Kinderreicher familien or familles nombreuses? French pronatalism in interwar Alsace

Abstract

Abstract This article explores the introduction of family policy in Alsace following the Great War and the efforts of local pronatalist leaders to create a new moral order in the region. While French goals of promoting population growth have been well documented at the national level, relatively little attention has been accorded to the unique way in which the demographic question developed outside Paris. The interwar period in France was marked by shifting boundaries and population movements across borders, both of which shaped French pronatalism. Because such developments factored into understandings of both French identity and concerns about population growth, French demographic policy cannot be fully understood without considering how these questions developed in regions such as Alsace. As this article shows, the introduction of a pronatalist family policy and moral crusade intersected with concurrent efforts to minimize German influences and make the region more ‘French’.