British Empire
93-615: Villers-Bretonneux ( French pronunciation: [vilɛʁ bʁətɔnø] ) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Villers-Bretonneux is situated some 19 km due east of Amiens , on the D1029 road and the A29 motorway . Villers-Bretonneux borders a particularly flat landscape towards the east, which can be considered as the western boundary of
186-421: 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
279-445: 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
372-549: A college. In the First World War , on 24 April 1918, Villers-Bretonneux was the site of the world's first battle between two tank forces: three British Mark IVs against three German A7Vs . The Germans took the town, but that night and the next day it was recaptured by two brigades of the First Australian Imperial Force at a cost of some 1,200 Australian lives. The town's mayor spoke of
465-537: 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
558-537: 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
651-589: 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,
744-769: 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
837-592: 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
930-520: A ridge another 3,000 yd (1.7 mi; 2.7 km) back, which left the right flank of the 42nd Brigade uncovered. That same day, however, the line north-west of Le Hamel was reinforced by the arrival of the 15th Australian Brigade . In the afternoon, the Germans resumed their efforts and forced back the 18th (Eastern) Division in the south, at which point Villers-Bretonneux appeared about to fall. The Germans came within 440 yd (400 m) of
1023-717: 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
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#17327909934631116-604: 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
1209-402: 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
1302-516: 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
1395-722: 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
1488-731: The Battle of the Somme . Marshal Foch stayed there. At the end of fighting in November 1918 it became the local headquarters of the Imperial (later Commonwealth) Graves Commission . Later abandoned, it was extensively cannibalised for building materials. Its skeleton, which remained as a tourist attraction until 2004, was razed in that year and all traces of it were removed to make way for a supermarket. Communes of France The commune ( French pronunciation: [kɔmyn] )
1581-768: The British lines, along the Somme River . By 5 April, the Germans had gained 37 mi (60 km) of British held territory. Two other operations were launched, one near Armentières , one near Reims . All three operations were eventually halted by the Allies. In late March 1918, the German army advanced towards the vital rail-head at Amiens, pushing the British line back towards the town of Villers-Bretonneux . On 29 March, Lieutenant-General John Monash , then commander of
1674-552: 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
1767-568: The Frankish period. The first mention of the name Villers-Bretonneux is in a document from 1123. It was not until the 12th century that the Bretoneux or Bretonneux complement was added; prior to this the town was known as Villers. The origin of this change has historians perplexed. In 1200, the lord of Villers-Bretonneux, Adams de Villers was vassal of the Abbot of Corbie . In the 14th century,
1860-731: The German spring offensive on the Western Front . The offensive began against the British Fifth Army and the Third Army on the Somme and pushed back the British and French reinforcements on the north side of the Somme . The capture of Villers-Bretonneux , close to Amiens , a strategically important road- and rail-junction, would have brought the Germans within artillery-range. In late March, Australian troops were brought south from Belgium as reinforcements to help shore up
1953-565: 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,
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#17327909934632046-482: 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,
2139-526: The Russian Empire , the end of the fighting on the Eastern Front allowed the Germans to transfer a significant amount of manpower and equipment to the Western Front . With the general position for the Germans looking weak, the German commander, Erich Ludendorff , decided to go on the offensive. On 21 March 1918, Operation Michael was launched and the attack was aimed at the weakest part of
2232-583: The State of Victoria more generally. Charlotte Crivelli who was a central figure on the committee which organised this sponsorship and organised many of the fundraising events. On 22 July 1938, the Villers–Bretonneux Australian National Memorial was opened by the British sovereigns, George VI , Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and Albert Lebrun , President of the French Republic . The names of 11,000 fighters without burial are engraved in
2325-631: 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
2418-444: 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
2511-716: 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
2604-551: 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
2697-512: 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
2790-401: 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
2883-601: The Australian 3rd Division , in Belgium, detached the 9th Australian Infantry Brigade (consisting of four battalions), and sent it south to Villers-Bretonneux, to prevent a breach of the line between the British Fifth Army (General Hubert Gough ) and the French First Army (General Marie-Eugène Debeney ) that was positioned to the south. On 30 March, the Germans attacked around Le Hamel and although this
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2976-534: The Australian gains. Advancing in a staggered series of short rushes, across separate sectors, the Australians and British pushed two German divisions back towards Monument Wood, then north of Lancer Wood and then to retreat from Villers-Bretonneux itself. Further fighting around the village took place later in the month during the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux . The attack on Villers-Bretonneux
3069-524: The Australian troops on 14 July 1919 when unveiling a memorial in their honour: The Australian War Memorial in France is located just outside Villers-Bretonneux and in front of it lie the graves of over 770 Australian soldiers, as well as those of other British Empire soldiers involved in the campaign. The school in Villers-Bretonneux was rebuilt using donations from school children of Victoria, Australia (many of whom had relatives perish in
3162-554: The Mayor of Villers-Bretonneux from 2008 until 2020, was a vocal proponent of Australia-France relations . Simon oversaw the refurbishment of Villers-Bretonneux's Franco-Australian First World War Museum and helped to establish the Sir John Monash Centre, which opened in 2018. He also promoted increased relations and exchanges with Robinvale , Villers-Bretonneux's twinned town in the Australian state of Victoria . Simon
3255-565: 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
3348-502: 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
3441-565: The Santerre plateau and the eastern boundary of the Amiénois. The territory of the commune is crossed by the old national road 29 (current RD 1029), perfectly rectilinear road following the route of the ancient Roman road linking Amiens to Saint-Quentin in the Aisne. The agglomeration is located at the crossroads of the D 23 linking Corbie to Moreuil. Villers-Bretonneux station is located on
3534-404: The anniversary of the battle of 24/25 April 1918 are held on Anzac Day itself at Villers-Bretonneux. Villers-Bretonneux is the sister city of Robinvale , Victoria, Australia. In 2017, the commune had 4,464 inhabitants, an increase of 8.5% compared to 2007. Delacour's château, or, as the Australian force called it, the "Red château", served as headquarters and billets for Allied generals during
3627-452: 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,
3720-480: 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
3813-410: 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
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3906-535: 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
3999-544: 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
4092-434: The dawn of the twenty-first century. Today, it is the services that constitute most of the economic activity: shopping center near the motorway exit, retail and handicrafts in the city center. Health services are represented by the presence of a nursing home and a convalescent and functional rehabilitation center in addition to the liberal professionals. The school functions are represented by nursery and primary schools and by
4185-548: The department and that factories producing woollen stockings and flannels are well established. In 1859, the town built a church that was destroyed during the First World War. It housed a wooden Virgin from the l'école de Blasset school. On 27 November 1870, Villers Bretonneux was the scene of a battle of the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) for the defense of Amiens . The French were defeated, and
4278-464: 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
4371-412: 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
4464-599: 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
4557-543: 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
4650-480: 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
4743-558: 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
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#17327909934634836-548: 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,
4929-437: 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
5022-586: The knitwear industry in the 19th century. After the destruction of the First and Second World Wars, the town was rebuilt. The city center concentrates public buildings and most of the dwellings. The municipality is now experiencing a new development thanks to its proximity to the Amiens agglomeration and to an exit from the A29 motorway (Saint-Quentin-Le Havre). Subdivisions of individual houses were built. Patrick Simon ,
5115-653: 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
5208-552: 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 ,
5301-415: The line and in early April the Germans launched an attack to capture Villers-Bretonneux. After a determined defence by British and Australian troops, the attackers were close to success until a counter-attack by the 9th Australian Infantry Brigade and by British troops, late in the afternoon of 4 April, restored the line and halted the German advance on Amiens. In early 1918, following the capitulation of
5394-631: The line was held by the British 14th (Light) Division , the Australian 9th Brigade and the British 18th (Eastern) Division . The Australians held off the 9th Bavarian Reserve Division and the 18th (Eastern) Division repulsed elements of the Imperial Guards Ersatz Division and Prussian 19th Division . On 4 April, the British 14th (Light) Division fell back, under pressure from the German 228th Division , around Le Hamel. The 41st Brigade had been pushed back for 500 yd (460 m) "in some disorder" and then retired to
5487-414: 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
5580-483: The lord was Antoine de Rivery , knight , captain of Amiens in 1465 and lord of Rivery and Villers-Bretonneux. On 13 August 1636, the Spanish Army set fire to the village, as well as several villages in the vicinity. It was probably during these events connected with the capture of Corbie that the fortress was destroyed. An exact date is not known but in 1681 it was mentioned as completely in ruins . In 1700,
5673-575: 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
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#17327909934635766-480: 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,
5859-466: 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
5952-486: 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
6045-425: 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
6138-521: 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
6231-523: 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
6324-404: 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
6417-631: 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
6510-403: 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
6603-617: The population had to pay a tribute of 100,000 francs to the Prussian s. In the First World War the town was the site of the First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux and Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux . The first tank-against-tank combat in history took place here on 24 April 1918. In the interwar years, the city of Melbourne in Australia was a sponsor of the town of Villers-Bretonneux and helped in its reconstruction as did as
6696-541: 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" ),
6789-495: 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
6882-503: The railway line from Amiens to Laon via Tergnier . Polished flints from the neolithic era indicate that a human presence has been in the commune for a long time. Roman coins , remains of dwelling and a sandstone mill from during the Roman Empire have been found near the town, which was on the old way linking Amiens to Vermand . In 1840, archaeological excavations revealed stone coffins, vases and buckles dating from
6975-489: 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
7068-469: 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
7161-406: 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
7254-403: 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
7347-459: The seigniory of Villers-Bretonneux was sold to Pierre Dufresne , lord of Marcelcave . As early as 1737, the wool industry was mentioned in Villers-Bretonneux. In 1778, Pierre Dottin, a native of Villers-Bretonneux, published a memoir on the "la pomme de terre" in Les Affiches de la Picardie . In 1838, records show that Villers-Bretonneux is one of the richest and most commercial communes in
7440-414: 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,
7533-535: The stone. In World War II, the British Army Sherman tank Armoured Division passed through Villers-Bretonneux, on 1 September 1944. There is a memorial near the town dedicated to the memory of the Forces françaises de l'intérieur , shot and deported during 1939–45, located on the road to Amiens. Today, Villers-Bretonneux is a modest village, which grew significantly thanks to the introduction of
7626-652: 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. First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux [REDACTED] 9th Bavarian Reserve Division [REDACTED] Guards Ersatz Division [REDACTED] 19th Division [REDACTED] Australian 9th Bde: 3500; 1915 1916 1917 1918 Associated articles Associated articles The First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux (30 March – 5 April 1918), took place during Operation Michael , part of
7719-609: 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
7812-454: The town but Goddard, in command of the sector, ordered a surprise counter-attack in the late afternoon, by the 36th Australian Battalion , supported by a company from the 35th Battalion and elements of a British unit serving temporarily as the 9th Brigade's reserve: 6th Battalion, London Regiment (detached from the 58th Division). Flanking movements by the Australian 33rd and 34th Battalions, as well as British cavalry , helped consolidate
7905-463: The town's liberation) and above every blackboard is the inscription, " N'oublions jamais l'Australie " (Let us never forget Australia). The annual Anzac Day ceremony is held at this village on Anzac Day, 25 April. Traditionally, Australian commemorations have focused on Gallipoli . However, Anzac Day commemorations since 2008 have also focused on the Western Front, and dawn services marking
7998-464: The village was surrounded by a wall twelve feet high and counted 140 hovels. The castle was surrounded by a wall fifteen feet high. Waleran de Rivery, lord of Rivery and Villers-Bretonneux, married Isabelle, second daughter of Jacques de Longroy (councilor and chamberlain of the Duke of Burgundy ), lord of Querrieu , who was killed at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. In the second half of the 15th century,
8091-580: 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
8184-428: 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
8277-539: Was awarded an honorary Order of Australia (AO) in 2015 for his contributions to Australian-Franco relations. He died in office in May 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in France . The increase in the population of the commune was linked to the development of knitwear in the 19th century. This activity began to decline from the 1880s onwards. The decline continued after the two world wars until they disappeared completely at
8370-1053: 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
8463-555: 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
8556-432: Was the last significant German attack of Operation Michael (known to the British as the First Battle of the Somme , 1918). After the failure of the German forces to achieve their objectives, Ludendorff ended the offensive to avoid a battle of attrition . The 9th Australian Brigade had 2,400 casualties from c. 3,500 men engaged. German casualties were not known but there were 8,000 to 10,000 losses in two of
8649-489: Was turned back, they succeeded in making gains around Hangard Wood . On its left flank, the French First Army fell back, although a counter-attack regained much of the ground. Five days later, the Germans renewed their drive towards Villers-Bretonneux, now held by the Australian 9th Brigade, under its acting commander, Colonel Henry Goddard (also commander of the 35th Battalion ). From north-west to south-east
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