“During this period, in addition to being good, the land is available in France,” explains the researcher. Between 1850 and 1880, it was a real population movement that started. In the nineteenthe A century, the industrial boom in Franche-Comté was accompanied by an increasing need for skilled labor. The large factories of Peugeot, in Valentigney, Audincourt or Beaulieu, and Japy in Beaucourt, are experiencing rapid expansion and draws massively from the pool of Swiss border workers.
The civil status registers and the censuses bear witness to this: in the Doubs, the Swiss community went from 5,000 inhabitants in 1851 to more than 12,000 in 1881. In certain border municipalities, they then represent up to 20% of the population. They are found in the fields, in workshops, fairs … and soon in parish registers, by mixed weddings. This cross-border back and forth will no longer stop, shaping a common identity where we share the trades, accents … and sometimes even the surnames.
Help each other between neighbors
If at that time, the Swiss left their land for the neighboring country, it was above all to improve their quality of life by finding a decent job. However, according to Stéphane Kronenberger, the idea of ”coming to help his neighbor” is also very present in the spirit of the Helvetians. “The economic situation was very different. At the time, the salary differential between the two countries was not the same as today,” said the historian.
On the Franc-Comtois side, the Swiss migration is generally welcomed, facilitated by an economic context which promotes its assimilation and takes place in good conditions. “Until 1950, migration posed no problem,” said René Vermot-Desroches, member of the Montbéliardian section of the Franche-Comté genealogical center (CEGFC).
From this post-conflict period, the Swiss emigration slows down, without however interrupting. “The industry has stabilized the populations. Prosperity has settled in Switzerland, but some continued to leave,” continues the genealogist.
From generation to generation, this Franco-Swiss brewing has left much more than figures in the registers: it has shaped a common heritage, living on both sides of the Doubs.