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The 1857–1858 drought in Alsace: from water shortage to a socio-political extreme event

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Abstract

Few studies address past droughts by combining different geographical and temporal scales, and a contextualization of social and environmental conditions. This paper proposes a study of the 1857–1858 dry spell in eastern France (Alsace), its natural (climatological and hydrological) as well as socio-political consequences. This episode is one of the major droughts that affected the north of France in the nineteenth century, as much by its duration as by its intensity. Here, we do not only consider the drought as a natural hazard producing physical damage (lack of water, weakening of river discharge) or social tensions (competition for the water, conflicts), but we place it in the particular context of the basins it affects, in order to better evaluate its natural and social intensity. First, we highlight the importance of the 1857–1858 drought from the regional to the Alsatian scale, by unravelling the spatial and temporal distribution of precipitations, based on available instrumental measurements. Depending on the stations, the rainfall deficit established between 10 and 40% of the average rainfall amount in 1857 or 1858. Suitable, narrative sources from municipal, departmental and national archives allow us to specify the position of water stakeholders and to analyse the discourses as well as their social and political reactions. Comparing natural and social data, it appears that rivalries for water resource did not necessarily match the meteorological rhythm of the dry spell. The severity of the drought varies depending on economic needs. Three periods seem very demanding for water consumers: August–September 1857, February 1858, and August–October 1858. The structural responses appear to be linked to the economic context, both at a local and national scale. Finally, our approach shows that drought partly is a socially constructed phenomenon, and one to consider carefully, when it comes to both contemporary and past events. Hence, to better understand drought episodes, we need to disentangle the socio-natural interactions at the local level.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the University of Strasbourg and its IDEX program for contributing to a postdoctoral contract. We also thank the municipal archives of Munster, Ribeauvillé and Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, whose collaborators were very enthusiastic and helpful to our study. We are also grateful to the two anonymous reviewers who provided constructive remarks to improve the quality of our manuscript, and to Shawn Witkowski for the revision of the English text.

Archival sources with mentions of droughts in Alsace

Archives nationales: F146380

Archives départementales du Haut-Rhin: 7S288, 7S314

Archives départementales du Bas-Rhin: 3M122, 3M123

Archives municipales de Colmar: 302

Archives municipales de Munster: OIII229b

Archives municipales de Ribeauvillé: F52

Archives municipales de Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines

Archives municipales d’Erstein: OIII03b

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  1. University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Alexis Metzger

  2. Université Lyon 2 — UMR 5133 Archéorient (CNRS), Lyon, France

    Nicolas Jacob-Rousseau

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Metzger, A., Jacob-Rousseau, N. The 1857–1858 drought in Alsace: from water shortage to a socio-political extreme event. Reg Environ Change 20, 48 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-020-01632-7

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