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Abstract
During World War I the towns and cities of northern France experienced widespread devastation, with some being literally erased from the landscape. Reconstruction during the decade and a half after the Armistice offered potential for experimenting with modernist ideas in architecture and planning, as well as following the traditions of régionalisme. Drawing on a selection of examples, this article explores the impact of destruction, reinvention of urban tradition, injection of international ideas and styles, and installation of garden suburbs. As the largest urban place to suffer extreme loss, particular attention is directed to the rebuilding of Reims. Over the last decade, the taken‐for‐granted townscapes of reconstruction have received scholarly investigation and have been recognized as heritage features that may help sustain local strategies for economic survival.
Notes
* Hugh Clout, FBA, is a human geographer with particular interests in the geography of France past and present, and in the development of geography as an academic discipline in France. His monograph, After the Ruins (1996), examined the complex processes leading to rural reconstruction in northern France after World War I; the present article provides an overview of urban reconstruction at that time. He is currently working on reconstruction in France after 1945, using Normandy and Paris as case studies within the national framework. Other recent publications focus on the work of the disciples of the geographer Paul Vidal de La Blache as elucidated by letters sent to Albert Demangeon. A graduate of the Universities of Paris and London, Dr Clout is a professor of geography at University College London, where he held the post of Dean of the Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences (1995–2004).
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C. Laughlin, The Martyred Towns of France. New York, Putnam, 1919, p. v.
Ibid.
A. C. Holliday, The rebuilding of Rheims. Town Planning Review 9 (1919) 5–11, p. 5.
D. de Sousa, La Reconstruction et sa mémoire dans les villages de la Somme. Woignarue, La Vague Verte, 2002.
H. Clout, After the Ruins. Exeter, Exeter University Press, 1996. This source contains a wide bibliography.
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H. Clout, op. cit. [8], p. 175; D. Silverman, Reconstructing Europe after the Great War. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press.
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W. MacDonald, op. cit. [15] includes a summary of each of these major laws.
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H. Clout, op. cit. [8], pp. 168–74.
G. B. Ford, op. cit. [15], p. 222.
W. MacDonald, op. cit. [15], p. 201.
Anon., Tergnier et Chauny. Le Temps 19 January 1921.
H. Clout, op. cit. [8], pp. 85–174.
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H. Clout, op. cit. [8], p. 222.
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M. Smets (ed.), Resurgam: la reconstruction en Belgique après 1914. Brussels, Crédit Communal, 1985; M. Smets, Belgian reconstruction after World War I: a transition from civic art to urban planning. Planning Perspectives 2 (1987) 1–26; V. Claude, Sanitary engineering as a path to town planning: the singular role of the Association générale des hygiénistes et techniciéns municipaux in France and the French‐speaking countries, 1900–1920. Planning Persepectives 4 (1989) 153–66; J‐C. Vigato, L’architecture régionaliste: France 1890–1950. Paris, Norma, 1994.
M. Le Calvé, Souvenir de Bailleul. Dunkirk, Westhoek, 1983.
H. Cochin, N. Bourgeois and A de Pocheville, Le Nord dévasté. Paris, Alcan, 1920, p. 67; H. Clout, Devastation and reconstruction in the countryside of Nord département 1914–1930, in J. P. Donnay and C. Chevigné (eds) Recherches de géographie humaine: hommage au Professeur Charles Christians. Liège, Société Géographique de Liège, 1996, pp. 35–43.
L. Guillaut, R. Klein, H. Mamou‐Guillaut and A. Oger‐Leurent, Bailleul: ville reconstruite 1919–1934. Lille, Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles, 1999.
A. Bellessort, op. cit. [31] 658.
O. Lessaffre, Louis‐Marie Cordonnier et l’architecture de Nord de la France. De Franse Nederlanden/ Les Pays‐Bas Français 23 (1998) 45–61.
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Confédération Générale du Travail, op.cit. [46], p. 17.
R. Klein, Régionalisme et reconstruction, in E. Bussière, P. Marcilloux and D. Varaschin (eds) La Grande Reconstruction: reconstruire le Pas‐de‐Calais après la Grande Guerre. Arras, Archives Départementales du Pas‐de‐Calais, 2002, p. 312.
Jacques Barbotin, L’Habitation Flamande. Paris, Massin, 1927.
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L. Guillaut, R. Klein, H. Mamou‐Guillaut and A. Oger‐Leurent, op. cit. [54]; M. Smets (ed.), op. cit. [51].
Louis‐Marie Cordonnier was the son of architect Jean‐Baptiste Cordonnier, one of the founders of the Société régionale des architectes du Nord de la France. Trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, Louis‐Marie designed town halls and churches in northern France, the Peace Palace in The Hague, the new Bourse and Chambre de Commerce in Lille, and numerous residences. Working with his son, Louis‐Stanislas, he was charged with post‐war reconstruction in the Lys valley in French Flanders. He designed ‘neo‐Flemish’ town halls (Armentières, Bailleul, Béthune, Comines, Laventie, Merville); churches (Armentières, Bailleul, Béthune, Fauquissart, Laventie, Merville); war memorials (Armentières, Merville); a market hall (Armentières); a seminary (Merville); and numerous dwellings. He was also responsible for the national memorial of Notre‐Dame de Lorette, north of Arras. His final great project was the basilica at Lisieux that was completed after his death by Louis‐Stanislas.
R. Clarysse, F. Hameaux and L. Leuridan, Armentières. Joué‐les‐Tours, Sutton, 1998.
A. Bellessort, op. cit. [31] 657.
D. Mons, De l’art urbain à l’urbanisme: les reconstructions urbaines après la Grande Guerre, in E. Bussière et al., op. cit. [59], p. 287.
P. Marcilloux, op. cit. [17], p. 213; A bear is depicted in one of the stained glass windows in Saint Vaast, the only one the author has ever seen in a church decoration.
Michelin, Arras, Lens‐Douai and the battles of Artois. Clermont‐Ferrand, Michelin, 1919; H. Clout, Rural revival in the Pas‐de‐Calais, in J‐R. Pitte (ed.) Géographie historique et culturelle de l’Europe. Paris, Presses de la Sorbonne, 1995, pp. 189–207.
A. Jacques, Arras, géographie d’une ville assiégée, in E. Bussière et al., op. cit. [59], p. 361–70.
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A. Bellessort, op. cit. [31], p. 440.
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Confédération Générale du Travail, op. cit. [46], p. 18.
D. Mons, op. cit. [66], p. 289.
Papiers Albert Demangeon [61].
Michelin, Rheims and the battles for its possession. Clermont‐Ferrand, Michelin, 1919.
J. Le Goff, Reims, city of coronation, in P. Nora (ed.) Realms of Memory: vol. III Symbols. New York, Columbia University Press, pp. 193–251.
P. Hess, La Vie à Reims pendant la guerre de 1914–1918. Paris, Anthropos; H. Clout, Rural revival in Marne. Agricultural History Review 42 (1994) 140–55.
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Ibid.; M. Le Grand, Reims. Grenoble, Arthaud, 1932.
G. Crouvezier, La Vie d’une Cité: Reims au cours des siècles. Paris, Nouvelles Editions Latines, 1970, p. 134.
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M. Forestier, La reconstruction de Reims. La Construction Moderne 42 (1927) 433–41, 457–64, 505–12, 532–36, 568–72, 589–95; and 43 (1927) 7–11, 31–34, 57–60, 81–84, 91–95, 103–07; p. 91.
M. Bédarida, Dossier Reims. Architectes, Architecture 195 (1988) 28.
O. Rigaud and M. Bédarida, Reims, reconstruction 1920–1930. Reims, Ville de Reims, 1988, p. 2.
M. Bédarida, La reconstruction de Reims 1919–1928: compassion et aide américaines, in J‐L. Cohen and H. Damisch, (eds) Américanisme et Modernité: l’idéal américain dans l’architecture. Paris, Flammarion, 1992, pp. 249–66, p. 262.
Ibid., p. 263.
A. C. Holliday, op. cit. [6], p. 6.
M. Bazin, Destruction et reconstruction, in M. Baillat (ed.) Reims. Paris, Bonneton, 1990, p. 273.
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H. Clout, op. cit. [8], pp. 99–101.
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H. Clout, op. cit. [8], pp. 207–40.
C. H. Smith and C. R. Hall, Rising above the ruins in France. New York, Putnam, 1920, p. 28; W. MacDonald, op. cit. [15], p. 217; Confédération Générale du Travail, op. cit. [46], p. 12.
S. Magri and C. Topalov, Reconstruire: l’habitat populaire au lendemain de la première guerre mondiale. Archives Européennes de Sociologie 29 (1988) 319–70; S. V. Ward, Planning the Twentieth‐Century City. Chichester, Wiley, 2002, p. 95.
H. P. Cart de Lafontaine, Town planning in France. The Builder 127 (1924) 1022.
Anon., George B. Ford. La Vie Urbaine 5 (1930) 347–8.
O. Rigaud and M. Bédarida, op. cit. [87], p. 10.
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A. Prache and M. Bédarida, Reims ancienne et moderne. Monuments Historiques 145 (1986) 1–14.
G. Crouvesier, op. cit. [83], p. 139.
M. Bédarida, op. cit. [88], p. 260.
Quoted by B. Fouqueray, Notre‐Dame des nuages. Ville de Reims Informations (1988) 33.
M. Bazin, op. cit. [91], p. 275.
Archives Nationales 324 AP/62 Le Chemin des Dames, Soissons, 18 June 1921; H. Clout, Rural reconstruction in Aisne after the Great War. Rural History 4 (1993) 165–85.
Michelin, Soissons, before and during the war. Clermont‐Ferrand, Michelin, 1919, p. 14.
J. Bobin, La reconstruction dans les paysages d’aujourd’hui, in F. Pilleboue (ed.) op. cit. [30], pp. 235–6; D. Roussel, Soissons. Paris, Monum.
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J. Chauvin and E. Chauvin, Soissons, Joué‐les‐Tours, Sutton, 1999. p. 114.
M. de Sars, Sur les chemins de la victoire: Villers‐Cotterêts, Soissons, Laon. Paris, Bouroux, 1934, p. 51.
G. Muzart, Soissons pendant la guerre: mémoires de G. Muzart 1914–25. Amiens, Association Soissonnaise, 1998, p. 222.
Institut Français d’Architecture, Fonds Dufournet: Soissons: reconstructions 1918–1948.
H. Clout, op. cit. [8], pp. 59–84; H. Clout, Reconstructing the countryside of the eastern Somme after the Great War. Erdkunde 48 (1994) 136–49; H. Clout, The revival of rural Lorraine after the Great War. Geografiska Annaler B 75 (1993) 73–91; H. Clout, War and recovery in the countryside of north‐eastern France. Journal of Historical Geography 23 (1997) 164–86.
G. B. Ford, op. cit. [16], p. 196; J‐M. Declercq, La reconstruction triomphante d’Albert, in F. Pilleboue (ed.), op. cit. [30], pp. 182–9.
C. H. Smith and C. R. Hall, op. cit. [96], p. 60; G. Hanotaux, L’Aisne pendant la grande guerre. Paris, Alcan, 1919.
L. Jaussely, La reconstitution de Chauny et de sa région. La Vie Urbaine 1–2 (1919) 109–44, p. 112.
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Confédération Générale du Travail, op. cit. [46], p. 15.
Michelin, Verdun and the battles for its possession. Clermont‐Ferrand, Michelin, 1919, p. 29; Society of Friends, Plan of the Society of Friends for the reconstruction of forty villages to the west of Verdun, France. Paris, Society of Friends: War Relief Committee, 1918, p. 12.
H. Clout, op. cit. [8], p. 37; H. Clout, Rural reconstruction in Meuse after World War I. Acta Geographica Lovaniensia 28 (1992) 599–607.
The reconstructed crypt contains several columns showing helmeted soldiers.
G. Canini, La bataille de Verdun: reconstruire, in A. Girardot (ed.) Histoire de Verdun. Toulouse, Privat, 1982, p. 270.
C. Magny, La Reconstitution du département de la Meuse. Bar‐le‐Duc, Comte‐Jacquet, 1928, p. 26.
M. Culot (ed.), Cités‐jardins 1920–1940 en Belgique. Brussels, Archives d’Architecture Moderne, 1994.
O. Hardy‐Hémery, Les cités‐jardins au Nord de Paris, fin du XIXe–XXe siècle Revue du Nord 79 (1997) 643–81; A. Sutcliffe, Towards the Planned City: Germany, Britain, the United States and France, 1780–1914. Oxford, Blackwell; J‐P. Gaudin, The French garden city, in S. V. Ward (ed.), The Garden City: past, present and future. London, Spon, 1992, pp.52–68.
H. Clout, The reconstruction of Reims 1919–1930. Planning Outlook 32 (1989) 23–34.
D. Mangin, op. cit. [94] 69.
M. Javary, L’effort du réseau du Nord pendant et après la guerre. Bulletin Mensuel de la Société Industrielle du Nord de la France 215 (1921) 17–129.
E. Joyant, Traité d’Urbanisme, 2 vols. Paris, Librairie d’Enseignement Technique, 1923.
G. Carpentier, op. cit. [22], p. 90; R. Baudouï, Raoul Dautry, 1880–1951. Le technocrate de la République. Paris, Balland, 1992; V. Halpérin, Raoul Dautry. Du rail à l’atome. Fayard, Paris, 1997.
M. Javary, op. cit. [131] 109.
Agence de Développement et d’Urbanisme de la Métropole Lilloise, Lille Métropole: un siècle d’architecture et d’urbanisme 1890–1993. Paris, Le Moniteur, 1993, p. 44.
Anon., Les cités‐jardins des Chemins de Fer du Nord. La Construction Moderne 39 (1923) 13–16, p. 16.
Archives du Musée Social, Compte‐Rendu de l’assemblée générale 17 mai 1925.
Confédération Générale du Travail, op. cit. [46], p. 14.
O. Hardy‐Hémery, op. cit. [128] 647.
M. Huber, op. cit. [19].
Anon., Les cités ouvrières des Mines de Lens. La Construction Moderne 40 (1925) 611–12, p. 611; D. Gallez, Lens, cité‐martyre 1914–1918. Revue du Nord 65 (1983) 691–6.
G. Hay, op. cit. [33], p. 97.
G. B. Ford, op. cit. [28], 21.
P. Bougard and A. Nolibos, Le Pas‐de‐Calais, de la préhistoire à nos jours. Saint Jean d’Angély Bordessoules, 1988.
P. Peytral, op. cit. [72], p. 323.
Confédération Générale du Travail, op. cit. [46], p. 19.
Anon., Lens. Le Peuple (January 23, 1921).
Anon., op. cit. [141] 611.
J. R. Cahill, Annual Report on the Economic Conditions in France. London, Department of Overseas Trade, His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1927, p. 51.
O. Hardy‐Hémery, op. cit. [128].
H. Clout, op. cit. [8], pp. 283–7.
W. MacDonald, op. cit. [15], p. 246.
Papiers Albert Demangeon [61].
H. Clout, op. cit. [8], pp. 283–7.
G. B. Ford, op. cit. [28], p. 254; D. W. Lloyd, Battlefield Tourism. Pilgrimage and commemoration of the Great War. Oxford, Berg, 1998.
P. Marcilloux, op. cit. [17], p. 33.
G. B. Ford, op. cit. [28], p. 254.
P. Marcilloux, op. cit. [17], p. 33.
G. B. Ford, op. cit. [28], p. 254.
Ibid.
Anon., op. cit. [84] 91.
Ibid.
D. Brogan, The Development of Modern France 1870–1939. London, Hamish Hamilton, 1940, p. 600.
T. Rauwel, La reconstruction dans les paysages d’aujourd’hui: la Somme, in F. Pilleboue, op. cit. [30], pp. 236–9.
O. Rigaud and M. Bédarida, op. cit. [87].
J. Favier (ed.), Reconstructions et Modernisations. La France après les ruines, 1918, 1945. Paris, Archives Nationales, 1991.
E. Bussière et al., op. cit. [59].
P. Marcilloux, op. cit. [17].
P. Marcilloux (ed.) Images de la Reconstruction: Arras 1918–1934: photographies du Fonds Paul Decaux. Arras, Archives Départementales du Pas‐de‐Calais, 1997.
F. Pilleboue, op. cit. [30].
A. Duménil and P. Nivet (eds) Les Reconstructions en Picardie. Amiens, Encrage, 2003.