The trouble with historical analogies

After Gilles Duceppe used the term "resistance movement" to describe the cause of Quebec sovereignty, he explained himself to reporters.

Later grilled by journalists, Duceppe denied his comments were a direct comparison to France’s resistance movement, claiming his speech was inspired by prominent Quebec author and unionist Pierre Vadeboncoeur, who died last February. He also reportedly quipped the French resistance didn’t grant news conferences.

But he added that resistance movements—like the one in France during the Second World War—were necessary to establishing sovereignty. “Neither Quebec sovereignty nor the Liberation is possible, or would have been possible, without the work of ‘resistants,’“ Duceppe said.

Here, for the sake of argument, is Wikipedia’s entry for the French resistance.