page_title: Paris between the Wars (1919–1939)
section_title: The Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Paris between the Wars (1919–1939) / The Economy
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: La tour Eiffel en 1925 avec la publicité lumineuse imaginée par André Citroën, étalant en hauteur son nom en lettres géantes. English: The Eiffel Tower in 1925, with the illuminated publicity sign, imagined by André Citroën, spreading his name vertically in enormous letters.
context_page_description: After the First World War ended in November 1918, to jubilation and profound relief in Paris, unemployment surged, prices soared, and rationing continued. Parisian households were limited to 300 grams of bread per day, and meat only four days a week. A general strike paralyzed the city in July 1919. The Thiers wall, 19th-century fortifications surrounding the city, were demolished in the 1920s and replaced by tens of thousands of low-cost, seven-story public housing units, filled by low-income blue-collar workers. Paris struggled to regain its old prosperity and gaiety.
  The French economy boomed from 1921 until the Great Depression reached Paris in 1931. This period, called Les années folles or the "Crazy Years", saw Paris reestablished as a capital of art, music, literature and cinema. The artistic ferment and low prices attracted writers and artists from around the world, including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, and Josephine Baker.
  Paris hosted the 1924 Olympic Games, major international expositions in 1925 and 1937, and the Colonial Exposition of 1931, all of which left a mark on Paris architecture and culture.
context_section_description: As a result of the war, the French government was deeply in debt; the debt had multiplied six times from what it was before the War. Inflation was rampant; the amount of money in circulation had increased by five times during the War.  The low value of the Franc against the dollar made the city attractive for foreign visitors such as Ernest Hemingway, who found prices for housing and food affordable, but it was difficult for the Parisians.  Energy was in short supply;  before leaving their front lines, the Germans had flooded the coal mines of northern France;  coal production was not fully restored for five years. A large part of the government budget went to repaying the war debts, and another large part went to paying the pensions of widows, orphans, and wounded soldiers.
caption: Advertising sign for Citroën cars on the Eiffel Tower (1925-1934)
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