Rhône-et-Loire

Rhône-et-Loire was a former department of France created during the administrative reorganization of the country in the early French Revolution. Established on 4 March 1790, it brought together the territory around Lyon and the adjoining areas associated with the Rhône and Loire river basins. Lyon served as its prefecture and administrative capital. The department took its name from the two major rivers that crossed or bordered its territory. The department existed during a period of intense political and military uncertainty. Lyon was one of the largest and most economically important cities in revolutionary France, and the surrounding territory formed a substantial economic and potentially strategic hinterland. In 1793, opposition to the revolutionary government intensified in Lyon and developed into a counterrevolutionary revolt. The authorities responded by dismantling the department, judging that dividing the region would reduce Lyon's territorial influence and make the area easier to control. On 12 August 1793, Rhône-et-Loire was split into two new departments: Rhône, retaining Lyon as its prefecture, and Loire. The Loire department initially had its prefecture at Feurs, later moved to Montbrison and eventually to Saint-Étienne, which remains its capital. The division was therefore both an administrative reorganization and a political response to the Lyon revolt. Rhône-et-Loire no longer exists as a legal administrative unit. Its successor departments have changed over time, particularly through later territorial adjustments affecting Rhône. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Rhône department incorporated areas from neighboring departments. Consequently, the modern Rhône and Loire departments together cover a territory larger than the former Rhône-et-Loire. A reconstruction using the boundaries of the two modern departments at the 1999 census would have produced a combined population of approximately 1.8 million, compared with the separate populations recorded for Rhône and Loire at that time. This comparison is retrospective and does not represent a census of the historical department itself.

Rhône-et-Loire was created on 4 March 1790 as part of the nationwide departmental reorganization carried out during the French Revolution. The new departmental system replaced much of the irregularity of the former provincial and administrative arrangements with territorial units intended to be more uniform and easier for the central government to administer. Rhône-et-Loire was centered on Lyon, which became its prefecture, and incorporated the surrounding territory associated with the Rhône and Loire river systems. The department's name reflected its principal geographic features. The Rhône was the major river associated with Lyon and the eastern portion of the territory, while the Loire connected the western part of the department to the interior of France. This arrangement gave the department an important economic and geographic relationship with Lyon, whose commercial, industrial, and communications role extended well beyond the city itself. The political environment changed sharply in 1793. Lyon became a center of resistance to the revolutionary government, and counterrevolutionary activity in the city and region raised concerns in Paris about the concentration of population, wealth, and strategic depth within a single department. Rhône-et-Loire provided Lyon with a broad surrounding hinterland that could support the city economically and, in a conflict, potentially increase its military and political leverage. The government therefore decided to divide the department. On 12 August 1793, Rhône-et-Loire was abolished and replaced by two departments. The eastern section became Rhône, with Lyon continuing as its prefecture. The western section became Loire. Loire's prefecture was first established at Feurs, subsequently transferred to Montbrison, and ultimately moved to Saint-Étienne, which is the department's present capital. The reorganization reduced the territorial scope of Lyon's administrative unit and was intended in part to protect the revolutionary government from the influence of the Lyon revolt. The former department has no present-day administrative existence. Its successor departments experienced further boundary changes during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In particular, Rhône was enlarged on several occasions through the incorporation of territory from neighboring departments. As a result, the combined modern area of Rhône and Loire is greater than the area formerly comprising Rhône-et-Loire. Population comparisons must be treated as hypothetical because Rhône-et-Loire was abolished long before modern censuses. Applying the 1999 populations of the modern Rhône and Loire departments would yield a combined total of about 1,799,812 inhabitants. The individual 1999 populations cited for Rhône and Loire were approximately 1,578,869 and 728,524 respectively. These figures describe later administrative units and are useful only for illustrating the scale of the historical territory; they do not measure the population of Rhône-et-Loire under its original boundaries.

• 1999

  Retrospective population comparison

  [1]Rhône-et-Loireen.wikipedia.org

  Using the 1999 populations of the modern Rhône and Loire departments, the former territory would represent a combined population of approximately 1,799,812 inhabitants; this is a retrospective comparison rather than a census of Rhône-et-Loire.

• 1793

  Division into Rhône and Loire

  [1]Rhône-et-Loireen.wikipedia.org

  On 12 August 1793, the department was abolished and divided into Rhône and Loire in response to counterrevolutionary activity centered on Lyon.

• 1790

  Creation of Rhône-et-Loire

  [1]Rhône-et-Loireen.wikipedia.org

  Rhône-et-Loire was established on 4 March 1790 during the French Revolution's creation of the departmental system. Lyon was designated the prefecture.

Historical French administrative department rather than a commercial brand.

• 1793

  Administrative division of Rhône-et-LoireStrategy

  Background

  Lyon's counterrevolutionary revolt raised concerns that the city's population, economic resources, and surrounding hinterland gave it excessive political and potentially military influence.

  Action taken

  The revolutionary government abolished Rhône-et-Loire on 12 August 1793 and created the separate departments of Rhône and Loire.

  Aftermath

  Lyon remained the prefecture of Rhône, while Loire's prefecture moved from Feurs to Montbrison and later to Saint-Étienne. The original department ceased to exist.

  Source

1. 1Rhône-et-Loireen.wikipedia.org