History of Le Havre
Le Havre was founded on 8 October 1517 as a new port by royal command of
Before François I
Human presence on the territory of Le Havre dates back to Prehistory around 400,000 BC.[1]
Many remains from the
The first mention of Graville Abbey was in the 9th century,
The foundation of Le Havre
On 8 October 1517,
In 1525, a storm caused the death a hundred people, destroyed 28 fishing boats and the
The
On 20 April 1564 Le Havre became the port of departure for the French expedition of
The wars of religion
The
Le Havre was affected by the
The 17th and 18th centuries
The defense function of Le Havre was reaffirmed and modernization of the port began in the 16th century on the orders of
Le Havre affirmed its maritime and international calling during the 17th century: the Company of the Orient settled there in 1643.[8] There were imports of exotic products from America (sugar, cotton, tobacco, coffee, and various spices). The slave trade enriched local traders especially in the 18th century. With 399 slave trade expeditions in the 17th and 18th centuries, Le Havre was the third largest French slave trade port after Nantes and La Rochelle.[9] Maritime trade however is subject to international relations and a European context: the wars of Louis XIV and Louis XV momentarily interrupted the development of Le Havre. The Anglo-Dutch bombarded the city several times, notably in 1694 and in 1696.[8][10]
In 1707 Michel Dubocage, a Captain from Le Havre, explored the Pacific Ocean aboard the Discovery and reached the Clipperton Island. Upon his return to Le Havre, he made his fortune by setting up a trading house and bought a mansion (now a Museum) in the heart of the Saint-François district and the lordship of Bléville. Another Captain from Le Havre Jean-Baptiste d'Après de Mannevillette (1707–1780) worked for the East India Company and mapped the coasts of India and China.
From the middle of the 18th century wealthy traders were building homes on the coast.[11] In 1749 Madame de Pompadour wanted to see the sea and Louis XV chose Le Havre to satisfy her desire. The visit was ruinous to the city's finances.
In 1759, the city was the staging point for a
The economic boom of Le Havre resulted in an increase of its population (18,000 inhabitants in 1787[11]) but also resulted in changes to the port and the city: the installation of a Tobacco Factory in the Saint-François district, the expansion of the shipyards, a new arsenal, and a commodity exchange. During a visit in 1786 Louis XVI approved the project to extend the city and it was François Laurent Lamandé he chose to take on the task of quadrupling the size of the city.
The French Revolutionary Period (1789–1815)
Between 1789 and 1793 the port of Le Havre was the second largest in France after that of Nantes. The Triangular trade continued until the war and its abolition. The port remained strategic because of the grain trade (supply of Paris) and its closeness to the British enemy.
The national events of the
The prosperity of the 19th century
The end of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars allowed trade to recover normally as the British threat receded. The context of new-found peace and economic growth led to a large influx of population. Le Havre quickly outgrew its walls and new neighbourhoods appeared. Many poor were still crammed into the slum of Saint Francis. Epidemics of
The city and its port were transformed through major development work, partly funded by the state, which were spread throughout the 19th century – sometimes interrupted by political and economic crises. Several projects were completed such as construction of a new stock exchange and commercial basin in the first half of the century. There was progressive installation of gas lighting in 1835,[16] rubbish collection (1844), and sewerage works showed a concern for urban modernization. By mid-century the old ramparts had been razed and the surrounding communities annexed to the city so the population increased sharply. The period 1850–1914 was a golden age for Le Havre. Apart from a few years of depression (the American Civil War,[17] the Franco-Prussian War), trade exploded and the city was embellished with elegant new constructions (boulevards, city hall, courthouse, new stock exchange).
The effects of the
On the eve of the
Under the July Monarchy Le Havre was a Seaside resort popular with Parisians. The creation of marine baths went back to this time. It was in 1889 that the maritime boulevard was built, dominated by the Villa Maritime.[16] The casino Marie-Christine (1910) and the Palace of Regattas (1906) brought the Bourgeoisie and the first Beach huts were installed on the beach.[16] The end of the 19th century and of the Belle Époque, however, arrived with social tensions exacerbated by inflation and unemployment. From 1886, worker unrest, causing the Socialists to become increasingly influential, shook the city. The case of Jules Durand (a case in 1910 where Durand, secretary of a union of striking workers, was found guilty of complicity in murder) was symptomatic of this context.[20]
Times of War (1914–1945)
The human toll from the
The
In the
Much of the population opted to evacuate at dusk by foot, bicycle or wagon, only to return during daylight hours after the Allied Forces air bombardments were over.[25]
Le Havre suffered 132 bombings by the Allies during the war. The Nazis also destroyed the port infrastructure and sank ships before leaving the city. The greatest destruction, however, occurred on 5 and 6 September 1944 when the British Royal Air Force[26] bombed the city centre and the port to weaken the occupier under Operation Astonia – often described as the storm of iron and fire.[27]
The results of the bombing campaign were appalling: 5,000 deaths (including 1,770 in 1944[28]),[26] 75,000[26] to 80,000 injured, 150 hectares of land razed, 12,500 buildings destroyed.[22] The port was also devastated and some 350 wrecks lie at the bottom of the sea.[26] Le Havre was liberated by Allied troops on 12 September 1944.
Despite the extensive damage, Le Havre became the location of some of the biggest Replacement Depots, or "Repple Depples" in the European Theatre of Operations in World War II. Thousands of American replacement troops poured in the Cigarette Camps i.e. Philip Morris, Herbert Tareyton, Wings, and Pall Mall Camps, located in the vicinity of the town, before being deployed to combat operations. The port also became key to the Supply and Service Forces operations of the Communications Zone of the U.S. Army.[29]
Le Havre after 1945
General Charles de Gaulle visited Le Havre on 7 October 1944.[30] The city received the Legion of Honour on 18 July 1949 for the "heroism with which it has faced its destruction".[30]
In spring 1945, Raoul Dautry of the Ministry of Reconstruction and Urban Development[31] entrusted the project to rebuild the city of Le Havre to Auguste Perret. The city council requested Brunau form part of the planning team, but subsequently he left a short time later due to creative conflicts with Perret.[32] Perret wanted to make a clean sweep of the old structures and apply the theories of structural classicism. The material to be used for the building construction was concrete and the general plan was an orthogonal frame. Officially, the reconstruction was completed in the mid-1960s.[22][33]
The triangular axis of the Boulevard François I, the Avenue Foch and Rue de Paris led the traveller north, south, east and west of the town centre. The pre-war shopping precinct of Rue de Paris was redesigned with wide footpaths. A surrounding gridiron street system allowed for opened shopping areas, far from the dense and overcrowded crannies of the old.[34] The Place de l’Hotel de Ville, the central square, was lined with 330 apartments around the edge in varying sizes and permitted a 1000-person occupancy. State funds also allowed for the building of high-rise apartments over six blocks leading into the residential areas. These new apartments possessed the latest innovations including central heating.[35] The Avenue Foch stretched 80 metres wide, a little more than the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The finest apartments were built here facing the northern sunlight. Beyond the concrete formations of the inner township stretched the Saint-Francois neighbourhood, made up of red-brick residences and slate rooflines. Aplemont’s three-square-kilometre rebuild consisted of detached housing, double storey terraces and small apartment blocks. A church, community centre and shops also defined the new features. The inclusion of 7.7 square kilometres (3.0 sq mi) of green spaces with parks, gardens and woodlands added to the port’s urban renewal. This equates to an average of 41 square metres of green space per inhabitant, exceptional for any European city of its time. The Museum of Modern Art and the first House of Culture in the region were inaugurated in 1961 by André Malraux.[22] The commune was enlarged through the annexation of Bleville, Sanvic, and Rouelles.
In the 1970s economic difficulties due to de-industrialization saw, for example, the closure of Ateliers et chantiers du Havre (ACH) in 1999 and transformed the trade of the port. 1974 also saw the end of the
UNESCO declared the city centre of Le Havre a World Heritage Site on 15 July 2005 honouring the "innovative utilisation of concrete's potential". The 133-hectare space that represented, according to UNESCO, "an exceptional example of architecture and town planning of the post-war era," is one of the rare contemporary World Heritage Sites in Europe.
See also
References
- ^ a b Prehistory and Antiquity[permanent dead link], Municipal Archives of Le Havre, consulted on 22 July 2012 (in French)
- ^ The Neolithic position of Fortins at Le Havre (Montgeon Forest), Louis Cayeux, Bulletin de la Société préhistorique de France, Vol. 60, No. 7-8, 1953, 426–431 pages, consulted on 22 July 2012 (in French)
- ^ a b Middle Ages[permanent dead link], Municipal Archives of Le Havre, consulted on 22 July 2012 (in French)
- ^ Claire Étienne-Steiner, Frédéric Saunier, Le Havre a port of new towns, 2005, éditions du patrimoine, p. 21 (in French)
- ^ a b c d e f g h Modern Period (1492–1610)[permanent dead link], Municipal Archives of Le Havre, consulted on 22 July 2012 (in French)
- ^ "Narrative of Le Moyne- TheNewWorld.us". TheNewWorld.us. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
- ^ Charles Bost, Stories of Regional Protestant History, Vl. 1 : "Normandie", Union Fraternelle des Églises Réformées de Normandie, 1928 and Notes on Heritage No. 71, Le Havre, Éd. Momum, 2005 (in French)
- ^ a b c d Modern Period (1611–1715)[permanent dead link], Municipal Archives of Le Havre, consulted on 23 July 2012 (in French)
- ^ Olivier Pétré-Grenouilleau, The Slave Trade, Global Historical Essay, Paris, Gallimard, 2004, pp. 171–172 (in French)
- ISBN 2-7089-1707-2), p. 284
- ^ a b Modern Period (1716–1788), Municipal Archives of Le Havre, consulted on 23 July 2012 (in French)
- ^ a b Revolutionary Period (1789–1814)[permanent dead link], Municipal Archives of Le Havre, consulted on 23 July 2012 (in French)
- ISBN 2-7089-1707-2) p. 398 (in French)
- ISBN 2-7089-1707-2) p. 408 (in French)
- ISBN 978-2-84734-675-6). (in French)
- ^ a b c d e Contemporary Period (1815–1913)[permanent dead link], Municipal Archives of Le Havre, consulted on 23 July 2012 (in French)
- ISBN 2-7089-1707-2), p. 433 (in French)
- ISBN 2-7089-1707-2), p. 421 (in French)
- ISBN 2-7089-1707-2), p. 454 (in French)
- ISBN 2-7089-1707-2), p. 452 (in French)
- ISBN 2-7089-1707-2), p. 465 (in French)
- ^ a b c d e f Contemporary Period (1914–1988)[permanent dead link], Municipal Archives of Le Havre, consulted on 23 July 2012 (in French)
- ISBN 978-2-84734-675-6) p. 23 (in French)
- ^ September 1944: The siege and the battle of Le Havre, accessed 21 March 2013 (in French)
- ^ Dombrowski-Risser 2009, p. 63
- ^ ISBN 978-2-84734-675-6), p. 24 (in French)
- ^ Clout 1999, p. 187
- ISBN 2-912468-02-7, p. 14 (in French)
- ^ Ambrose, Stephen. Citizen Soldiers, p 274-277.
- ^ ISBN 978-2-84734-675-6), p. 25 (in French)
- ^ Kuhl, Lowis & Thiel-Siling 2008, p. 61
- ^ UNESCO 2005, p. 5
- ISBN 978-2-84734-675-6), p. 44 (in French)
- ^ Frampton 1995, p. 145
- ^ Clout 1999, p. 199
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