Abstract EN:

This survey is based on a standard process of regional and departmental momographies, consisting in a study of political history built upon a close examination of the economic structure and social life in these regions. This thesis can be divided into three parts: the first one deals the demography and economy of the Cantal, the second one with some particular aspects of its social life, and the third one the most important one with the political behavior of its inhabitants to the nation's evolution. Owing to its fundamentally rural economy at the end of the second republic, the Cantal remained, in many respects, identical to what it used to be at the end of the 18th century. Its traditional farming had not changed yet, that rural world, with its numerous and scattered population, where large towns could hardly be found, was continuing its evolution towards an economy that specialized in cattle breeding. The second part of this thesis is centered round social relation: notability, poverty, marginality and integration of the Cantal into the French nation.