To what extent metropolises were welcoming cities during the 19th century?

Résumé du document

During the 19th century, the size of the cities in Europe changed dramatically. While in the 1800s, twenty-three cities in Europe could have been considered as major cities, one century later, the number of major cities reached one hundred and thirty-five. This evolution is curious when one considers the fact that, traditionally, a city is an enclosed space, isolated from the rest of the world. Indeed, Anne Gotman reminds that ramparts were not only a mean of protecting the city from assaults but also to prevent foreigners from entering freely into the city. Cities had a role of protecting their inhabitants. Indeed, introducing taxes and banns for instance, aimed to protect the trade of a city from the potential concurrency coming from other cities. Another aspect has to be taken into account. Through their work, the inhabitants of the cities bourgeois took part in the prosperity and the development of the city and this participation gave them some rights nobody else had. Bourgeois were helped and protected in case of problems; and a non-native inhabitant could not benefit from this particular protection.

Extraits

[...] Thus, the first migrations to cities were temporary migrations. The situation of a peasant working in his lands during the summer and in a factory during the winter was not that much uncommon. Lots of men shared their lives between proletarian and farming worlds with aim to earn savings in order to finance farming activities. As this work was temporary, the migration from town to town was also very frequent. After 1850, industrial works moved to permanency and so offered permanent jobs. [...]

[...] Anglo-Saxons considered Celts as an inferior race. However, Irish integrated progressively in the London society as Welsh and Scottish did before. This integration was not assimilation since most of the Irish remained Catholic. The Catholic Church even became in London an immigration Church, a way to gather the Irish community and to maintain tight links within the community. If it is commonly known that the city tended to reduce the links between individuals, it is important to notice that immigrants tried to preserve their relations. [...]

[...] In fact, the traditional behaviour towards foreigners persisted in the industrialized cities of the nineteenth century. Regarding law, the distinction between members of the cities and migrants still existed. Then origins of the migrants played a significant role in the way they were accepted. For instance, Klaus J. Badie gives the example of the place of the German in Parisian economy. Since the beginning of the industrialization, German migrants came to Paris to work in the growing industries. While they were quite well integrated the relations between Germany and France threaten their position in the urban life. [...]

[...] Dans quelle mesure les métropoles ont-elles été des villes d'accueil au XIXe siècle ? During the 19th century, the size of the city changed dramatically. While in 1800, twenty-three cities in Europe can be considered as major cities more than one hundred thousand inhabitants one century on, the number of major cities reached one hundred thirty-five. This evolution is furthermore curious when one considers the fact that, traditionally, a city was an enclosed space, isolated from the rest of the world. [...]

[...] These first features may drive one to consider that cities of the nineteenth century were not welcoming cities. However, the process of industrialization that dominated the nineteenth century changed these characteristics. The move from an agrarian world to an industrial one involved shifts concerning the place given to migrants. The implementation of industries in pre-existing urban centres induced the need for labour force. And such an implementation also extended the attractiveness of cities for people who wanted to benefit from the global modernization of societies and economies. [...]