ABSTRACT
The postwar period from 1946 to 1975 has been given the name ‘les trente glorieuses’ (the thirty glorious years), owing to the rapid transformation of the French economy and social structures in a time of economic expansion and modernisation.1 The reconstruction of the French economy was underpinned by national economic planning and heavy investment in infrastructure. Agriculture struggled to revitalise farming methods and adapt to new conditions as it lost its dominance in the economy and its labour force; the service sector expanded massively. Within the industrial sector, traditional industries such as textiles declined while the newer industries (electrical, chemical, mechanical engineering) thrived. The labour force by 1968 was composed of more salaried than self-employed workers, demonstrating a, clear shift away from small independent family businesses, workshops and farms. The labour force was also more urban, better educated, more geographically and socially mobile and healthier than it had been at the end of the war.
