Chapter 12 IntroductionHochelaga 1500-1642Ville-Marie 1642-1665French Empire 1699-1763Small French Town 1665-1760Conquered City 1760-1800British Commercial Takeover 1800-1850Industrial City 1850-1896Canada's Metropolis 1896-1914North-American City 1914-1929Depression and War 1930-1945Modern City 1945-1960Québec's Metropolis 1960-1992ConclusionQuizEducational Resources

Re-structuring the economy

Urban sprawl

A new francophone conquest

A cultural revival

The modernization of the political scene

   
Chapter 12 / QUEBEC'S METROPOLIS / A new francophone conquest  Previous pageNext page
A new francophone conquest  

A renewed Québec nationalism challenged the English-Canadian minority's hold on many aspects of life. The strongest English-speaking presence in Québec could be found in the Montréal urban area, and Montréal was at the heart of the 1970 October Crisis. The hundreds of arrests made under the War Measures Act were intended to break the backs, not only of the nationalist movement, but of leftist groups as well. Yet the strategy failed and Montréal remained fertile ground for social and political change. French speaking Montrealers were key contributers to the Parti québecois' rise to power in 1976.

Montréal was also a focal point for the linguistic battle that led to the adoption by successive Québec governments of a series of language laws that gradually reinforced the status of the French language in Québec. Furthermore, a new, French-speaking business elite took shape, eventually attaining a prominent place in Montréal's economy.

Parallel to this new francophone conquest, women struggled for equality and independence. This phenomenon was most widespread in Montréal, where the strongest activist groups could be found.

A result of the Quiet Revolution throughout Québec and in Montréal, one of the most striking aspects of this period of upheaval was the re-definition of the Church's role in society and the loosening of the clergy's grip on the population.


 

General De Gaulle

General De Gaulle
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