On the 9th of June
1943,
Marie-Louis Giraud, mother of two, is found guilty of attacking the unity of the Country, the State and the people of France.
For that, she will be guillotined on the 30th of July on that same year. Her crimes?
Performing abortions.
To better understand how this happened, some historical context is needed.
Following WW1, France was devastated. Its towns and economy were in shambles and the once fertile land
surrounding the Western Front were now poisoned by unexploded shell, gas and heavy metals - even to this day.
Mostly, the war had devastated its male population with 1.4 million soldiers killed and
4.3 million wounded -
many severely. By far the worst affected were young men with a 36 percent chance of dying. As a result,
by 1918, France's population had decreased by up to 3 million and there was now
1.4 women for every man, which is the only reason why my ancestors ever got laid.
So yeah,
its population wasn't doing great and have been doing poorly for the last century now. While England and Germany's populations grew by around
55 percent between
1871 and 1911, France's only grew by 8%. Far from its current libertine image,
its sex life was closer to midlife couple on a Tuesday evening.
By 1911,
Germany had over 23 million more people than France.
This gap was so severe that Ferdinand Foch joked that
the only way to permanently improve the relationships between the two countries was to castrate 20 million Germans.
And since my ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend is German,
I fervently approve. This lack of fertility would have a major impact in French history -
it contributed to military decline towards the end of the 19th century,
the inability to mobilize for WW2 and the failure to allow women's suffrage in France as it seemed to reduce fertility
rates in the countries that adopted it.
In 1896, following four years where deaths surpassed births, the Alliance for the growth of the French population was created.
By 1920, the group grew to 40,000 members as abortion was criminalized. In 1923, a fine of up to
10,000 (French) Francs,
almost half the annual salary of a factory worker, and up to five years in prison was given to whomever induced
miscarriage while the woman herself faced up to two years in prison.
Following Nazi occupation in 1940, the situation only worsened.
Poverty, food shortages and the separation of many married couples as
1.9 million young Frenchmen are deported to Germany, including my grandfather,
drastically increases the demand for "Faiseuse D'Anges", women who perform illegal
abortions such as Marie-Louis Giraud, who would do up to 27 of these procedures.
However, Vichy France, headed by Maréchal (Pétain), grows much more conservative. It massively promotes family ideals by
encouraging women to literally get back to the kitchen and dissuades the use of contraception.
Finally on the 15th of (February) 1942,
Abortion is made a crime against the safety of the State. Like a religious wet dream, this basically equates abortion to treason,
making it liable to the death penalty.
Despite 4,000 men and women charged with such crimes between 1942 and 44,
Giraud would be one of the only two executed for it. The other being a man -
Désiré Pioge. Their names will be largely forgetting from history,
Overshadowed by the many horrors of this war. I hope you enjoyed this short video.
If you did, please consider leaving a like, sharing and subscribing.
This was Barris, I will see you next week, but until then,
Merde!