116-543: Courseulles-sur-Mer ( French pronunciation: [kuʁsœl syʁ mɛʁ] , lit. ' Courseulles on Sea ' ), commonly known as Courseulles , is a commune in the Calvados department , Normandy , northwestern France. Until 1957, the town's name was simply Courseulles . It lies 3 km west of Bernières-sur-Mer and 18 km north of Caen . It is a popular tourist destination not only with locals but also with international visitors who come to tour
232-421: A "realm of 100,000 steeples". Parishes lacked the municipal structures of post-Revolution communes. Usually, one contained only a building committee ( conseil de fabrique ), made up of villagers, which managed the buildings of the parish church, the churchyard, and the other numerous church estates and properties, and sometimes also provided help for the poor, or even administered parish hospitals or schools. Since
348-434: A 75 mm on the right flank, fired continuously until their protective shields could be pierced. No tanks were lost in the spirited duel. Landing to its centre at 08h05, in a gap between its two 75mm guns, making a left flanking approach, came ‘A’ Company, The Regina Rifle Regiment , (OC Major F. E. Hodge). Successful in getting off the beach, engaged in heavy fighting, working in tandem, with ‘B’ Squadron, it ‘neutralized’
464-407: A Type 1 Fa position. With no PaK guns, tasked to 'defend' the south exit from town, it did cause some delay. Providing mortar and machine gun covering fire, into WN 29, with its height advantage it made the task of clearing the beachfront extremely difficult. Attacked by 'A' Company, The Regina Rifle Regiment, it took until late afternoon for Courseulles (Süden) to be taken. StP.Courseulles (West)
580-445: A category currently being phased out), made up of 33,327 communes (91.1 percent of all the communes of metropolitan France), and 52.86 million inhabitants, i.e., 86.7 percent of the population of metropolitan France. These impressive results however may hide a murkier reality. In rural areas, many communes have entered a community of communes only to benefit from government funds. Often the local syndicate has been turned officially into
696-537: A commune for their administration. This is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions: Furthermore, two regions without permanent habitation have no communes: In metropolitan France , the average area of a commune in 2004 was 14.88 square kilometres (5.75 sq mi). The median area of metropolitan France's communes at
812-537: A community of communes, the new community of communes in fact managing only the services previously managed by the syndicate, contrary to the spirit of the law which has established the new intercommunal structures to carry out a much broader range of activities than that undertaken by the old syndicates. Some say that, should government money transfers be stopped, many of these communities of communes would revert to their former status of syndicate, or simply completely disappear in places where there were no syndicates prior to
928-514: A critical level to remove material from the debris lobe. Debris lobes can be very persistent and can take many years to completely disappear. Beaches dissipate wave energy on the foreshore and provide a measure of protection to the adjoining land. The stability of the foreshore, or its resistance to lowering. Once stable, the foreshore should widen and become more effective at dissipating the wave energy, so that fewer and less powerful waves reach beyond it. The provision of updrift material coming onto
1044-589: A density of communes as France, and even there an extensive merger movement has started in the last 10 years. To better grasp the staggering number of communes in France, two comparisons can be made: First, of the original 15 member states of the European Union there are approximately 75,000 communes; France alone, which comprises 16 percent of the population of the EU-15, had nearly half of its communes. Second,
1160-911: A higher tide, to clear offshore reefs, the Canadian landing at Courseulles-sur-Mer began slightly later than those to the west, giving the German defender a warning they would need. Stützpuntkte (StP) (Strong-Point) Courseulles-sur-Mer, was a complex of three fortified ‘resistance nests’, two strengthened by numerous standard concrete fortifications, protecting anti-tank and artillery field guns. The layout followed no particular design; being established based on weapons available, its terrain features, and troops available to occupy. The concrete fortification casements at two resistance nests further disposed numerous entrenchments, in which mortars and heavy machine guns were emplaced. They were each manned by about 30-50 men, intended to fight under independent command. In command of
1276-475: A horrific case of coastal erosion is due to an increase in the frequency and the intensity of storms it experienced. These natural events had destroyed the Hampton Pier, Hernecliffe Gardens, a set of villas, several roads, and many other structures that once lay on Hampton-On-Sea. After this destruction, in 1899 they started building a sea wall to protect the rest of the remaining land and buildings. However,
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#17327934753101392-769: A massive merger of communes, including by such distinguished voices as the president of the Cour des Comptes (the central auditing administrative body in France). In 1971 the Marcellin law offered support and money from the government to entice the communes to merge freely with each other, but the law had only a limited effect (only about 1,300 communes agreed to merge with others). Many rural communes with few residents struggle to maintain and manage basic services such as running water, garbage collection, or properly paved communal roads. Mergers, however, are not easy to achieve. One problem
1508-592: A much larger territory covering 449,964 km (173,732 sq mi) and yet is divided into only 290 municipalities ( kommuner ). Alsace has more than double the total number of municipalities of the Netherlands which, in spite of having a population nine times larger and a land area four times larger than Alsace, is divided into just 390 municipalities ( gemeenten ). Most of the communes in Alsace, along with those in other regions of France, have rejected
1624-485: A rate of over 100 feet per year, earning the area the nickname "Washaway Beach". Much of the original town has collapsed into the ocean. The area is said to be the fastest-eroding shore of the United States' West Coast. Measures were finally taken to slow the erosion, with substantial slowing of the process noted in 2018. Fort Ricasoli , a historic 17th century fortress in Malta is being threatened by coastal erosion, as it
1740-400: A small peninsula of land, water defending three of its approaches, its land based left front (NW) approach protected by the very large K.V.Gruppe Courseulles Beach Minefield: Mf 72. At its western end was a 50mm gun, in an open pit emplacement, supported by a Heavy MG. Towards its center, facing west down the beach, was a 75mm field gun and a 50mm gun, both in casemates. Overlooking the harbour
1856-576: A solution that keeps in mind environmental justice . Typically, there has been low public support for "retreating". However, if a community does decide to relocate their buildings along the coast it is common that they will then turn the land into public open space or transfer it into land trusts in order to protect it. These relocation practices are very cost-efficient, can buffer storm surges, safeguard coastal homes and businesses, lower carbon and other pollutants, create nursery habitats for important fish species, restore open space and wildlife, and bring back
1972-697: A whole new range of solutions to coastal erosion, not just structural solutions. Solutions that have potential include native vegetation, wetland protection and restoration, and relocation or removal of structures and debris. The solutions to coastal erosion that include vegetation are called "living shorelines". Living shorelines use plants and other natural elements. Living shorelines are found to be more resilient against storms, improve water quality, increase biodiversity, and provide fishery habitats. Marshes and oyster reefs are examples of vegetation that can be used for living shorelines; they act as natural barriers to waves. Fifteen feet of marsh can absorb fifty percent of
2088-421: A year, 1917, directly due to earlier dredging of shingle in the bay in front of it. The California coast, which has soft cliffs of sedimentary rock and is heavily populated, regularly has incidents of house damage as cliffs erodes. Devil's Slide , Santa Barbara , the coast just north of Ensenada , and Malibu are regularly affected. The Holderness coastline on the east coast of England, just north of
2204-717: Is 35 km (14 sq mi); and in Germany , the majority of Länder have communes ( Gemeinden ) with a median area above 15 km (5.8 sq mi). Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein in Germany were the only places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of France's overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards. They usually group into
2320-641: Is a museum located in Courseulles-sur-Mer, at the head of the River Seulles, in the port's estuary, where Canadian troops landed and fought, on D-Day 6 June 1944. The museum opened on 6 June 2003, the 59th anniversary of the D-Day landings. The strongest German defence position in the Juno assault area was concentrated at Courseulles-sur-Mer, on the estuary of the River Seulles. Delaying H-Hour for
2436-511: Is due to waves causing erosion of the primarily sedimentary material on which the buildings foundations sit. Dunwich , the capital of the English medieval wool trade, disappeared over the period of a few centuries due to redistribution of sediment by waves. Human interference can also increase coastal erosion: Hallsands in Devon , England, was a coastal village washed away over the course of
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#17327934753102552-426: Is estimated the average life span of a seawall is 50–100 years and the average for a groyne is 30–40 years. Because of their relative permanence, it is assumed that these structures can be a final solution to erosion. Seawalls can also deprive public access to the beach and drastically alter the natural state of the beach. Groynes also drastically alter the natural state of the beach. Some claim that groynes could reduce
2668-587: Is suffering from this problem as well. Hampton-on-Sea is located in Kent, England. It was at one time very popular for its oyster fishing and was very reliant on the sea. Hampton-on-Sea has undergone the effects of coastal erosion since before the 1800s. Hampton-on-Sea's coastal erosion worsened with the increase in global warming and climate change. Global warming is causing a rise in sea level, more intense and frequent storms, and an increase in ocean temperature and precipitation levels. Another reason Hampton-on-Sea had such
2784-402: Is that mergers reduce the number of available elected positions, and thus are not popular with local politicians. Moreover, citizens from one village may be unwilling to have their local services run by an executive located in another village, whom they may consider unaware of or inattentive to their local needs. In December 2010 the law n° 2010-1563 regarding reform of territorial collectivities
2900-516: Is the only administrative unit below the commune in the French Republic but exists only in these three communes. These municipal arrondissements are not to be confused with the arrondissements that are subdivisions of French départements : French communes are considered legal entities , whereas municipal arrondissements, by contrast, have no official capacity and no budget of their own. The rights and obligations of communes are governed by
3016-722: Is the smallest and oldest administrative division in France . " Commune " in English has a historical association with socialist and collectivist political movements and philosophies. This association arises in part from the rising of the Paris Commune (1871) which could have more felicitously been called, in English, "the rising of the City of Paris". There is nothing intrinsically different between "town" in English and commune in French. The French word commune appeared in
3132-725: Is twinned with: Communes of France The commune ( French pronunciation: [kɔmyn] ) is a level of administrative division in the French Republic . French communes are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, Gemeinden in Germany, comuni in Italy, or municipios in Spain. The UK equivalent are civil parishes . Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and are vested with significant powers to manage
3248-552: The Code général des collectivités territoriales (CGCT) which replaced the Code des communes (except for personnel matters) with the passage of the law of 21 February 1996 for legislation and decree number 2000-318 of 7 April 2000 for regulations. From 1794 to 1977 — except for a few months in 1848 and 1870-1871 — Paris had no mayor and was thus directly controlled by the departmental prefect. This meant that Paris had less autonomy than certain towns or villages. Even after Paris regained
3364-504: The Humber Estuary , is one of the fastest eroding coastlines in Europe due to its soft clay cliffs and powerful waves. Groynes and other artificial measures to keep it under control has only accelerated the process further down the coast, because longshore drift starves the beaches of sand, leaving them more exposed. The white cliffs of Dover have also been affected. The coastline of North Cove, Washington has been eroding at
3480-565: The National Assembly ( Assemblée Nationale ) passed a law creating the commune, designed to be the lowest level of administrative division in France, thus endorsing these independently created communes, but also creating communes of its own. In this area as in many others, the work of the National Assembly was, properly speaking, revolutionary: not content with transforming all the chartered cities and towns into communes,
3596-515: The Normandy landing beaches . The population of the town can reach 15,000 people in the summer months owing to the numerous summer homes, owned for the most part by Parisians. The town is split in two by the river Seulles . More than 14,000 Canadians stormed the 8 kilometres (5 mi) stretch of a Lower Normandy Beach between Courseulles-sur-Mer and St. Aubin-sur-Mer on 6 June 1944. They were followed by 150,000 additional Canadian troops over
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3712-482: The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts of 1539 by Francis I , the priest in charge of the parish was also required to record baptisms, marriages, and burials. Except for these tasks, villages were left to handle other issues as they pleased. Typically, villagers would gather to decide over a special issue regarding the community, such as agricultural land usage, but there existed no permanent municipal body. In many places,
3828-631: The United States , with a territory fourteen times larger than that of the French Republic, and nearly five times its population, had 35,937 incorporated municipalities and townships at the 2002 Census of Governments, fewer than that of the French Republic. The number of barangays in the Philippines, villages of Indonesia, and muban in Thailand also have a higher number than the French communes. There have long been calls in France for
3944-412: The cliff face depends on many factors. The hardness (or inversely, the erodibility ) of sea-facing rocks is controlled by the rock strength and the presence of fissures , fractures , and beds of non-cohesive materials such as silt and fine sand . The rate at which cliff fall debris is removed from the foreshore depends on the power of the waves crossing the beach . This energy must reach
4060-444: The mairies . These abrupt changes profoundly alienated devout Catholics, and France soon was plunged into the throes of civil war , with the fervently religious regions of western France at its center. It would take Napoleon I to re-establish peace in France, stabilize the new administrative system, and make it generally accepted by the population. Napoleon also abolished the election of the municipal councils, which now were chosen by
4176-716: The prefect , the local representative of the central government. Today, French communes are still very much the same in their general principles as those that were established at the beginning of the Revolution. The biggest changes occurred in 1831, when the French Parliament re-established the principle of the election of municipal councils, and in 1837 when French communes were given legal "personality", being now considered legal entities with legal capacity. The Jacobin revolutionaries were afraid of independent local powers, which they saw as conservative and opposed to
4292-551: The 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia , for a large gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis , 'things held in common'. As of January 2021, there were 35,083 communes in France , of which 34,836 were in metropolitan France , 129 in the overseas departments , and 83 in the overseas collectivities and New Caledonia . This is a considerably higher total than that of any other European country , because French communes still largely reflect
4408-512: The 1999 census was even smaller, at 10.73 square kilometres (4.14 sq mi). The median area gives a better sense of the size of a typical mainland France commune than the average area since the average includes some very large communes. In Italy , the median area of communes ( comuni ) is 22 km (8.5 sq mi); in Belgium it is 40 km (15 sq mi); in Spain it
4524-401: The 36,683 communes have fewer than 500 inhabitants and, with 4,638,000 inhabitants, these smaller communes constitute just 7.7 percent of the total population. In other words, just 8 percent of the French population live in 57 percent of its communes, whilst 92 percent are concentrated in the remaining 43 percent. Alsace , with an area of 8,280 km (3,200 sq mi), and now part of
4640-477: The 50 mm anti-tank gun emplacement, it destroyed, ‘A’ Squadron began to ‘cruise up and down the beach’ engaging the machine gun crews, permitting the infantry to sweep over the dunes to begin their fight for the position. Landing on its strong left flank, ‘B’ Company, Royal Winnipeg Rifles , (OC Captain P. E. Gower), was immediately pinned down by its heavy machine gun, and the 50mm, in a concrete pillbox, while taking accurate sniper fire. Skirting left away from
4756-565: The National Assembly also decided to turn all the village parishes into full-status communes. The Revolutionaries were inspired by Cartesian ideas as well as by the philosophy of the Enlightenment . They wanted to do away with all the peculiarities of the past and establish a perfect society, in which all and everything should be equal and set up according to reason, rather than by tradition or conservatism. Thus, they set out to establish administrative divisions that would be uniform across
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4872-502: The Région Grand Est, used to be the smallest of the regions of metropolitan France , and still has no fewer than 904 communes. This high number is typical of metropolitan France but is atypical when compared with other European countries. It shows the distinctive nature of the French commune as a geo-political or administrative entity. With its 904 communes, Alsace has three times as many municipalities as Sweden , which has
4988-452: The benefit of poorer suburbs. Moreover, intercommunal structures in many urban areas are still new, and fragile: Tensions exist between communes; the city at the center of the urban area often is suspected of wishing to dominate the suburban communes; communes from opposing political sides also may be suspicious of each other. Two famous examples of this are Toulouse and Paris. In Toulouse, on top of there being six intercommunal structures,
5104-532: The central government's calls for mergers and rationalization. By way of contrast, in the German states bordering Alsace, the geo-political and administrative areas have been subject to various re-organizations from the 1960s onward. In the state of Baden-Württemberg , the number of Gemeinden or communities was reduced from 3,378 in 1968 to 1,108 in September 2007. In comparison, the number of communes in Alsace
5220-410: The chartered cities) suddenly became legal entities for the first time in their history. This is still the case today. During the revolution, approximately 41,000 communes were created, on territory corresponding to the limits of modern-day France (the 41,000 figure includes the communes of the departments of Savoie , Haute-Savoie and Alpes-Maritimes which were annexed in 1795, but does not include
5336-535: The city of Toulouse chartered by the counts of Toulouse). These cities were made up of several parishes (up to c. 50 parishes in the case of Paris), and they were usually enclosed by a defensive wall . They had been emancipated from the power of feudal lords in the 12th and 13th centuries, had municipal bodies which administered the city, and bore some resemblance with the communes that the French Revolution would establish except for two key points: In
5452-428: The cliff face which can be used for this same wave action and attrition. Corrosion or solution/chemical weathering occurs when the sea's pH (anything below pH 7.0) corrodes rocks on a cliff face. Limestone cliff faces, which have a moderately high pH, are particularly affected in this way. Wave action also increases the rate of reaction by removing the reacted material. The ability of waves to cause erosion of
5568-439: The cliff or have a corrasion (abrasion) effect, similar to sandpapering. Solution is the process in which acishutds contained in sea water will dissolve some types of rock such as chalk or limestone. Abrasion , also known as corrasion , occurs when waves break on cliff faces and slowly erode it. As the sea pounds cliff faces it also uses the scree from other wave actions to batter and break off pieces of rock from higher up
5684-443: The coast generally evens out. The softer areas fill up with sediment eroded from hard areas, and rock formations are eroded away. Also erosion commonly happens in areas where there are strong winds, loose sand , and soft rocks. The blowing of millions of sharp sand grains creates a sandblasting effect. This effect helps to erode, smooth and polish rocks. The definition of erosion is grinding and wearing away of rock surfaces through
5800-559: The correct point on which to that land. After the Assault Force J1 Beach Bombardment Programme, which did not seem to have much actual effect, WN 31 began to take indirect 105mm artillery fire from the guns of 12th Field Regiment, RCA from H-30 to H+5 and direct fire from the DD Tanks of 'A' Squadron, 1st Hussars near 07h45. Landing just a little 'late', seven 'A' squadron immediately fired on
5916-544: The country: the whole of France would be divided into départements , themselves divided into arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons, themselves divided into communes, no exceptions. All of these communes would have equal status, they would all have a mayor at their head and a municipal council elected by the inhabitants of the commune. This was a real revolution for the thousands of villages that never had experienced organized municipal life before. A communal house had to be built in each of these villages, which would house
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#17327934753106032-411: The cracks can grow, sometimes forming a cave . The splinters fall to the sea bed where they are subjected to further wave action. Attrition occurs when waves cause loose pieces of rock debris ( scree ) to collide with each other, grinding and chipping each other, progressively becoming smaller, smoother and rounder. Scree also collides with the base of the cliff face, chipping small pieces of rock from
6148-455: The culture of these coastal communities. Storms can cause erosion hundreds of times faster than normal weather. Before-and-after comparisons can be made using data gathered by manual surveying, laser altimeter , or a GPS unit mounted on an ATV. Remote sensing data such as Landsat scenes can be used for large scale and multi year assessments of coastal erosion. Moreover, geostatistical models can be applied to quantify erosion effects and
6264-464: The departments of modern-day Belgium and Germany west of the Rhine , which were part of France between 1795 and 1815). This was fewer than the 60,000 parishes that existed before the revolution (in cities and towns, parishes were merged into one single commune; in the countryside, some very small parishes were merged with bigger ones), but 41,000 was still a considerable number, without any comparison in
6380-412: The difference residing in the lack of administrative powers. Except for the municipal arrondissements of its largest cities, the communes are the lowest level of administrative division in France and are governed by elected officials including a mayor ( maire ) and a municipal council ( conseil municipal ). They have extensive autonomous powers to implement national policy. A commune
6496-599: The division of France into villages or parishes at the time of the French Revolution . (1) Within the current limits of metropolitan France, which existed between 1860 and 1871 and from 1919 to today. (2) Within the current extent of overseas France, which has remained unchanged since the independence of the New Hebrides in 1980. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes; even uninhabited mountains or rain forests are dependent on
6612-533: The dunes, had to rely on a Type Regelbau R666 - Infantry Observation Bunker (with Panzerkuppel - 89P6 Small Turret) to adjust to the Canadian assault. Courseulles (West) was fronted by an area of coastal erosion, where sand deposits had blocked the River Seulles access to the sea and forced it into a loop. The strong-point was not fronted by beach villas, which were a feature of much of the JUNO Sector, and there were few landmarks, making it difficult to identifying
6728-605: The east; and quickly engaged the crew served weapon pillboxes positioned along the strong-point beachfront. The seawall offering little cover, but with good support from ‘B’ Squadron, they got off the beach and dashed into the strongpoint’s fortifications. German Crew Served Weapons at StP.Courseulles (Osten) StP.Courseulles (Süden) was located at North 49.3303 Deg / West 00. 4593 Deg and in June 1944, for targeting purposes, at: LZ1 vT MR Grid 969848 (Ref. GSGS 4250 1:50K: Creully Sheet 7E/5). The (WN) Resistance Nest at Courseulles (South)
6844-443: The effects of erosion. These options, including Sandbag and beach nourishment , are not intended to be long-term solutions or permanent solutions. Another method, beach scraping or beach bulldozing allows for the creation of an artificial dune in front of a building or as means of preserving a building foundation. However, there is a U.S. federal moratorium on beach bulldozing during turtle nesting season, 1 May – 15 November. One of
6960-543: The end of the afternoon, following the storming of the Bastille , the provost of the merchants of Paris, Jacques de Flesselles was shot by the crowd on the steps of Paris City Hall. Although in the Middle Ages the provosts of the merchants symbolized the independence of Paris and even had openly rebelled against King Charles V , their office had been suppressed by the king, then reinstated but with strict control from
7076-548: The energy of incoming waves. Relocation of infrastructure any housing farther away from the coast is also an option. The natural processes of both absolute and relative sea level rise and erosion are considered in rebuilding. Depending on factors such as the severity of the erosion, as well as the natural landscape of the property, relocation could simply mean moving inland by a short distance or relocation can be to completely remove improvements from an area. A coproduction approach combined with managed retreat has been proposed as
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#17327934753107192-530: The eroded sands that attract visitors to Florida and help support its multibillion-dollar tourism industries. There are three common forms of coastal erosion control methods. These three include: soft-erosion controls, hard-erosion controls, and relocation. Hard-erosion control methods provide a more permanent solution than soft-erosion control methods. Seawalls and groynes serve as semi-permanent infrastructure. These structures are not immune from normal wear-and-tear and will have to be refurbished or rebuilt. It
7308-480: The fact that there are pronounced differences in size between French communes. As mentioned in the introduction, a commune can be a city of 2 million inhabitants such as Paris, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, or just a hamlet of 10 inhabitants. What the median population tells us is that the vast majority of the French communes only have a few hundred inhabitants, but there are also a small number of communes with much higher populations. In metropolitan France 57 percent of
7424-481: The fight, across the Stützpuntkte (StP) Courseulles was Hauptmann Grote, Kdr. Kompanie 6. / Grenadier-Regiment 736./ Bataillon II., who perhaps had more ground to fight than men. StP.Courseulles (Osten) was located at North 49.3358 Deg / West 00.45136 Deg and in June 1944, for targeting purposes, at: LZ1 vT MR Grid 972856 (Ref. GSGS 4250 1:50K: Creully Sheet 7E/5). The (WN) Resistance Nest at Courseulles (East)
7540-406: The foreshore beneath the cliff helps to ensure a stable beach. The adjacent bathymetry , or configuration of the seafloor, controls the wave energy arriving at the coast, and can have an important influence on the rate of cliff erosion. Shoals and bars offer protection from wave erosion by causing storm waves to break and dissipate their energy before reaching the shore. Given the dynamic nature of
7656-558: The form of a law on 22 March 1890, which provided for the establishment of single-purpose intercommunal associations. French lawmakers having long been aware of the inadequacy of the communal structure inherited from the French Revolution for dealing with a number of practical matters, the so-called Chevènement law of 12 July 1999 is the most recent and most thoroughgoing measure aimed at strengthening and simplifying this principle. In recent years it has become increasingly common for communes to band together in intercommunal consortia for
7772-444: The function of a natural storm beach , may be a soft-erosion control alternative in high energy environments such as open coastlines. Over the years beach nourishment has become a very controversial shore protection measure: It has the potential to negatively impact several of the natural resources. Some large issues with these beach nourishment projects are that they must follow a wide range of complex laws and regulations, as well as
7888-400: The high expenses it takes to complete these projects. Just because sand is added to a beach does not mean it will stay there. Some communities will bring in large volumes of sand repeatedly only for it to be washed away with the next big storm. Despite these factors, beach nourishment is still used often in many communities. Lately, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers emphasized the need to consider
8004-428: The interval between beach nourishment projects though they are not seen as a solution to beach nourishment. Other criticisms of seawalls are that they can be expensive, difficult to maintain, and can sometimes cause further damage to the beach if built improperly. As we learn more about hard erosion controls it can be said for certain that these structural solutions cause more problems than they solve. They interfere with
8120-573: The invasion, reaching almost 10 km (6.2 mi) inland on the first day of fighting, the farthest advance of any of the Allied landing forces. The Canadian military cemetery of Bény-Reviers is the resting place of 2,043 Canadians and 1 Frenchman. The land for this cemetery was donated by France to Canada after the Second World War and lies 4 km (2.5 mi) inland from Courseulles-sur-Mer, just off Route 79. The Juno Beach Centre
8236-548: The king, and so they had ended up being viewed by the people as yet another representative of the king, no longer the embodiment of a free municipality. Following that event, a "commune" of Paris was immediately set up to replace the old medieval chartered city of Paris, and a municipal guard was established to protect Paris against any attempt made by King Louis XVI to quell the ongoing revolution. Several other cities of France quickly followed suit, and communes arose everywhere, each with their municipal guard. On 14 December 1789,
8352-437: The kingdom. A parish was essentially a church, the houses around it (known as the village), and the cultivated land around the village. France was the most populous country in Europe at this time, with a population of approximately 25 million inhabitants in the late 18th century ( England in contrast had only 6 million inhabitants), which accounts for the large number of parishes. French kings often prided themselves on ruling over
8468-653: The law. In urban areas, the new intercommunal structures are much more a reality, being created by local decision-makers out of genuine belief in the worth of working together. However, in many places, local feuds have arisen, and it was not possible to set up an intercommunal structure for the whole of the urban area: some communes refusing to take part in it, or even creating their own structure. In some urban areas like Marseille there exist four distinct intercommunal structures! In many areas, rich communes have joined with other rich communes and have refused to let in poorer communes, for fear that their citizens would be overtaxed to
8584-552: The least money per inhabitant, whereas urban communities are given the most money per inhabitant, thus pushing communes to form more integrated communities where they have fewer powers, which they might otherwise have been loath to do if it were not for government money. The Chevènement law has been extremely successful in the sense that a majority of French communes now have joined the new intercommunal structures. On 1 January 2007, there were 2,573 such communities in metropolitan France (including five syndicats d'agglomération nouvelle ,
8700-414: The local feudal lord ( seigneur ) still had a major influence in the village's affairs, collecting taxes from tenant-villagers and ordering them to work the corvée , controlling which fields were to be used and when, and how much of the harvest should be given to him. Additionally, some cities had obtained charters during the Middle Ages, either from the king himself or from local counts or dukes (such as
8816-575: The lowest communes' median population of all the European countries (communes in Switzerland or Rhineland-Palatinate may cover a smaller area, as mentioned above, but they are more populated). This small median population of French communes can be compared with Italy, where the median population of communes in 2001 was 2,343 inhabitants, Belgium (11,265 inhabitants), or even Spain (564 inhabitants). The median population given here should not hide
8932-480: The main community of Toulouse and its suburbs is only a community of agglomeration, although Toulouse is large enough to create an Urban Community according to the law. This is because the suburban communes refused an urban community for fear of losing too much power, and opted for a community of agglomeration, despite the fact that a community of agglomeration receives less government funds than an urban community. As for Paris, no intercommunal structure has emerged there,
9048-466: The maximum allowable pay of the mayor and deputy mayors, and municipal campaign finance limits (among other features) all depend on the population echelon into which a particular commune falls. Since the PLM Law of 1982, three French communes also have a special status in that they are further divided into municipal arrondissements : these are Paris, Marseille , and Lyon . The municipal arrondissement
9164-486: The mayors. Civil marriages were established and started to be performed in the mairie with a ceremony not unlike the traditional one, with the mayor replacing the priest, and the name of the law replacing the name of God (" Au nom de la loi, je vous déclare unis par les liens du mariage. " – "In the name of the law, I declare you united by the bonds of marriage."). Priests were forced to surrender their centuries-old baptism, marriage, and burial books, which were deposited in
9280-491: The mechanical action of other rock or sand particles. According to the IPCC, sea level rise caused by climate change will increase coastal erosion worldwide, significantly changing the coasts and low-lying coastal areas. Hydraulic action occurs when waves striking a cliff face compress air in cracks on the cliff face. This exerts pressure on the surrounding rock, and can progressively splinter and remove pieces. Over time,
9396-425: The meetings of the municipal council as well as the administration of the commune. Some in the National Assembly were opposed to such a fragmentation of France into thousands of communes, but eventually Mirabeau and his ideas of one commune for each parish prevailed. On 20 September 1792, the recording of births, marriages, and deaths also was withdrawn as a responsibility of the priests of the parishes and handed to
9512-416: The most common methods of soft erosion control is beach nourishment projects. These projects involve dredging sand and moving it to the beaches as a means of reestablishing the sand lost due to erosion. In some situations, beach nourishment is not a suitable measure to take for erosion control, such as in areas with sand sinks or frequent and large storms. Dynamic revetment , which uses loose cobble to mimic
9628-475: The natural temporal and spatial evolution of tracked coastal coastal profiles. The results can be used to determine the required temporal and spatial distances between the measured profiles for ecomic tracking. A place where erosion of a cliffed coast has occurred is at Wamberal in the Central Coast region of New South Wales where houses built on top of the cliffs began to collapse into the sea. This
9744-462: The natural water currents and prevent sand from shifting along coasts, along with the high costs to install and maintain them, their tendency to cause erosion in adjacent beaches and dunes, and the unintended diversion of stormwater and into other properties. Natural forms of hard-erosion control include planting or maintaining native vegetation, such as mangrove forests and coral reefs. Soft erosion strategies refer to temporary options of slowing
9860-464: The next few months, and throughout the summer of 1944 the Canadian military used the town’s port to unload upwards of 1,000 tons of material a day, for the first two weeks following D-Day on 6 June 1944. Canadians of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade , suffered 1,074 casualties, including 369 killed on the beach and in the Calvados countryside on the first day of
9976-521: The north, cities tended to be administered by échevins (from an old Germanic word meaning judge), while in the south, cities tended to be administered by consuls (in a clear reference to Roman antiquity), but Bordeaux was administered by jurats (etymologically meaning "sworn men") and Toulouse by capitouls ("men of the chapter"). Usually, there was no mayor in the modern sense; all the échevins or consuls were on equal footing, and rendered decisions collegially. However, for certain purposes, there
10092-523: The number of communes in the process – the Gemeinden of West Germany were decreased from 24,400 to 8,400 in the space of a few years – France only carried out mergers at the margin, and those were mostly carried out during the 19th century. From 41,000 communes at the time of the French Revolution, the number decreased to 37,963 in 1921, to 36,569 in 2008 (in metropolitan France). Thus, in Europe, only Switzerland has as high
10208-404: The number of municipalities compared to the large and populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia (396 Gemeinden in September 2007). Despite differences in population, each of the communes of the French Republic possesses a mayor ( maire ) and a municipal council ( conseil municipal ), which jointly manage the commune from the municipal hall ( mairie ), with exactly the same powers no matter
10324-631: The only partially successful statute enacted in 1966 and enabling urban communes to form urban communities or the more marked failure of the Marcellin law of 1971, the Chevènement law met with a large measure of success, so that a majority of French communes are now involved in intercommunal structures. There are two types of these structures: In exchange for the creation of a community, the government allocates money to them based on their population, thus providing an incentive for communes to team up and form communities. Communities of communes are given
10440-403: The place of the former communes, which are represented by a delegated mayor and a delegated council. Between 2012 and 2021, about 820 communes nouvelles have been established, replacing about 2,550 old communes. The expression "intercommunality" ( intercommunalité ) denotes several forms of cooperation between communes. Such cooperation first made its appearance at the end of the 19th century in
10556-541: The populations and land of the geographic area covered. The communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. Communes vary widely in size and area, from large sprawling cities with millions of inhabitants like Paris , to small hamlets with only a handful of inhabitants. Communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes ( "lieu dit" or "bourg" ),
10672-403: The position, ‘B’ Company forced a crossing of the river, on a small bridge at MR 964857, and got in to clear ‘four’ defensible positions, on the ‘island’. The Coy Comd and twenty-six other ranks ‘survived’ the assault of the three casements and its twelve MG emplacements. It took until the early afternoon for WN 31 to be secured. German Crew Served Weapons at StP.Courseulles (West). The commune
10788-495: The provision of such services as refuse collection and water supply. Suburban communes often team up with the city at the core of their urban area to form a community charged with managing public transport or even administering the collection of local taxes. The Chevènement law tidied up all these practices, abolishing some structures and creating new ones. In addition, it offered central government finance aimed at encouraging further communes to join in intercommunal structures. Unlike
10904-489: The revolution, and so they favored a powerful central state. Therefore, when they created the communes, they deprived them of any legal "personality" (as they did with the départements ), with only the central state having legal "personality." By 1837 that situation was judged impractical, as mayors and municipal councils could not be parties in courts. The consequence of the change, however, was that tens of thousands of villages which had never had legal "personality" (contrary to
11020-469: The right to elect its own mayor in 1977, the central government retained control of the Paris police. In all other French communes, the municipal police are under the mayor's supervision. French communes were created at the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789–1790. Before the revolution, France's lowest level of administrative division was the parish ( paroisse ), and there were up to 60,000 of them in
11136-406: The same as those designed at the time of the French Revolution more than 200 years ago, with the same limits. Countless rural communes that had hundreds of inhabitants at the time of the French Revolution now have only a hundred inhabitants or fewer. On the other hand, cities and towns have grown so much that their urbanized area is now extending far beyond the limits of their commune which were set at
11252-403: The same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them. In Réunion, demographic expansion and sprawling urbanization have resulted in the administrative splitting of some communes . The median population of metropolitan France's communes at the 1999 census was 380 inhabitants. Again this is a very small number, and here France stands absolutely apart in Europe, with
11368-426: The sea wall did not offer much help: buildings continued to be affected by the erosion. Then a storm came and broke the sea wall, it then flooded the land behind it. These events cause many land investors to back out. Eventually, Hampton-on-Sea had to be abandoned because the erosion overtook so much of the land. By 1916 Hampton-on-Sea had been completely abandoned. By the 1920s only a couple of structures still stood. It
11484-547: The seafloor, changes in the location of shoals and bars may cause the locus of beach or cliff erosion to change position along the shore. Coastal erosion has been greatly affected by the rising sea levels globally. There has been great measures of increased coastal erosion on the Eastern seaboard of the United States. Locations such as Florida have noticed increased coastal erosion. In reaction to these increases Florida and its individual counties have increased budgets to replenish
11600-601: The shoreline can be measured and described over a temporal scale of tides, seasons, and other short-term cyclic processes. Coastal erosion may be caused by hydraulic action, abrasion , impact and corrosion by wind and water, and other forces, natural or unnatural. On non-rocky coasts, coastal erosion results in rock formations in areas where the coastline contains rock layers or fracture zones with varying resistance to erosion. Softer areas become eroded much faster than harder ones, which typically result in landforms such as tunnels , bridges , columns , and pillars . Over time
11716-414: The size of the commune. This uniformity of status is a legacy of the French Revolution, which wanted to do away with the local idiosyncrasies and tremendous differences in status that existed in the kingdom of France. French law makes allowances for the vast differences in commune size in a number of areas of administrative law. The size of the municipal council, the method of electing the municipal council,
11832-470: The strong-point. Pushing into Courseulles, 'A' Company, as set out in the plan, cleared Town Blocks 5, 6, and 7 but had to return to the beachfront (Block No.1) where the Germans had returned, by tunnels and trenches, to reoccupy their guns. The Regina’s began the disheartening task of clearing the beachfront again, it only came to be ‘captured’ after this second fight. ‘B’ Company landed at 08h15, further to
11948-513: The suburbs of Paris fearing the concept of a "Greater Paris", and so disunity still is the rule in the metropolitan area, with the suburbs of Paris creating many different intercommunal structures all without the city. Coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves , currents , tides , wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward retreat of
12064-609: The time of the revolution. The most extreme example of this is Paris, where the urbanized area sprawls over 396 communes. Paris in fact was one of the very few communes of France whose limits were extended to take into account the expansion of the urbanized area. The new, larger, commune of Paris was set up under the oversight of Emperor Napoléon III in 1859, but after 1859 the limits of Paris rigidified. Unlike most other European countries, which stringently merged their communes to better reflect modern-day densities of population (such as Germany and Italy around 1970), dramatically decreasing
12180-580: The world at the time, except in the empire of China (but there, only county level and above had any permanent administration). Since then, tremendous changes have affected France, as they have the rest of Europe: the Industrial Revolution , two world wars , and the rural exodus have all depopulated the countryside and increased the size of cities. French administrative divisions, however, have remained extremely rigid and unchanged. Today about 90 percent of communes and departments are exactly
12296-508: Was a 50mm gun, in a casemate (protecting its front), that could fire east or west. Additionally thirteen crew served, machine gun and mortar, weapon emplacements, had their rear was protected by the river. With half of his Kompanie 6. / Batl II. / Gren.Regt 736., on the position, Hauptmann Grote commanded the fight for Stützpuntkte (StP) Courseulles, from a Type Regelbau Command Post Shelter / Bunker. Fighting WN 31, its Züg Führer (Acting Commander), having no 'urban' structures to observe 'over'
12412-574: Was a small ‘platoon-sized’ position, attempting to control the southeast exit, from Courseulles. Here, Hauptmann Grote had his Zug-Gruppen, Kompanie 6. / Batl II 736, establish a supporting depth position, opposite the Châteaux, reinforcing a group of houses, above the town centre. WN 30 was a crew served weapon position, with only light machine guns (MG) and a least one light 50mm mortar (in Granatwerfer Schutzenloch), undercover, in
12528-504: Was a very large ‘platoon-sized’ position, attempting to protect entry into the town port and to deny exits off the beach, into the town. East of the river, its strength was dominated by an 88mm gun, protected to its front (to fire in enfilade), and a 50 mm gun, supported by machine gun and Tobruks . Opposite the harbour was a second 50mm gun (with Tobruk) and towards the centre a 75mm field gun, and 37mm tank turret, they supported by machine gun and Tobruks. The right front (NE) sea approach
12644-428: Was adopted, which created the legal framework for the communes nouvelles (lit. "new communes"). A commune nouvelle can be created by merger of a number of communes at the request of the municipal councils of all the communes or at the initiative of the state representative in the department (the prefect ). The municipal council of the new commune can decide to create communes déléguées (lit. "delegated communes") in
12760-410: Was built on a fault in the headland which is prone to erosion. A small part of one of the bastion walls has already collapsed since the land under it has eroded, and there are cracks in other walls as well. In El Campello , Spain, the erosion and failure of a Roman fish farm excavated from rock during the first century B.C. was exacerbated by the construction of a close sport harbour. Hampton-on-Sea
12876-459: Was fronted by an area of coastal erosion with various works to prevent, control or delay its effects. There were groynes built out into the sea to try and stop the movement of sand. On D-Day the presence of the groynes together with the strong current along the beach and the beach obstacles made landings and lateral movement along the beach, tricky. To test an attacker, most of the buildings of Courseulles were further protected by sea walls. Here it
12992-440: Was located at North 49.3367 Deg / West W 00.4602 and in June 1944, for targeting purposes, at: LZ1 vT MR Grid 965858 (Ref. GSGS 4250 1:50K: Creully Sheet 7E/5). The (WN) Resistance Nest at Courseulles (West) was a very large ‘platoon-sized’ position, attempting to protect entry into the town port, deny exits off the beach, and prevent an out-flanking entry into the town. West of the River Seulles, still being 'developed', it sat on
13108-1053: Was one échevin or consul ranking above the others, a sort of mayor, although not with the same authority and executive powers as a modern mayor. This "mayor" was called provost of the merchants ( prévôt des marchands ) in Paris and Lyon; maire in Marseille, Bordeaux, Rouen , Orléans , Bayonne and many other cities and towns; mayeur in Lille ; premier capitoul in Toulouse; viguier in Montpellier ; premier consul in many towns of southern France; prêteur royal in Strasbourg ; maître échevin in Metz ; maire royal in Nancy ; or prévôt in Valenciennes . On 14 July 1789, at
13224-555: Was only reduced from 946 in 1971 (just before the Marcellin law aimed at encouraging French communes to merge with each other was passed, see Current debate section below) to 904 in January 2007. Consequently, the Alsace region—despite having a land area only one-fifth the size and a total population only one-sixth of that of its neighbor Baden-Württemberg—has almost as many municipalities. The small Alsace region has more than double
13340-435: Was protected by the large K.V. Gruppe Courseulles Beach Minefield: Mf 58. On its right was a 75mm field gun, protected by a substantial anti-tank ditch inland, and its right flank (SE approach) by the K.V. Gruppe Courseulles tactical minefield: Mf 43. The position's Züg Führer (acting commander) defence was enabled by an 'underground' network of tunnels and covered trenches, permitting unobserved movement. Courseulles (Osten)
13456-419: Was shelled for effect by the embarked 105 mm guns of 13th Field Regiment, RCA from H-30 to H+5 and began taking direct fire from the DD Tanks of 'B' Squadron, 1st Hussars towards 07h55 (BST), who landed correctly and on time as planned. Fourteen DD tanks of the 1st Hussars made it ashore, and quickly came to engage the strongpoint’s guns. An 88 mm gun, beside the harbour exit, a 50 mm behind it, and
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