Draft:History of Nord-Pas-de-Calais

Main article: Nord-Pas-de-Calais

The history of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, the former French administrative region that brought together the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais from 1955 to 2015, was long shared with the history of Belgium, that of a land that "for almost a thousand years served as a battleground for all of Europe" and was disputed since the Gallic War; at the time of the barbarian invasions, the Salian Franks settled here, and it was the cradle of the Merovingian dynasty.

From the 9th century onwards, the region, divided by the Scheldt border, saw the emergence of several principalities, including the counties of Flanders, Hainaut and Artois. This politically confused period saw towns gain considerable independence, and economic and cultural prosperity reached its peak in the Burgundian Netherlands in the 15th century. After the long Franco-Spanish conflicts of the 16th century, the region was annexed to France during Louis XIV's wars of conquest.

During the industrial revolution of the 19th century, the Nord, then the Pas de Calais, experienced unprecedented economic development and demographic growth, making it the "first factory in France", and a hotbed of labor movement struggles.

In the 20th century, the region was hard hit by both world wars: it was at the heart of the fighting throughout the First World War. During the Second World War, it was attached to the German military command in Brussels.

After suffering a severe economic crisis from the 1970s onwards, with the simultaneous demise of the coal, steel and textile industries that had been at the heart of its activity, Nord-Pas-de-Calais is trying to regain its dynamism by taking advantage of its central geographical position on Europe's communication routes.

Prehistory

Cromlech des Bonettes, Sailly-en-Ostrevent.

The earliest evidence of man's presence in the region dates from the Pleistocene to the Middle Ages: bifaces dating from 700,000 BC were discovered on the coast at Wimereux. The oldest bifaces found in the Nord department were found near Quiévy, in the Cambrésis region, and are estimated to date back to 500,000 years BC.

Until the Upper Pleistocene, human presence was intermittent during periods of more favourable climate, as the Nordic glaciers extended as far as the Netherlands and Great Britain. In the commune of Marcoing, traces of occupation seem to date back to 60,000 B.C., others at Busigny or Hamel from 50,000 to 40,000 B.C. The first presence of homo sapiens was discovered at Rouvroy in the Pas-de-Calais.

After the last Ice Age, the region was covered by forests; the discovery of microliths used as arrow frames attests to the presence of hunters.

The emergence of agriculture and, above all, animal husbandry in the early Neolithic period, at the end of the 5th millennium BC, is difficult to date precisely in the region (see Neolithic Europe); the earliest traces are, according to the nature of the ceramics found, from the Cerny culture, followed by the influence of the Michelsberg culture. The presence of tools using flint or other stones absent from the region's soil bears witness to numerous exchanges, including with the Grand-Pressigny site in Indre-et-Loire.

Religious beliefs and practices in the prehistoric period are, as elsewhere, poorly understood. The Neolithic period left many megalithic sites, including dolmens, covered walkways, menhirs such as the "Pierres jumelles" in Cambrai or the Sensée valley, cromlechs and polissoirs. Their use remains to be determined but is probably religious.

Gallia Belgica and the Roman Empire

The Gallic War

The Gallic War in 56 BC: After defeating the Atrebates and Nervians at the battle of Sabis, Caesar continued his conquests towards the North Sea.

Main article: Gallic Wars

Between the 5th and 1st centuries BC, Belgians settled in the region, continuing the migratory movements of Celtic peoples that had marked it since the Tene period. Known from Caesar's descriptions in his Commentaries on the Gallic War, the Belgians were not a homogeneous people, but divided into several tribes who shared the available land: the Menapiens and Morins settled on the North Sea coast; the Atrébates colonized the Artois region, while the Nerviens were seduced by the rich, verdant lands of the Avesnois, between the Sambre and Escaut rivers. The settlement was essentially made up of hamlets around farms. Oppida, fortified camps such as Etrun (in Artois), were very rare in the region, and served more as a refuge than a permanent dwelling.

The year 57 BC marked the beginning of the Roman invasion, led by Julius Caesar. A decisive battle was fought on the banks of the Sabis, a river that could be the Selle, the Sambre or the Escaut. The Nervians and Atrebates were defeated, but the region was not yet subjugated. The Morins waged a guerrilla war against the Roman army until 54 BC, as did the Menapiens, who joined Ambiorix's battles. In 52 BC, like most Belgian peoples, the Nervians, Morins and Atrebates provided warriors who joined Vercingetorix.

Conquered in 50 BC, Gaul-Belgium remained under military occupation until 27 BC.

Pax Romana

Roman road from Bavay to Trier, one of the seven "Chaussée Brunehaut" radiating out from Bavay (Bagacum Nerviorum).

After a hard-won victory, the Romans pursued a policy of pacification and Romanization of the region, which bore fruit. They endowed it with their administrative organization: the rich Roman province of Belgium counted no fewer than seventeen cities, which associated the ancient Celtic tribes with their prosperity. The city of Bagacum Nerviorum (Bavay, in the North) was founded as the capital of the Nervians, Namur (Aduatuca), that of the Aduatics, whose oppidum was at Gembloux; the same applied to the Menapians with Castellum Menapiorum in Flanders (Cassel, in the North). Nemetocenna became Nemetacum (Arras, Pas-de-Calais), capital of the Atrébates, and Tervanna (Thérouanne), capital of the Morins, who settled as far as the North Sea coast. To the northeast, the Eburons (Tongeren) settled along the Meuse and close to the Rhine.

With the exception of the coastal region, settlement was dense, consisting mainly of villae (large farms).

The region prospered thanks to the sheep breeding and wheat cultivation already practised by the Belgian peoples; Pliny in his Natural History praises their harvesting technique using the vallus, as well as the wide variety of vegetables produced.

But an essential contribution of the Romans was the development of the road network, some of which can still be seen today, often known as the "Brunehaut causeways". Seven of them radiated around Bagacum, enabling the city to trade with the whole empire, importing sigillated ceramics from Lezoux, pottery from the Rhineland or wine and olive oil from Spain and exporting linen cloth and menapiena ham.

Vici (hamlets) were established along these routes. In the Scarpe and Escaut valleys, more than a third of today's communes take their name from a Gallo-Roman settlement.

Decline and barbarian invasions

By the end of the 1st century, Germanic peoples were making their way up the Scheldt and reaching the Tongeren-Bavay route, where they engaged in pillaging. In the middle of the second century, in 253-254, the Franks crossed the Rhine, were repulsed by Emperor Gallien and returned between 259 and 263. In 275, the Alamanni joined the Franks. During the brief interludes of peace allowed by these occasional raids, new capitals temporarily asserted their authority: Cassel and Bavay gave way to Tournai and Cambrai.

This troubled period also saw the beginnings of the Christianization of Empire. Some temples were destroyed, but Christianization remained very limited in the region until the 3rd and 5th centuries.

In 406, the freezing of the Rhine caused a flood of barbarian peoples, Franks and Germans, themselves driven by the Huns. The last vestiges of Roman authority in the region were about to be destroyed.

The Frankish kingdoms

Partial Germanization of the region

In 428, the Salian Franks led by Clodion the Hairy conquered Cambrai and the entire region as far as the Somme. The Roman general Aetius preferred to negotiate peace and concluded a treaty (fœdus) with Clodion that made the Franks "federates" fighting for Rome, and authorized them to settle in the Empire, in this case near the imperial tax office at Tournai.

The degree of colonization by these Germanic-speaking peoples varied from place to place, and was greater in the north than in the south. As a result, a fairly clear linguistic boundary emerged around Lille: to the north, more intense Germanization gave rise to the Flemish language. In the south, the Gallo-Romans managed to retain more influence and adopted the more Latinized French language.

Christianization in the Merovingian period

Marchiennes Abbey was founded around 630.

The Salian Franks had retained their religion, unlike other Germanic peoples who had converted to the Arianism preached by Wulfila. Clovis's choice to convert to Nicene Christianity rather than Arianism was crucial, as it was the religion of what remained of the empire, but also gave it sacred legitimacy. The return to a certain political stability facilitated the renewal of urbanization and the establishment of ecclesiastical authorities. Vaast was appointed bishop of Arras and then Cambrai in the early years of the century, but by 511 the region was not sufficiently Christianized to be represented at the Council of Orleans.

Between Neustria and Austrasia

The Merovingians had no notion of statehood, and fiefdoms were private domains. So when Clovis died, the Frankish kingdom he had conquered was divided between his sons. According to the chronicles of Frédégaire, the region was then part of Dentelin; it depended on Neustria or Austrasia as dynastic struggles went on, the best-known being the rivalry between queens Brunehaut and Frédégonde.

Around 630 AD, in the time of Dagobert, massive Christianization began. Numerous monasteries sprang up, as in Marchiennes, Condé and Maroilles. Endowed by the Frankish aristocracy, they were relays of royal power and played an essential role in clearing woodlands and draining marshlands. They were rarer on the coast, which was of little interest to the Franks and where the first bishop, Audomar (Saint Omer), was not sent until the 6th century.

The Scheldt as a new frontier

The Treaty of Verdun

For the first Carolingian kings, the Frankish kingdoms remained private domains. The Treaty of Verdun in 843, dividing Charlemagne's inheritance into three kingdoms, reinforced the division between the French and Germanic kingdoms with a new border. The Scheldt was chosen as the natural boundary between the kingdoms of West Francia to the west and Middle Francia to the east. What is now the Nord département was thus split into two parts, with what was to become the kingdom of France on one side, and what was to become the Holy Roman Empire on the other.

Counties of Flanders, Cambrésis and Hainaut

Sequence of Saint Eulalia.

The history of the region in the early Middle Ages reflects the complexity of the feudal system. In the west, the weak and distant French royal power allowed the creation of the county of Flanders in the late ninth century. This theoretical vassal of the King of France, which fought effectively against the Normans, was characterized by regular insubordination. The first Flemish counts extended their jurisdiction from the Canche to the mouth of the Scheldt.

The same trend was observed on the Germanic side, with the emergence of political entities that owed only theoretical obedience to the Emperor. As for the County of Hainaut, it did not emerge definitively until the middle of the 11th century, after many ups and downs. Farther north, the Duchy of Brabant is typically Flemish in tradition, except for the Latin-speaking part of Hainaut, the Roman Pays de Brabant.

These theoretical allegiances were superimposed by the temporal influence of the Catholic Church: the Bishop of Cambrai, for example, greatly increased his powers and became Count of Cambrésis in 1007.

In both east and west, the deplorable quality of the roads meant that waterways became increasingly important. Many towns sprang up along the waterways: Lille, Valenciennes, Landrecies. As in Northern Italy at the same time, but on a smaller scale, the largest urban centers used their importance to obtain privileges from their lords, most often in the form of charters. Some towns administered themselves by building town houses, sometimes complete with a belfry symbolizing the existence of communal power. In the 12th century, Arras achieved international renown for its cloth industry, merchants and bankers, artists.

The Battle of Bouvines

Saint-Vaast beguinage in Cambrai, created in the 14th century.

In 1180, Isabelle de Hainaut, daughter of Baudouin V de Hainaut, married Philippe Auguste and brought him the Artois region as a dowry. Following a delicate succession concerning the County of Flanders (and involving the County of Hainaut), the King of France was faced with a coalition involving the Emperor, the King of England and the Count of Flanders, Ferrand of Portugal. The confrontation culminated in a decisive battle at Bouvines in 1214, in which Philippe Auguste was victorious.

To escape the spiral of fragmentation resulting from the feudal system, Philip Augustus set out to create a new administrative structure using an ordinance-testament that gave importance to bailiffs, in order to exercise his power directly over the territory.

The King of France and his successor Saint Louis were thus able to influence the affairs of Flanders and Hainaut for several decades.

The early 13th century was a time of great religious expansion in Flanders and Hainaut: new monasteries were created by the mendicant orders; beguinages were established where the doctrine of the Free Spirit appeared, later inspiring Rheno-Flemish mysticism.

The Hundred Years' War

Main article: Hundred Years' War

The surrender of Calais in 1347, Froissart's chronicles.

In the 14th century, Europe experienced the crisis of the late Middle Ages, and a gradual rise in tension between the kings of France and England over Flanders, as well as Guyenne and Scotland.

The Count of Flanders was at the service of his suzerain, the King of France, while the economic interests of the Flemish were focused on England. As for the Count of Hainaut, he naturally sided with the Emperor, who was allied with England. Edward III's ride in 1346 led to the eleven-month siege of Calais.

The Hundred Years' War had countless consequences for the region, which was devastated less by the fighting itself than by epidemics. The Black Death first hit southern Hainaut in 1316, where it killed a third of the population, according to Froissart; the region was hit again several times, including at Calais from December 1348.

Hainaut, Flanders and Artois, provinces of the Netherlands

"Burgundy, Burgundy!"

See also: Burgundian Netherlands

Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy from 1419 to 1467, through incessant matrimonial maneuvering, gained control of the counties of Flanders and Hainaut, and united under his crown the whole of what was then known as the Netherlands (Holland, Belgium and northern France).

Burgundian rule marked a stable and prosperous period for the region. Lille became a major administrative center, hosting the Burgundian State Audit Office. New crops of rapeseed, broad beans, peas and dye plants were sown. In addition to the Brussels tapestry and the industrious quality drapery market, sayetterie was created, with lightweight fabrics designed specifically for export throughout Europe.

Charles V

In 1506, Charles of Ghent inherited his father's former Burgundian lands, the Netherlands. Ten years later, he became King of Spain, and three years later, he was elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire under the name of Charles V.

Charles enjoyed a certain popularity in the Netherlands and undertook major administrative reforms without difficulty. The region was methodically divided into different provinces, such as Gallican Flanders, Maritime Flanders, the castellany of Lille and Cambrésis, an independent seigniory erected into a duchy.

Inevitable territorial tensions regularly erupted with the kingdom of France, whose border still stopped at the Aisne. The legendary confrontation between Charles V and Francis I was keenly felt in the region: towns were taken and razed to the ground by one side, only to be recaptured and rebuilt with new fortifications by the other, then razed to the ground again, and so on. On several occasions, Cambrésis, as a neutral land, was used to conclude agreements between the two belligerents: the Peace of the Ladies, the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis.

These offensives on both sides failed to produce any tangible results, but ended with the destruction of Thérouanne, razed to the ground by order of Charles V in 1553.

The Protestant upsurge

The siege of Valenciennes in 1566-67, a city declared rebellious against the king.

In the 16th century, Protestantism spread through the region like wildfire, for both religious and political reasons.

As part of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, the University of Douai was established in 1552, and the religious reorganization of the Spanish Netherlands led to a new ecclesiastical structure between 1559 and 1561.

In 1561, the reformer Guy de Brès wrote the Confessio Belgica, a confession of faith for Calvinists in the Spanish Netherlands.

Throughout the Netherlands, however, an insurrectionary movement culminated in 1566 with the smashing of religious images. Valenciennes and Le Cateau-Cambrésis, in particular, opted unambiguously for Calvinist doctrine and set up a new municipal government. Spanish troops were quick to restore order through enforcement measures, leading to the exile of thousands of Protestants to the northern Netherlands, England, Germany, the New World and South Africa.

In 1581, the northern provinces of the Spanish Netherlands, most of them Protestant and Dutch-speaking, abjured the Spanish king and formed the United Provinces. The Southern Netherlands remained Catholic, willy-nilly, and became a satellite state of a larger empire, ruled from Madrid by the Habsburgs.

The peacemaking reign of the Austrian Archdukes

The combined action of the Catholic Counter-Reformation and the peacemaking reign of the Austrian Archdukes succeeded in restoring peace and prosperity in the first third of the 17th century. Jurisconsults created a code of laws promulgated by Archduke Albert of Austria under the name of the Perpetual Edict, which represented the first unification of the many laws and traditions inherited from the past in the region and the Southern Netherlands. A new architectural style using brick and stone with original Mannerist decoration, a synthesis of Italian art and Antwerp creations, altered the medieval appearance of the towns. Lille's stock exchange and facades are typical examples.

The realization of a remarkable heritage, fortunately safeguarded and restored today, was suddenly halted by the Thirty Years' War when hostilities between France and Spain resumed in 1635 (Battle of Lens in 1648).

The Sun King's conquests

Vauban star at Lille citadel.

Louis XIV's wars of conquest reshaped the borders of northern France to roughly what they are today.

After annexing Artois in 1659 and buying back Dunkirk from the English in 1662, Louis XIV took Douai and Lille in 1667, and Valenciennes and Cambrai in 1677.

France imposed a new administration: three intendances located in Dunkirk, Lille and Maubeuge. French bishops were appointed, including the famous Fénelon in Cambrai. As for Vauban, he transformed the medieval defensive system already modified by the Spanish. The result was a remarkable series of fortified towns all along the border, including Le Quesnoy, Landrecies and Bergues. The dismantling of these fortifications at the end of the 19th century left only the citadel of Lille and a few other enclosures, which are currently being restored.

From the Revolution to the First Empire

Context in 1789

Jean-Clément Martin refers to Northern France as the "aborted Vendée". The people were particularly hostile to the French Revolution. The peasants were also deeply affected by the death of the king in January 1793. Trees of liberty were cut down throughout the Cambrai district, while parishioners refused to receive the sacraments from constitutional priests. In several villages - Morbecque notably - peasants rose up against conscription and were persecuted by the new republican authorities.

The creation of the Nord and Pas-de-Calais départements

On September 29, 1789, the Constituent Assembly decided to reorganize the national territory into departments, each approximately 324 square leagues in size. The northern provinces would thus form four departments: Aa to Bresle; Artois; Flanders; Hainaut-Cambrésis. Various projects clashed: a department of Hainaut with Valenciennes as its capital, a maritime department headed by Saint-Omer. Finally, in 1790, the National Assembly opted for a division into the two departments we know today. Douai and Lille vied for the prefecture of Nord. On February 7, 1790, the National Assembly chose Douai, thanks to the influence of Merlin de Douai. On 3 Thermidor IX, the First Consul transferred the prefecture to Lille.

The Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments were each made up of eight districts. The districts of Bergues, Hazebrouck, Lille, Douay, Cambray, Valenciennes, Le Quesnoy and Avesnes made up the Nord. Pas-de-Calais comprised the districts of Arras, Bapaume, Béthune, Boulogne, Calais, Montreuil, Saint-Omer and Saint-Pol.

Franco-Austrian war

Siege of Lille in 1792.

By 1787, the Brabant revolution had already begun on the other side of the border, rejecting the reforms of Joseph II of Austria, Marie-Antoinette's brother, which led to the creation of the United Belgian States in 1790; the Liège revolution followed the French one in August 1789. Austria quickly regained control of these territories. When France declared war on Austria in April 1792, the former Austrian Netherlands became their first battleground. The besieged and bombarded cities of Lille and Dunkirk were partly destroyed. Valenciennes, too, lost all its monuments except the belfry during 43 days of bombardment, and the mine pits in the area were flooded and destroyed. Austrian armies occupied French Hainaut from 1793 to 1794. The French revolutionary army conquered the region in 1794, and annexed Belgium. In addition to the destruction caused by the war, the region was also destroyed by the Terror. The abbey of Saint-Amand was dismantled in the sale of national property, and Cambrai was deprived of its cathedral and Gothic churches.

The First Empire

Under Napoleon, the Nord département made a considerable effort to rebuild itself and unify its territory from a social and administrative point of view.

After the coalition victory at the Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815), the département was occupied by British troops from June 1815 to November 1818 (see Occupation of France at the end of the First Empire).

The industrial revolution

No. 3 pit of the Escarpelle mines.

The economic boom

Several factors contributed to the region's economic development in the early 19th century, bringing it into the era of the Industrial Revolution.

Firstly, the continental blockade imposed by Napoleon against the United Kingdom during his reign led Northerners to produce goods they had previously sourced abroad. The sugar industry was born, for example, and British steam engines were introduced into spinning mills to speed up output. However, the blockade also created problems in terms of financing and sales.

The central part of the region (from around Béthune to Valenciennes) proved extremely rich in coal, then one of the main sources of energy along with wood, but it competed with the mines of the Borinage, then part of the Empire. After the emergence of Belgium in 1830, the protectionism of the Restoration era led to the rapid expansion of coal mining.

The working class

This was the heyday of the North, which in just a few years had become one of the country's greatest economic powers, and would remain so for more than a century. It was also a dark period for workers. Émile Zola's famous Germinal portrayed the plight of the countless miners who left their health underground for starvation wages, but the situation of textile workers was no easier.

The 19th century was marked by difficult climatic conditions (hurricanes, floods, harsh winters) and 5 cholera epidemics between 1832 and 1866 (1832, 1849, 1854, 1859, 1866). The last of these led to the deaths of 10,584 people in the Nord département alone.

The world wars

The First World War

See also: Western Front (World War I)

The region experienced a profound and enduring impact from the First World War (1914-1918), far greater than that of the Second World War (1939-1945). This area was subjected to particularly intense trench warfare and artillery bombardments, with the Yser river serving as a focal point of conflict. Allied forces, comprising French, Belgian, and British troops, engaged in four years of arduous combat against German forces, enduring the harrowing ordeal of the first gas attacks deployed during the war.

In November 1917, British Allied troops launched a major offensive in the Cambrésis region, using tanks for the first time on a large scale. This was the famous Battle of Cambrai.

The losses, both human and material, were countless, not to mention the tragedies of evacuating the population. At the time of the 1918 debacle, the German army systematically destroyed mine shafts throughout the coalfield. In Landrecies in November 1918, before evacuating the town in the face of advancing Allied troops, the Germans aimed their guns at the town center and deliberately destroyed several historic buildings in the former stronghold.

Between the wars

After the war, the industrial region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais was devastated, and in 1919 was classified as a red or yellow zone for around two-thirds of its surface area.

The reconstruction movement made massive use of immigration, particularly from Poland, to compensate for the decline in population due to the war, and to adapt to the new legislation limiting the working day to eight hours. But the economic crisis of the 1930s soon prevented any real economic or cultural renaissance. It also led to downsizing, with recent immigrants the first to be affected.

The region saw a breakthrough of the extreme right, including the "green shirts" among the peasants, which prompted left-wing movements to unite. When the Front Populaire came to power in France in 1936, three deputies from the Nord were in government, including Roger Salengro. Factories went on strike en masse during the Matignon Accords.

World War II

See also: 1941 Nord-Pas-de-Calais miners' strike

British troops embark for the Battle of Dunkirk.

During the Second World War, the North was rapidly overrun during Fall Gelb from May 10 to 28, 1940. French and British troops retreated to the coast, encircled during the Battle of Dunkirk from May 25 to June 3, 1940, and forced to reembark. In nine days, 338,226 troops (including 123,095 French) were evacuated on a sea of oil, while fierce fighting continued to protect the retreat: the Poche de Lille held out from May 25 to May 31. The Wehrmacht captured some 35,000 soldiers. After the armistice of June 22, the populations evacuated to the south at this time returned with difficulty to what was now a region attached to the German military command in Brussels (Administration militaire de la Belgique et du Nord de la France). The region was under heavy military occupation and industrial control. Labor requisitions began in late 1940.

The patriotic strike by the 100,000 miners of Nord-Pas-de-Calais in May-June 1941, which deprived the Germans of 93,000 tons of coal for almost 2 weeks, triggered terrible repression. It was one of the first acts of collective resistance to Nazi occupation in France, resulting in over a hundred arrests, executions and the deportation of 270 people.

Upward view of the dome at La Coupole d'Helfaut, the secret base from which the V2 rockets were to be launched.

The region was a strategic location due to its geographical position: its proximity to the UK prompted the Germans to build numerous fortifications along the coast, but also inland. The best-known are the Coupole d'Helfaut, the Blockhaus d'Éperlecques and the Forteresse de Mimoyecques. These three sites were intended as launch bases for the V1 (missile), V2 (missile) and V3 (cannon), but were never completed in time for the Allied bombing raids and D-Day.

The Atlantic Wall sealed off the entire coastline. In 1944, as part of Operation Fortitude, designed to create the impression of an Allied landing in the region, RAF bombing intensified, resulting in thousands of casualties; Le Portel and Équihen-Plage were destroyed. Nord-Pas-de-Calais was liberated on September 2 and 3, 1944, except the Dunkirk pocket, which remained in German hands until May 8, 1945.

The end of the 20th century

The post-war effort and the onset of the economic crisis

In the aftermath of the war, it was time for a "Union sacrée" to lift the country back to its feet. On October 1, 1944, General de Gaulle declared in his hometown of Lille: "We want the joint development of everything we own on this earth, and to achieve this, there is no other way than what we call a managed economy. We want the State to lead the efforts of the entire nation for the benefit of all, and to make life better for every Frenchman and every Frenchwoman." In 1946, the companies of the entire basin were nationalized to form Houillères du Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Following their mobilization in the "battle for coal" to boost production as quickly as possible, the miners were granted special status, including free housing for themselves, pensioners and miners' widows.

At the same time, the steel industry was expanding rapidly, and companies benefiting from Marshall Plan funding modernized some of their plants.

By the early 1950s, Nord-Pas-de-Calais seemed to have regained its production power. But this reconstruction had been achieved without any real diversification in the traditional activities of textiles, coal and steel, which were beginning to decline. These years also saw the beginnings of regional television: in 1950, Télé-Lille was created in Lille, the first regional television station and the first regional Radiodiffusion-télévision française (R.T.F.) 819-line high-definition television transmitter (France 3 Nord-Pas-de-Calais), even though there were only 177 receivers in the region in 1951.

For the region, these were also years of painful events: the Algerian war had far-reaching repercussions due to the large number of immigrants of Algerian origin in the region, who had arrived before and after 1914, and after 1945 due to the needs of reconstruction in the mining, metallurgy, chemical and automotive industries. The presence of these immigrants led, in the context of the Algerian war, to tensions between the French and Algerian communities, various demonstrations or attempted demonstrations, tensions with the police, but also divisions between Algerians, depending on whether they followed the instructions of one or other of the two main nationalist movements that were clashing in Algeria as in France: the F.L.N. (Front de libération nationale) or the M.N.A. (Mouvement national algérien). The "war within the war" of the two parties took place in the cafés of Lille, Roubaix and the coalfields, and led to attacks, manhunts and street shootings: 835 attacks led to 628 deaths in four years in the region.

From the 1950s to the 1980s, the region saw a gradual end to coal mining. Around 150,000 jobs were lost in the coalfield, with a further 100,000 in textiles and 50,000 in steel and metallurgy. The government tried to revive activity by promoting the establishment of automotive plants in the region. Plastics companies set up in the region, employing 12,000 people, including 4,000 in the Béthune-Bruay area.

The creation of the region

The Nord-Pas-de-Calais region becomes a regional public establishment (EPR) under the law of July 5, 1972. The name "region" followed the 1982 decentralization law, spurred on by Gaston Defferre, Minister of the Interior and Decentralization. It was a new hope, whose limits soon became apparent in the face of the State's disengagement and the scale of the problems to be tackled.

From the 1980s onwards, the region's society evolved from one based on large-scale industry to one based on information and services. However, industry remained an area of investment, ranking third among French regions, with the Arques crystal glassworks, food processing and automotive industries. In the Roubaix and Tourcoing area, the textile industry has given rise to mail-order companies; the region is also one of the cradles of modern retailing.

Traditions and European openness

The region's enduring economic crisis has prompted analysts to take stock of its assets, foremost among which are its "remarkable vitality" and geographical location.

Nord-Pas-de-Calais occupies a central position within a dynamic European region. Major cities such as Paris, Brussels, London, Amsterdam, Dusseldorf, and Luxembourg are located within a 250-kilometer radius. The region benefits from significant logistical infrastructure, including three primary seaports, multiple river ports, and an extensive road network. A series of large-scale projects facilitated the development of high-speed rail connections through the TGV Nord-Europe, Eurostar, and Thalys services, as well as the construction of the Channel Tunnel in 1993. These developments have reestablished the region as a key European transportation hub.

The region has endured a history marked by significant challenges, as historian Jean-Pierre Wytteman observes. Despite these adversities, a process of cultural revitalization is underway. The region is reclaiming its past, both laborious and festive: ducasses, the Lille braderie and the Dunkirk carnival have regained their appeal. At the same time, a cultural revival is being supported at both European and local levels, giving rise to initiatives such as Louvre-Lens, or the PhéniX in Valenciennes, a symbol of rebirth.

See also

• Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin
• National Volunteers (France)

Bibliography

• Desmulliez, Jacqueline; Milis, L. J. R. (2008). Histoire des provinces françaises du Nord : De la préhistoire à l'An Mil (in French). Artois presses université. ISBN 978-2-903077-71-6.
• Collectif (1988). Le Nord, de la Préhistoire à nos jours (in French). Bordessoules. ISBN 2-903504-28-8.
• Pierrard, Pierre (1978). Histoire du Nord : Flandre, Artois, Hainaut, Picardie (in French). Hachette. ISBN 2-01-020306-2.
• C'artouche (2000). Pas-de-Calais : Histoire d'un renouveau (in French). Librairie Arthème Fayard. ISBN 2-213-60733-8.

This page will be placed in the following categories if it is moved to the article namespace.

Categories:

• History of Hauts-de-France
• History of Nord (French department)
• History of the Pas-de-Calais