"The Propaganda of French Reconstruction and Town Planning, 1940-1968"

W. Brian Newsome
University of South Carolina

French, British, and American scholars have conducted extensive research on the mechanics of reconstruction, housing, and town planning in France.But few have examined the techniques that French governments used to influence the way citizens thought about urban spaces.  Nor have historians analyzed the manner in which different regimes utilized reconstruction and urban development to bolster their own authority. The Vichy government, as well as the reconstruction ministries of the Fourth and Fifth Republics, used the press, posters, radio, and exhibitions to propagandize reconstruction and town planning.Their goals were twofold.First, these governments aimed to legitimize their existence by proving that they could rebuild the devastated cities and that they could do a better job of this than any previous regime.Second, they tried to “sell” their policies and their vision of the urban future to building professionals and the French people  Formulated jointly by the Ministry of Reconstruction, prominent construction companies, and major appliance industries, this vision centered on state-directed town planning, the use of prefabricated construction materials, the industrialization of construction techniques, the adoption of innovative architectural designs, and the creation of modern domestic interiors.During the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, massive propaganda campaigns accompanied the construction of public housing, the grands ensembles, and the suburban pavillons that dot France today.

Did this propaganda work?  In most ways, it did not.  Neither Vichy nor the Fourth Republic survived, although both made progress in the field of reconstruction.  Nor can one contend that the Fifth Republic persisted because it promoted certain housing policies.  Many architects and construction companies utilized prefabrication and functionalist designs for the large housing projects built in the late 1950s and the 1960s.  But in 1968 and the years thereafter, the French people rebelled against the massive apartment complexes in which a large number of them now lived.  Nevertheless, the French adopted many of the “modern” domestic amenities that the reconstruction ministry advocated, such as washing machines, refrigerators, and central heating.   

Scholars such as Jacques Polonski, Philippe Amaury, Denis Peschanski, Laurent Gervereau, and Dominique Rossignol have examined Vichyite propaganda, but no one has analyzed in substantial form the theme focusing on reconstruction and urban development.  Hélène Sanyas, Bruno Vayssière, Jean-Louis Cohen and Danièle Voldman have mentioned the propaganda and marketing strategies of the Ministry of Reconstruction, but only in cursory form. Urban development was the object of extensive propaganda campaigns between 1940 and 1968, whether produced by the Ministry of Reconstruction or private firms.  Thus, this subject merits a study of its own.