Charente-Maritime

Charente-Maritime (French pronunciation: ​[ʃa.ʁɑ̃t ma.ʁi.tim]) is a department on the southwestern coast of France named after the Charente River.

History

Previously a part of Saintonge and Aunis, Charente-Inférieure was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. On 4 September 1941, it was renamed Charente-Maritime.

When first created, the commune of Saintes was assigned as the prefecture of the department (Saintes had previously been the capital of Saintonge). This changed in 1810 when Napoléon passed an imperial decree which moved the prefecture to La Rochelle.

During World War II, the department was invaded by the German army and became part of occupied France. To provide defence against a possible beach landing, the Organisation Todt constructed a number of sea defences in the area. Defences such as pillboxes are particularly noticeable on the beaches of the presqu'île d'Arvert and the island of Oléron.

At the end of the war there were only two pockets of German resistance: La Rochelle, in the north and Royan in the south. Despite being almost completely destroyed during an RAF bombing raid on 5 January 1945, the town of Royan wasn't liberated by the French resistance until April of the same year. La Rochelle was finally captured on 9 May 1945.