Une sacrée désunion?

Abstract

Une sacrée désunion? Conflict continues Occupied culture drew on both prewar norms and the experience of daily interaction with the enemy; it did not mark a wholly clean break with what went before. The occupation did not erase all prewar conflicts and tensions, but provided a new context for these and fresh areas of contention. Only a few scholars have examined such division among the occupied population. Salson demonstrates that the Aisne experienced class conflict, 'social violence' and criticism of municipalities-especially regarding their role in food provisioning. 1 Nivet highlights the tensions between refugees evacuated further behind enemy lines and host populations. 2 Similar conflicts were present in the occupied Nord to varying degrees. 3 This chapter considers three important flashpoints: religious, political and social divisions. Studying these allows for a more comprehensive view of local reactions to the occupation and the gap between the expectations of occupied culture and the reality of occupied life. Naturally, complete unity among any population is impossible. In unoccupied France, attempts to impose a political and social Union Sacrée-an abandonment of pre-existing conflicts for the national goodbroke down by 1917 at the latest, 4 and the Union was often more a lofty aim than a lived reality. Yet postwar memoirs and histories regarding the occupied zone say little about social, political or religious divisions among locals, giving the impression of a real, permanent Union Sacrée here. This is best summarised by Gromaire's remark that: In general, the population acted in a dignified and exemplary fashion […] workers showed the greatest firmness and courage. The bourgeoisie moyenne remained in this period, as always, the backbone of the nation. It conserved a magnificent solidarity and a lucid awareness of its duties. Rich