Post-War Paris

Introduction: History: Modern Paris: Post-War Paris

Spirits were initially high after the war. The new constitution under the Fourth Republic gave women the right to vote in 1946, the same year that Coco Chanel’s New Look wowed the fashion world. But France’s bitter loss of their Algerian colony in the 1950s War of Independence not only resulted in the collapse of the Fourth Republic, but also meant the return of over a half-million French colonists, known as the pieds noirs (an 18th-century term). Combined with the rural immigration to the cities, Paris was suddenly faced with a serious housing crisis. Not only was there a shortage, the housing that was available was in pitiful condition. In 1954 only 10% of French homes had a bath or shower, and only 27% had flushing toilets. Charles de Gaulle came out of retirement to head the Fifth Republic, and launched an emergency building plan. Over the next two decades old buildings in the inner suburbs and outer arrondissements such as the 13th, the 19th and the 20th, were razed to make way for residential towers.

Plans for a modern business district in La Défense were announced, and new buildings for UNESCO and Radio France were completed. When developers began looking toward the older neighborhoods in central Paris, writer and Minister André Malraux stepped in and declared one of the oldest and most historic, the Marais, to be a historic district to save it from destruction. He also convinced the city to fund the cleaning and restoration of the city’s major monuments and state-owned buildings.

THE ALGERIAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE In 1961 a peaceful demonstration by French Algerians protesting curfews imposed on North Africans during the Algerian War ended in slaughter. Police opened fire on the marchers at the Place de la Concorde, beating them with clubs and throwing the bodies into the Seine. The official word was that three protestors were injured, but independent French media coverage of the massacre was strictly censored by Chief of Police, Maurice Papon. It wasn’t until 30 years later, when Papon was brought to trial for his role in the deportation of French Jews during WWII, that investigations into the 1961 protest found evidence that over 200 Algerians had been murdered.

Late 20th Century

The youth scene exploded in Paris in the early 1960s, known as les années yé-yé, with American-influenced be-boppers and rockers such as Johnny Hallyday, Eddy Mitchell, France Gall, and Françoise Hardy. It was also the start of Serge Gainsbourg’s long and eclectic singing career. Meanwhile, Jean-Paul Sartre honed his existentialist ideas in the cafés of St-Germain-des-Prés, and the Beat Generation’s ex-pat writers, such as Ginsberg, Corso and Ferlinghetti, read their anti-establishment poetry in George Whitman’s Latin Quarter bookshop, Shakespeare & Co. Influenced by these new ways of thinking, as well as student anti-war protests taking place throughout the world, disillusionment with the establishment began to take root in the Paris universities.

In May 1968 Paris was the scene of a series of riots, protests and strikes that brought the country to a standstill. It all began with the closure of Nanterre University after clashes between right-wing groups and students campaigning against the Vietnam War and American imperialism. On May 3,600 students protesting the closure were arrested at the Sorbonne, setting off angry marches throughout the Latin Quarter. Parisians watched in horror as police and students clashed in clouds of tear-gas, with some of the worst violence seen since the war. Over the next few days students set up street barricades and occupied the universities, demanding the release of the prisoners and reforms to the antiquated university structures. Their movement quickly spread to the frustrated working classes, leading to a general strike of over nine million workers throughout the country. Factories and offices were occupied by employees demanding better working conditions, higher pay, and an end to the oppressive management culture.

But the movement suffered from its own spontaneity. Without the support of any major political party or workers’ union (even the Communist party leaders were considered “sellouts”), de Gaulle was able to remain in charge. He dissolved the National Assembly and called for new elections, and by June 16th the movement ended as CRS (riot police) cleared out the final barricades. Those still resisting were violently repressed, with one student drowned in the Seine and two workers shot dead in a Peugeot factory. The French were eager for a return to law and order, and the Right came back to power after an overwhelming election victory.

THE AFTERMATH OF MAY 1968 While les évènements de Mai 1968 fell short of a complete revolution, France was changed forever. Old French institutions loosened up and a more liberal and socialist society developed, giving new momentum to the women’s movement and civil rights issues. Even today, the memory of the strikes remains a powerful incentive for government and big businesses to negotiate with trade unions and disgruntled workers.

Charles de Gaulle ended up resigning in 1969 after being defeated in a decentralization referendum, and he was replaced by Georges Pompidou. Paris continued to modernize throughout the 1970s, with the inauguration of the RER express train, the Boulevard Périphérique ring road, two international airports and the construction of the city’s first (and last) skyscraper, the Tour Montparnasse. The wholesale food market Les Halles was dismantled, moved to the suburbs and replaced with a modern, underground commercial center, the Forum des Halles. Despite initial protests, the brightly colored Pompidou Center opened just a few blocks away in the heart of the Beaubourg district.

François Mitterrand continued the building spree when he came to power in 1981, transforming the Gare d’Orsay into a museum and the abattoirs (slaughterhouses) at La Villette into a new park and science museum. Construction continued on the office district at La Défense, with the completion of its Grande Arche and the Opéra Bastille for the 1989 French Revolution Bicentennial. Mitterrand’s most important grands travaux (great works) include the Grand Louvre renovations and the complete overhaul of the Bercy district. A year after his retirement in 1995, the colossal new François Mitterrand National Library was inaugurated on the Left Bank of the Seine.

In the 1990s Paris experienced several tragic events, including the 1995 métro bombings by Algerian terrorists that killed eight and seriously injured over 150, and the 1997 death of Diana, Princess of Wales, after her car crashed in a Paris tunnel trying to escape the paparazzi. Domestic politics took a dive when a public service strike by transit workers, postal staff and teachers opposed to social security reforms crippled the city for three weeks in December 1995.

MINITEL VS INTERNET The famous Minitel was created by France Telecom in 1984, and became a permanent fixture in French households long before the Internet. Made up of a terminal and keyboard that plugs into the phone line, the Minitel serves as a phone and address directory, with links to databases for instant access to daily news, encyclopedias, booking agencies, banking, mail-order shopping, computer dating and even a risqué chat room known as the “Minitel Rose.” Fees for usage appear on the phone bill. France Telecom provides the basic terminals for free, although fancier high-tech models are available for a small rental fee. Because of the Minitel, the French were behind the rest of the western world in getting hooked up to the Internet, and only started trying to catch up in 1998. For the moment the two systems live side-by-side, each with its pros and cons, but many predict the eventual demise of Minitel’s pioneering information network.

The mood changed for the better in July 1998 when Parisians celebrated the biggest event in the country’s sporting history with a Soccer World Cup victory against Brazil in the newly built Stade de France. On the night of December 26,1999 France was struck by a storm that left many regions without electricity for several weeks, and caused severe damage to many Paris monuments and centuries-old trees. But, despite worldwide paranoia about a Y2K meltdown, Parisians took to the streets to watch the Eiffel Tower countdown to the new Millennium without incident.

Paris Today

Most of the important changes in Paris over recent years are due to efforts by the new Socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoë to improve the quality of life for average Parisians. Some of his most successful projects include Paris Plage, a beach set up on the banks of the Seine in summer, and the elimination of entrance fees to the municipal museums’ permanent collections. He also cut down on traffic and pollution by increasing the numbers of bus and bike lanes, constructing a new tramway, and banning coaches from parking on the Ile de la Cité. Expect to see more improvements over the coming years as Paris puts in a bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

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