This page is one
of the annex pages of www.understandfrance.org, the foremost
site on Franco-American intercultural differences. It contains
documents, facts and figures illustrating the content of some
of its pages. |
History:
Facts
& figures
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This page
contains Facts and Figures about France and the French. Some
are significant, other less so....
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(credit) |
History
: WWII |
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Losses
in World Wars : a comparison USA / France / Britain :
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civilians (killed)
in 1000s |
military (killed)
in 1000s |
Total population
(million) |
losses as %
of total population |
WW1 |
USA |
negligible |
50
|
85
|
0,06%
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France |
small |
1,400
|
40
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3,5%
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UK |
negligible |
800
|
39
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2,05%
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WW2 |
USA |
negligible |
300
|
140
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0,2%
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France |
350
|
250
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40
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1,5%
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UK |
62
|
326
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47
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0,8%
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For a city of 50,000 for instance, the monument to the victims of the war
would bear :
- in the USA : 29 names for WW1
and 107 for WW2
- in UK : 1,026 names for WW1
and 347 for WW2 (plus : 66 names of civilians)
- in France : 1,750 names for
WW1 and 313 for WW2 (plus : 438 names of civilians)
Back to history
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About life during
the German occupation (June
1940-end 1944) : for an " average " Parisian in 1942
(labourers and teenagers had little more, old people a little
less), the quantity of food he/she could buy with the monthly
"tickets de rationnement " (food tickets) was enormously
reduced compared to 1939 :
- Bread : from 13,5 kg to 8,5
kg ( - 37%)
Potatoes : from 15,5 kg to 2 kg ( - 87%)
Meat : from 3,5 kg to 0,6 kg ( - 83%)
Wine : from 12 liters to 4,5 l. ( - 62%)
- Until 1948, everything was rationed
(including coal, tobacco, wood, textiles, etc...) and delivered
only upon presentation of the corresponding ticket.
- The prices were extremely high
when compared with average monthly salaries (1,200 Francs for
a manual worker, 2,500 to 3,500 F for a bank clerk) :
Butter 250 to 350 Francs/kg (one week salary!)
Coffee : 1,000 to 1,200 F/kg (one month salary!)
Potatoes : 7 to 10 F/kg (one hour salary)
- On the " Black Market "
(if you could find what you needed), prices were even higher
but people in cities could not survive without it.
- Globally, the legal ration was
1,150 calories per day per person (it is considered that 2,500
to 2,800 calories are necessary to survive in average conditions
of life).
(Source : H.Amouroux, La vie
des Français sous l'Occupation, a classical book on
the period)
Back to history
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History
: miscellaneous |
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About anti-semitism in France |
Facts and
figures on slave trade (source: Le Figaro Jan.31, 2006):
- Main actors of transatlantic
slave trade (millions of victims) (source : Hugh Thomas)
Portugal
|
4,65
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Great-Britain
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2,6
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Spain
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1,6
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France
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1,25
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Netherlands
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0,5
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British colonies in America
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0,3
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Others
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0,1
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- Total number of victims
(estimates)
Trade
|
Million |
Source
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Oriental trade (to
Maghreb and Middle-East) - VIIIth to XIXth Century |
17
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Ralph Austen |
Internal (African)
trade |
14
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Patrick Manning |
Transatlantic trade
- XVth to XIXth Century |
11
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Hugh Thomas |
- Abolition of
slave trade
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Date
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British colonies
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1833
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French colonies
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1848
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Dutch colonies
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1860
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United States of America
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1865
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Spanish colonies
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1865
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Portuguese colonies (Africa)
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1869
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Brazil
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1887
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- Milestones for France :
- 1685 : Code Noir (Black Code)
: official regulation of slave trade (Louis XIV)
- 1791 : Upheaval of Saint-Domingue
(now Haiti)
- 1794 : the French Revolutionary
Assembly abolishes slavery (Abbé Grégoire)
- 1802 : Napoleon re-establishes
slavery
- 1848 : the new Second Republic
abolishes slavery (Victor Schoelcher)
Communism
in France : a decreasing
trend (Source
: Le Figaro, March 27,2006)
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% of votes
for Parliament or presidential elections (P) |
number of members
of the party |
circulation
of the party's daily newspaper l'Humanité |
Name of Secretary
General |
1946 |
28,2% |
800,000 |
450,000 |
Maurice THOREZ
(1936-1964) |
1951 |
26,1% |
400,000 |
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1956 |
25,9% |
450,000 |
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1958 |
18,9% |
500,000 |
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1962 |
21,9% |
700,000 |
200,000 |
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1967 |
22,5% |
700,000 |
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Waldeck ROCHET
(1964-1972) |
1968 |
20% |
600,000 |
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1973 |
21,4% |
600,000 |
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Georges MARCHAIS
(1972-1994) |
1978 |
20,6% |
600,000 |
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1981 |
16,1% (P) |
250,000 |
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1986 |
9,7% |
150,000 |
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1988 |
11,2% |
150,000 |
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1993 |
9,1% |
150,000 |
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1997 |
9,9% |
150,000 |
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Robert HUE
(1994-2001) |
2002 |
4,9% (P) |
134,000 |
50,000 |
Marie-Georges
BUFFET (2001-2007 ) |
2007 |
1,97% (P) |
100,000? |
50,000 |
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2012 |
no Communist
candidate |
<100,000 |
30/40,000 |
Pierre LAURENT (2007-) |
Major dates of French Communism :
- 1920 : Congrès de Tours
= split from the Socialist Party
- 1936 : supports the Front Populaire
(but refuses to participate)
- 1939 : outlawed (after Hitler/Stalin
pact)
- 1941-44 : very active in the
Resistance (but only after Hitler invaded Russia)
- 1945 : participates in de Gaulle
government
- 1972 : signs the Common Program
of the Left
- 1976 : abandons the "dictatorship
of proletariat"
- 1981 : 4 communists in Mitterrand's
cabinet
- 1997 : 3 communists in Jospin's
cabinet
Back to "society"
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Are the French
as anti-Semitic as the US press says ?
This is a frequent question and it needs a serious answer.
- First : yes, the French were anti-Semitic before WW2, but one must add : like many countries in the world (remember Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh?) and without the murderous side of others (like Russia and a few others).
- Second : yes the Vichy government cooperated with the Nazis to deport the foreign Jewish population (as it was trying to protect the French Jews) which was not only criminal but also stupid and inefficient but : in occupied Europe could any country resist the criminal Nazi constraint ? What did the other occupied countries do (Belgium,Italy, Norway tp name a few)? Not better if you look at figures.
- Third : for most Americans, being anti-Semitic and criticizing the state of Israel are synonyms
- Fourth : there are anti-Semitic incidents in France, often in form of hostile graffitis, generally created by anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian activists and most of them involve the Muslim community in France.
Adrian Leeds, a long-time resident in Paris and a member of the Jewish community, wrote on her blog (Apr.2,2014) that Americans should not trust blindly US media sources close to the Jewish community which are far from the alleged facts and that "any information that comes out of a source with a cause is a one-sided view on reality and not the kind of information I'd choose to believe" and she concluded "And just for the record, I've never personally witnessed nor been a party to any anti-semitic act or verbal attack here in France, nor have I ever felt any disdain or disapproval because of my religion or ethnic background by the French or anyone else for that matter.".
Why is such a statement ("All the French are ant-Semitic") common wisdom in the US ?
- no doubt that the shameful and unforgivable Vichy government cooperated with the Nazis,
- no doubt that anti-Semitic feelings were largely shared in France before WW2,
- but today, no doubt that many Americans love to hate the French and alleged anti-Semitism is a frequently used form of French bashing.
Back to the Jewish community in France
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Harriet Welty
Rochefort writes articles and books about France and the French.
Order her books:
- "Joie de Vivre", Secrets of Wining, Dining and Romancing like the French, St.Martin's Press, New York, 2012
- "French Toast, An American in Paris
Celebrates The Maddening Mysteries of the French", St.Martin's Press,
New York, 1999
- "French Fried, The Culinary Capers
of An American in Paris", St.Martin's Press, New York, 2001
More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming
events, testimonials, etc..)
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