organized themselves to sustain a siege. Trucks were positioned, trees cut down and trenches were dug in the pavement to free paving stones for consolidating the barricades. The materials were transported by men, women and children using wooden carts. Fuel trucks were attacked and captured. Civilian vehicles were commandeered, painted with camouflage, and marked with the FFI emblem. The Resistance used them to transport ammunition and orders from one barricade to another.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}

Skirmishes reached their peak on 22 August, when some German units tried to leave their fortifications. At 9:00&nbsp;a.m. on 23 August, under Choltitz's orders, the Germans opened fire on the [[Grand Palais]], an FFI stronghold, and German tanks fired at the barricades in the streets. Hitler gave the order to inflict maximum damage on the city.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070816141409/http://www.humanite.fr/2004-08-23_Politique_Balises-1944 ''Libération de Paris: Balises 1944''], L'Humanité, 23 August 2004.</ref>