How did people live straight after the war in an area that had been "flattened out", as Roland Dorgelès said when he saw the extent of the damage on the front line ?
After the refugees had got over the sxhock of seeing their country in ruins, they settled into temporary arrangements. They had to reinforce buildings, retrieve materials, file for damages.
Before Reconstruction actually started, people come back, variably according to villages. But some of them decided to leave the area for good when they could no longer see any future there.
The restoration of the social fabric was under way. Former and new notables mingled with the rest of population in places like town halls or local cafés.