Urban-Rural Divide Transforms

The war accelerated urbanization while paradoxically increasing urban appreciation for rural France. Cities swelled with munitions workers, refugees, and colonial laborers. Paris grew by 300,000 despite proximity to front. Industrial suburbs expanded chaotically, creating urban problems that would plague France for decades.

Rural France bore disproportionate military casualties—peasants comprised 40% of population but 50% of deaths. Entire villages lost all young men. The demographic catastrophe accelerated rural exodus as survivors sought urban opportunities rather than returning to emptied villages. Traditional rural society, already under pressure, collapsed in many regions.

Yet the war also created new urban-rural connections. City dwellers, facing starvation, discovered dependence on agricultural production. Direct purchasing from farmers, bypassing middlemen, created personal relationships. Urban children evacuated to countryside for safety discovered rural life. These connections challenged stereotypes on both sides.

Government propaganda celebrated peasant soldiers and farm women, creating idealized images of rural virtue. This mythology, though divorced from rural reality, influenced urban perceptions. The peasant-soldier became symbol of authentic France, contrasting with corrupt urban politics. This rural idealization would influence interwar politics significantly.