Abstract
Marital fertility began to fall early in France. The fall was already in train by 1800, seventy years earlier than in other European countries. It has often been treated as differing from the later falls elsewhere only in timing but not in nature. In the first part of this two-part article an alternative view is advanced. The fall is seen as falling into two halves, of which the earlier sets France apart from her neighbours. In this period, lasting until about 1870, the techniques used to limit fertility may be ‘modern’ but the demographic system as a whole appears to continue to behave in a ‘traditional’ manner. The evidence is examined for France as a national entity. In the second part of the article regional evidence will be reviewed and the post-1870 convergence of demographic history of France and other countries will be surveyed.
Résumé
En 1800, la baisse de la fécondité légitime française était déjà nettement entamée, soixante-dix ans plus tôt que dans les autres pays européens. On a souvent considéré que cette chute ne diffère de celles survenues ailleurs ultérieurement que par son calendrier, et non par sa nature. La première partie de cet article la présente d'une autre manière, comme devant être divisée en deux périodes, dont la première démarque la France de ses voisins. Pendant cette période, qui a duré jusque vers 1870, les moyens utilisés pour limiter la fécondité peuvent être ‘modernes’, le système démographique dans son ensemble conserve un caractère ‘traditionnel’. Les signes en sont étudiés au niveau national. Dans la seconde partie de l'article, l'examen passera au niveau régional, et l'attention se portera sur la convergence de l'histoire démographique de la France et des autres pays après 1870.
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Part II of this article will appear in the next issue of EJP-RED.
I am very much indebted to Roger Schofield and David Weir for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Two anonymous referees also provided a number of helpful comments and suggestions.
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Wrigley, E.A. The fall of marital fertility in nineteenth-century france: Exemplar or exception? (Part I). Eur J Population 1, 31–60 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01796917
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01796917