If we think about the French economy after the Second World War words such as slow, shambles and weakened spring to mind. By the 1960's it was one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Many contemporaries saw this as a remarkable transformation. However many contemporaries saw France in a different light especially if we consider the ruins France was in during 1945,invasion and non investment were common factors, this was a demoralised and humiliated nation. This time contemporaries suggest few statistics could reflect the condition of France at this time. After the second world war if the French economy was to re emerge and hope for a new dawn then change was in order and this meant out with the old and in with the new.
If we take an overview of France's experience of the war itself we can see that French defences against German military attack failed ,Germany defeated France in six week campaign in 1940.The occupying army entered Paris on the 14th of June. Germany had a stronghold on France by occupying the north and the west of France including Paris .The economic renaissance for France meant painful reconstruction especially if we consider factors after 1940 such as the German army overexploiting the mines of the Nord and Pas de Calais, before flooding them when forced to retreat out of France. Transport infrastructure was also in a mess due to retreating Germans, advancing Allies and the French Resistance. Industrial output and Agricultural production were also at a low.
As one Parisian stated "It was a ravaged France that left it's prison. 115 major railroad stations had been destroyed .we had 12000 locomotives ;2800 of them remained. From Paris to Lyon, Marseilles, Toulouse, Nantes, Lille and Nancy, there were no more trains. Canals, riverways and ports were unusable. Electric lines were cut. 3000 ports had been blown up. Of every ten motor vehicles 9 could no longer run and the 10th was out of fuel.
