FRENCH DEPARTMENTS OF THE NORD AND OF THE PAS-DE-CALAIS
In the 15th to 17th centuries parts of the Southern (Habsburg) Netherlands (1) were
annexed to France.
At the end of the Ancien Regime in 1789 the concerned region was divided into three
royal governments (Artois, the Boulonnais and Flanders) and two generalities (Lille
for all parts except Hainaut and Valenciennes for Hainaut), but after 1789 it was
divided into two departments - Nord and Pas-de-Calais - which were twice occupied
by the Germans : partly in 1914 - 1918 and completely in 1940 - 1944.
(See here for more information on these occupation periods)
(1) The annexed territories included :
- the County of Artois (Dutch : Artesië)
- the County of Boulogne (Dutch : Bonen, Beunen)
- the Archbishopric of Cambrai (Dutch : Kamerijk)
- part of the County of Flanders (Dutch : Vlaanderen)
- part of the County of Hainaut
The territory is sometimes referred to as the French Netherlands.
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FRENCH CHIEF ADMINISTRATORS
(V) = appointed or maintained in office by the Vichy regime 1940 - 1944
NORD
Prefect of the Department du Nord
Préfet du Departement du Nord
1847 - 1848 Napoléon Jean-Evangéliste Enilien
Desmousseaux de Givré 1803 - 1870
Commissioner of the Government
Commissaire du Gouvernement
1848 Vincent Férrare François Antony
"Antony-Thouret" 1807 - 1871
Assistant to the Connissioner Général for the Departments of the Nord and the Pas-
de-Calais
Adjoint du Commissaire général pour les départements du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais
(in charge of the Nord - see also Pas-de-Calais)
1848 Egide Armand Désiré Pilette 1817 - 1871
Prefects of the Department du Nord
Préfets du Departement du Nord
1848 - 1849 Alexandre Louis Adolphe Durand-Saint
-Armand 1808 - 1864
1849 Isidore Ambroise Elysée David
"David-Portau" 1814 - 1870
1849 - 1851 Jean Claude Marius Magdeleine Vaïsse 1799 - 1864
1851 - 1857 Charles Jean Olympie Bouquet
"Besson" 1799 - 1896
1857 Pierre Marie Hector Collet-Meygret 1816 - 1876
1857 - 1865 Paul Louis Marie Athanase Léonard
Vallon 1805 - 1865
1865 - 1866 Joseph Marie Pietri 1820 - 1902
1866 - 1868 Léon Victor Mouzard-Sencier 1816 - 1894
1868 - 1870 Paul Marie Henri Gaston Verbigier
de Saint-Paul 1820 - 1878
1870 Léon Masson 1815 - 1871
1870 Achille Arthur Armand Testelin, also
Commissioner of National defence for the
departments of the Aisne, the Nord,
the Pas-de-Calais and the Somme during
the war against Germany 1844 - 1891
1870 - 1871 Pierre Legrand II 1834 - 1895
1871 Paul Bert 1833 - 1886
1871 Ernest Charles Hendlé 1844 - 1900
1871 Prince Auguste Baron* 1840 -
1971 Michel Charles Hoseph Paul
Cleenwerck de Cravencourt* 1822 -
1871 - 1873 Antoine Joseph Marie, Baron Séguier 1832 - 1929
1873 - 1876 Albert Léon Le Guay 1827 - 1891
1876 - 1877 Pierre Gustave Lizot 1831 - 1896
1877 Charles Nicolas Welche 1828 - 1942
1877 - 1882 Paul Pierre Cambon 1843 - 1924
1882 - 1887 Jules Martin Cambon 1845 - 1935
1887 - 1890 Virgile Raymond Saisset-Schneider 1844 - 1926
1890 - 1897 Henry Auguste Gaspard Vel "Vel-Durand" 1844 - 1923
1897 - 1898 André Lauranceau 1847 - 1899
1898 - 1899 Paul Timoléon Edouard Vatin 1848 - 1924
1899 - 1911 Pierre Jules David Louis Vincent 1852 - 1928
1911 - 1915 Jean-Baptiste Félix Trepont 1862 - 1949
1915 Maurice Henri Vital Anjubault* 1876 -
1915 - 1916 Armand Alexandre Poivret* 1868 - 1934
1916 - 1918 Jean-Baptiiste Félix Trepont (2x),
in the non occupied part
1918 Emile Adolphe Regnier* 1873 -
1918 - 1922 Jean Henri Armand Naudin 1868 - 1938
1922 - 1924 Benoît Alfred Morain 1864 - 1938
1924 - 1929 Louis Eugène Albéric Hudelo 1868 - 1945
1929 - 1934 Roger Marie Félix Langeron 1882 - 1966
1934 - 1936 Armand Joseph Marie Guillon 1880 - 1968
1936 - 1944 Fernand Carles (V) 1886 - 1945
Delegate during his tenure of office as regional prefect (see
below)
1941 - 1944 Henri Joseph Darrouy (V) 1897 -
1944 - 1946 Roger Edouard Verlomme, first prefect
appointed by the Provisional Government 1890 - 1950
PAS-DE-CALAIS
Prefect of the Department of the Pas-de-Calais
Préfet du Département du Pas-de-Calais
1847 - 1848 Thomas Louis Mercier 1800 - 1882
Chairman of the Administrative Commission
Président de la Commission administrative
1848 Joseph Frédéric Degeorge 1797 - 1854
Connissioners
Commissaires
1848 -Louis Charles Delescluze, Commissioner
General for the Departments of the Nord
and the Pas-de-Calais (Commissaire général
pour les départements du Nord et du
Pas-de-Calais) 1809 - 1871
-Joseph Frédéric Degeorge, Commissioner of
the Government (Commissaire du Gouvernement)
with the same powers as Delescluze s.a.
Prefects of the Department of the Pas-de-Calais
Préfets du Département du Pas-de-Calais
1848 - 1849 Edouard Albert François Joseph Degouve
Denuncques 1810 - 1878
1849 - 1851 René Joseph Jean Fresneau 1789 - 1855
1851 - 1852 Emmanuel Jean Joseph Georges Combe-Sieyès 1808 - 1854
1852 - 1854 Victor Auguste Duhamel 1810 - 1870
1854 - 1864 Ludovic Ange Laurent Thévenin de Tanlay 1809 - 1964
1864 - 1866 Charles Alphonse Levert 1825 - 1899
1866 - 1870 Alphonse Charles Mathurin Paillard 1817 - 1903
1870 - 1871 Eugène Emile Lenglet 1811 - 1873
1871 Ernest Delannoy*
1871 Arthur Marie Victor Gustave
Huguet de Chataux* 1840 -
1871 - 1874 Philibert Edouard Marie Simon
Lombard de Buffières, Comte de Rambuteau 1838 -
1874 - 1876 Henry Darcy 1840 - 1904
1876 - 1877 Etienne Philippe Théodore Tenaille-Saligny 1830 - 1889
1877 Antoine Simon Adolphe Poizat 1834 -
1877 - 1880 Jean Louis Ernest Camescasse 1838 - 1897
1880 - 1883 Paul Mouis Georges Bihourd 1846 -
1883 - 1890 Henry Auguste Gaspard Vel "vel-Durand" s.a.
1890 - 1900 Gabriel Ferdinand Alapetite 1854 - 1932
1900 - 1907 Jules Antoine Henri Duréault 1858 - 1942
1907 - 1911 Jean-Baptiste Félix Trepont s.a.
1911 - 1918 Edouard Léon Briens 1859 - 1918
1918 - 1921 Alexandre Louis Henri Robert Leullier 1870 - 1922
1921 - 1924 Pierre Charles Causel 1865 - 1925
1924 - 1933 Paul Marie Fortuné Peytral 1877 - 1956
1933 - 1940 Gabriël Auguste Léon Rochard (V) 1880 - 1954
1940 - 1942 Amédée Félix Bussière (V) 1886 - 1953
1942 - 1943 Jean Marcel Daugy (V) 1894 - 1968
1943 - 1944 André Paul Sadon (V) 1891 - 1965
1944 André Alexandre Pujes (V) 1904 - 1976
1944 Jean Michel Adrien Cabouat, first prefect
appointed by the Provisional Government 1898 - 1965
1944 - 1945 Pierre Simon Ancel 1885 - 1967
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ADMINISTRATORS DURING WWI
In 1914 the department of the Nord and part of the department of the Pas-de-Calais
were occupied by German troops.
Except for the canton of Maubeuge (Arrondissement of Avesnes in the Nord) which was
attached to the Government General of Belgium until 1916, all occupied territories
remained under the direct authority of the occupying forces for four years.
For more on the German and French administrators in this period see here.
ADMINISTRATORS DURING WWIIGerman Military Governors
In 1940 both departments were occupied by the Germans.
For economical, military and political reasons they were immediately detached from
the rest of France and merged with occupied Belgium to form a Military Government
of Belgium and Northern France, in which they became Oberfeldkommndantur 670.
Oberfeldkommandanten
1940 - 1942 LtGen. Heinrich Niehoff 1882 - 1946
1942 - 1943 MajGen. Wilhelm Daser 1884 - 1968
1943 - 1944 LtGen. George Bertram 1882 - 1953
French AdministratorsRegional Prefect of LillePréfet régional de Lille
After the German ocupation the prefects and their subordinates continued in office
under the authority of the Vichy regime and under the supervision of the German
governor.
In 1941 the Vichy regime appointed a Regional Prefect with very extended economical
and administrative powers over both departments.
1941 - 1944 Fernand Carles, Prefect of the Department
du Nord s.a.
Regional Commissioners of the Republic of LilleCommissaires régionaux de la République de Lille
After the Liberation in 1944 the French Provisional Government likewise appointed
a Regional Commissioner of the Republic with the same extended powers.
1944 Jean Michel Adrien Cabouat* s.a.
1944 Roger Edouard Verlomme* s.a.
1944 - 1946 Francis Louis Closon 1910 - 1998
French - or Southern - Flanders (Dutch : Frans / Zuid Vlaanderen) is the name given
in Flemish cultural and historical writings to the parts of the former County of
Flanders annexed by France in the course of the 17th century.
Its frontiers are not well fixed :
- for the "maximalists" it includes all territories once related to the county and
extending to the Zomme (Fr.: Somme) river and as such including the once Flemish
cities of Atrecht (Fr.: Arras), Dowaai (Fr.: Douai), Duinkerken (Fr.: Dunkerque)
etc.
- for the "minimalists" it only includes the territories where Flemish (1) is still
spoken, that is a small part of the Department of the Nord, also known as the
Westhoek (Western Corner)
(1) As a consequence of its annexation to France, Southern Flanders did not
follow Belgian Flanders and the Netherlands in adopting a common Dutch
language in the 19th century, but continued to use a local form.
It is therefore the only Flemish region for which it actually is fully
correct to use the name "Flemish" (Vlaamsch) for the language spoken,
certainly in the covered period.
For more on this see : Flanders (to be added)
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LEADERS OF FLEMISH MOVEMENTS
Presidents of the Flemish Committee of France
Présidents du Comité Flamand de France
After the annexation of part of the County of Flanders to France, Flemish at first
continued to be used as common language, partly also in the administration.
After the Revolution of 1789 it was however forcebly replaced by French, the final
blow occuring in 1896 when the priests were forbidden to preach in Flemish.
As a reaction and in an attempt to preserve what remained of Flemish language and
culture a Flemish Committee of France was established in 1853.
1853 - 1876 Edmond De Cousemaker 1805 - 1876
1876 - 1899 Alexander Bonvarlet 1826 - 1899
1899 - 1941 Kamiel Looten 1858 - 1941
1941 - 1945 August Leman 1879 - 1945
1945 - 1948 Paul Verschaeve 1... - 1948
Presidents of the Flemish League of France
Présidents de la Ligue des Flamands de France
Voorzitters van het Vlaamsch Verbond van Frankrijk
In 1924 several local Flemish associations merged into a Flemish League of France.
Unlike the Flemish Committee of France which only had cultural aims, the new League
also had political aspirations, demanding some kind of cultural and administrative
autonomy for the North.
At the outbreak of WWII the League was banned by the French government, but after
the German occupation it resumed its activities. (2)
At the liberation in 1944 the League was at first authorized to continue its work,
but after some agitation by a so-called "Syndicat de l'anti-Flandre" the League was
disbanded and its leaders jailed for collaboration. (3)
1924 - 1942 Justin Blanckaert 1863 - 1942
1942 - 1944 Pieter Maria Corneel Blanckaert 1896 - 1944
Secretary
1924 - 1944 Jean-Marie Gantois, de facto
leader 1904 - 1968
(2) In 1941 the Vichy regime promulgated a law allowing the use of Flemish in
primary schools.
Before it could be put into effect the territory was however liberated.
(3) No real evidences for active collaboration could however be found and the
accusation was changed into that of "separatism".
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