Population

Abstract

What happened in and to France during the nineteenth century — and for France the nineteenth century ends with the derogation of the French Chambers in July 1940 — was influenced by two phenomena, for both of which the French people themselves were responsible. One was the slow growth of the native population, the other the land settlement arising out of the Revolution. In every difficult situation in which the French people and the French government were involved, whether it arose out of foreign relations and military strength, out of national and local financial weakness, out of political misunderstanding, or out of educational and religious conflict, one, often both of these factors will be found to lie somewhere near the root of the trouble.