Causse du Larzac
The Causse du Larzac is a limestone plateau in southern France .
geography
The plateau is the southernmost cause of the Massif Central , it lies at an altitude between 650 and 1200 meters above sea level. The Causse du Larzac is part of the Aveyron and Hérault departments .
In the north it is bounded by the Tarn Gorge, which is almost 500 meters deep , and in the east by the gorges of the Dourbie , the Cevennes and the Mont Aigoual . To the west is the Dourdou de Camarès river . The A75 motorway from Paris to Barcelona runs on the section from Millau to Béziers through the middle of the Causse du Larzac.
history
In the early 1970s, the French government planned to expand the military training area on the Larzac , which had existed since 1903, from around 30 to 170 km². The farmers living on the Larzac should sell their lands to the government at ridiculous prices, otherwise they would be expropriated. There was resistance to these plans: the peasants decided to offer unconditional non-violent resistance; they were supported by the majority of the population.
Only the residents of the village of La Cavalerie were in favor of the expansion plans, as the military maintains barracks there and this guarantees the residents a certain level of prosperity. It was only after it became known that the land was to be made available for foreign military also that the inhabitants of this village also supported the struggle of the farmers on the Larzac.
In the course of their struggle, the farmers received support from all over the world; meetings with up to 100,000 participants took place at Larzac. Two of the most famous resistance activists are Alain Desjardin and José Bové . The struggle lasted 10 years: it was not until François Mitterrand was elected president in 1981 that plans to expand the military site were abandoned. One of the supporters was also the singer and folk song translator Graeme Allwright , who is very well known in France .
Attractions
Several historical villages of the Order of Malta and the Knights Templar such as La Couvertoirade , the Dolmen de la Prunarède , de Ferrussac-Esquirol or de la Fabière are located on the plateau.
Literature and radio
- Wolfgang Hertle: Larzac 1971–1981. The non-violent struggle against a military training area in the south of France. Weber-Zucht Verlag, Kassel, 1982
- Pierre-Marie Terral: Larzac. De la lutte paysanne à l'altermondialisme. Editions Privat, Toulouse, 2011
- dradio.de, Das Feature / Ortserkundungen , August 21, 2012, Ruth Jung: Larzac - 40 Years of Resistance or: From Shepherds and Sheep (August 21, 2012; manuscript: dradio.de )
Web links
- Causse du Larzac
- Causse du Larzac
- The Dolmen de la Cavalerie
- 360 ° panoramas from the Causse du Larzac
Coordinates: 44 ° 0 ′ 34.8 " N , 3 ° 7 ′ 53.4" E