The Rural Exodus Begins

The late nineteenth century marked the beginning of rural depopulation that would accelerate throughout the twentieth century. The causes were multiple and reinforcing. Agricultural prices, particularly for grain, fell due to competition from American and Russian imports. Small holdings, viable in a subsistence economy, could not compete in commodity markets. The subdivision of properties through inheritance created plots too small to support families.

Industrial employment offered alternatives. Railways facilitated temporary migration, with rural workers following seasonal patterns - harvesting in summer, industrial work in winter. Gradually, temporary became permanent. Young people, especially women, left for cities where factory work, domestic service, or shop employment offered wages and freedoms unknown in villages.

World War I marked a traumatic acceleration of these trends. The mobilization of 1914 emptied villages of men aged 20-48. Many never returned - killed, disabled, or choosing to remain in cities discovered during military service. The war memorial in virtually every French village, listing the dead of 1914-1918, stands as testament to this demographic catastrophe. Some villages lost a third of their adult male population.

Women's wartime roles - managing farms, replacing men in various occupations - challenged traditional gender relations. While most returned to conventional roles post-war, seeds of change were planted. The influx of foreign workers, particularly Spanish and Italian agricultural laborers, began altering the ethnic composition of rural areas.