War and recovery in the countryside of north-eastern France: The example of Meurth-et-Moselle

The reconstitution of devastated northern France during the 1920s was not the outcome of a technical operation masterminded by the French scale, Rather it was the result of varying sectors of French society mobilizing their energies to claim compensation, to create co-operative reconstruction societies, and, in some instances, to reorganize farm holdings, Unlike other sections of the regions devastees, Meurthe-et-Moselle had experience of settlement reconstruction, property reallocation and rapid provision of housing for miners and industrial workers. Its socially committed clergy worked with administrators to promote general purpose reconstruction co-operatives and specialized co-operatives for churches and schools. These innovations were emulated elsewhere in the reconstruction of northern France. This article traces the impact of war and destruction in Meurthe-et-Moselle, evaluates emergency work undertaken by the state, and analyses the activities of the reconstruction co-operatives and of surveyors promoting agricultural consolidation. It concludes that reconstruction was essentially complete by 1931 but pre-war trends of rural decline in parts of Meurthe-et-Moselle were in evidence once again. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.