La population de la France pendant la guerre

A study of the population is naturally a chapter of the economic and social history of war. This study focuses on facts and not on doctrines. Its main objective is to group and coordinate all the writings which allow us to follow the movements of the population during the war and to put into evidence the profound traces that the events of these years of hardship left in the structure of this population and in the current trends of its evolution. In other words, extensive use should be made of the methods of demographic statistics, of the records of the civil state and of migratory movements, of censuses, etc. Despite their shortcomings and imperfections, the statistics relative to the population are significant enough to support a methodical account of the demographic repercussions of war. [translated from preface]