Between Provence and Dauphiné, bordering the Piedmont, Haute-Provence is the unbreakable link between high and low country. For centuries, wood and wool coming from the mountains crossed it, like salt and spices coming from the Mediterranean Sea. Middle country par excellence, it also witnessed various migrations and invasions before being cast away from the big axes of communications of the industrial world.
It’s in 1792 that the Republic decides a new administrative cutting by creating departments. They replace bishoprics, formerly coming from ancient Roman pagis. The task is not easy; departments have to be approximately the same size and the distance between the main towns have to be less than a 1-day horse ride. The local officials proposed a regularly-shaped department including the Laragnais but not the Ubaye. It’d be called the Durance. But the Convention thinks different; the department has to border Italy. Mountain joins the hills and the Basses-Alpes were born. Throughout the 19th century, the question on the territory of the Basses-Alpes persists. Then, from the 60’s, some people found the adjective ‘’bas’’ (low) pejorative. So, in 1971, the Basses-Alpes become the Alpes de Haute-Provence.
The first organised habitats we’re aware of (Méailles, Montpezat) date from approximately 30000 BC. These hunters and farmers, when they sedentarised, developed pottery and the cult of the dead. Starting in 1200 BC, the Ligurians populated the region before the Celts arrived 100 years later. It’s the beginning of the Celto-Ligurian civilisation which lasts until the 1st century BC. They erected many oppida on high sites (le Castellard, Riez). Since the epoch of Augustus, Romans create city in Riez and Sisteron. A little bit later, Haute-Provence is quickly integrated to the Narbonnaise and life is organised around the Via Domitia and secondary ways. 1st century AD, Haute-Provence is completely under Roman domination and almost all the actual cities exist. Christianism’s implantation seems to be late. The first known bishops are in Riez (439). But the Roman Empire collapses and finally disappears in 476, and the Haute-Provence sinks into dark times.
The whole Provence is under barbarian domination until it becomes almost independent in the 9th century. But at the end of the century it’s crushed by Saracens, they kidnap Saint-Mayeul, abbey of Cluny coming from Riez. This event brings Guillaume, Earl of Arles to launch a vast attack against the invader. After winning, he enlarges his County to the whole Provence in 947. But the dynastic troubles he faces lead to the creation of a new County : Forcalquier, from 1092 to 1209. Whereas in 1112, Provence becomes part of Barcelonnette’s County before Charles d’Anjou, brother of Saint-Louis claimed it in 1246. The ‘’Haute-Provence angevine’’ faces a big demographic explosion until the 14th century when woe strikes it : thiefs, plague, wars… It’s a broken land which joins the Kingdom of France in 1481.
Little by little, Haute-Provence becomes part to the Kingdom by losing its priviledges and adopting the use of French, thus starting a nice economic recovery. The Italian wars led by Francis 1 of France and the later Wars of Religion –Numerous Protestants are found here- bring many pain in Provence and the Provencal nobility tears itself apart. The middle of the 17th century witnesses the troubles of ‘’la Fronde’’, Aix being the epicenter. Then, in the 1690’s the Piedmont threatens Provence again. We have to wait 1713 and the treaty of Ultrecht for Ubaye to be French again. Still, battles happen in the valley from 1774 to 1777. Before the Revolution, the country is very poor: very small agricultural production, population increasement, lack of communication ways… The revolutionary period brings new hopes but also new troubles in Haute-Provence which sinks it into an economic slump, allowing Napoleon 1st, back from the Elba Island, to cross it with no resistance in March 1815.
After the 1848 presidential elections, the department votes mainly for Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. But in 1851, it refuses the coup d’état of the 2nd December. And it’s a united people which rise. The insurgents take Digne and Barcelonnette. In les Mées, they fight the troop of the future Napoleon 3rd. But they can’t hold on for long and the leaders flee in the mountains or abroad. The repression is ferocious: death penalties and prison colonies. Times are harsh as the country faces another major immigration wave. From 1806 to 1906, the department loses 35% of its population. In 1821, the Arnaud brothers of Jausiers left for Mexico, thus inaugurating the long migration of the ‘’barcelonnettes’’. But at the end of century, the situation gradually improves: roads and bridges are built, reforestation and education campaigns are launched… But the ancient workshops close little by little, industry does not exist, and the lack of jobs is a big problem. The first World War, by taking away all the young men from their homes, falls like the balde of the guillotine.
After World War 1, Haute-Provence has been drained out of blood. We have to wait for 1934 to be back to pre-war agricultural productivity. However, the 30’s are an enthusiastic decade: change of mentalities, important construction projects, agricultural cooperatives, tourism… WW2 puts an end to this development. At first occupied by Italians, the department is invaded by Germans in November 1942. But the Resistance is already organised. It’s very important all along the war, helped by the protection of the rugged terrain and the active help of local farmers. On the 15th August 1944, the bombing of Sisteron by the Allied Forces to cut the retreat of the enemy makes a hundred dead whereas the German killed many Resistants in the weeks preceding the bombing. Almost all the department of the Basses-Alpes is free on the evening of the 19th August, except for the Haute-Ubaye, where the fights will last until April 1945.
The post-war era witnesses the rise of the big works policy. The building of Serre-Ponçon’s dam in 1960 is the perfect example. Europe’s largest artificial lake, the dam produces electricity but most importantly –with the creation of the Canal de Provence- allows the irrigation of thousands of hectares from Espinasses to Avignon. Agriculture becomes more modern while the population and the number of farms decrease. The rural exodus continues despite the arrival of the first post-rurals in the 70’s. We have to wait for the 80’s to see the department being repopulated. Since then, it’s been in constant progression. From 1999 to 2006, the average annual population growth was 1.5%. In 2006, 1 out of 4 Haute-Provence inhabitants was a migrant and the population was 154,000. Nowadays,our department remains the most rural of the PACA region, with 59% of its inhabitants living in the countryside. But its sociological composition has drastically changed since the 19th century. We only find 4.7% farmers, whereas employees and workers are respectively 31% and 22%. This evolution is related to the settling of industries and new technologies, mainly along the Durance-Bléone axis, and the rise of tourist activities.
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