1.5 million dead soldiers, 4.2 million wounded.
1 man in three dead or crippled (try to imagine that in your family). Some villages lost all their men from 20 to 40.
France was crippled for a whole generation as well as ruined, and a good part of its north east lands and industries were in ruin. Women work took a lot more importance even if they didn't get the right to vote until after WWII.
However on the front of renewal (ideas, technical, industry) there was no fresh blood to replace the greying leaders.How did WW1 change life for people of france?
It gave them a lot more room each.How did WW1 change life for people of france?
It taught them that they can't defend themselves and that happened again in WW2 which is why the resent Americans. ~How did WW1 change life for people of france?
those men that survived had a whole lot more choice when it came to the ladies :D. No seriously, the guy right above me earns best answer.How did WW1 change life for people of france?
Because of the Treaty of Versailles had just been ratified. France had just been involved with the War, and they felt that they had been wronged by Germany, so in the treaty of Versailles, France had a key role in trying to keep Germany from doing things like rearming or getting land back that France was supposed to occupy. For the people of France, the main change was adjusting to the changes with GermanyHow did WW1 change life for people of france?
I'm surprised at some of these answers, although at least the first one was humorous. The war obviously changed the live's of everyday Frenchman with the sheer loss of men and the destruction of Northern and Eastern France. France as a nation, also changed, and was equally as drastic. The French always had a distrust of Germany (Prussia) ever since the days of Napoleon conquest during the opening of the 19th century. This hatred intensified with French defeat during the Franco-Prussian War 1870-71, which signalled the rise of German military ambition. France lost territories as a result of this defeat, and subsequently aligned them selves with Russia. However after the First World War, although France re-claimed some of her territories, they had lost an ally in Russia and took on a more defencive nature with the building of the Maginot Line. The notion of humiliating Germany at the end of the war, with the harsh repirations set out in the Versaille treaty was always going to come back to haunt them, and it did with allowing Hitler to gain controlHow did WW1 change life for people of france?
There were both positives and negatives for the people of France after WW1. The fact that a great deal of damage was caused (8,000 square miles of agricultural land were laid waste and 250,000 buildings destroyed) meant that many were in a state of anger and wanted revenge for Germany (which was what Clemenceau himself stood for). However, this damage would have created many jobs in the re-building programmes, which would have helped to boost the economy (knock on effect) which was obviously going to be down after the long war. Also made them realise that they needed to build up there defence system - they had been attacked by Germany more than once in the past few years!
