Editing Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques (section)

==== 20th century ====
At the beginning of the 20th century, Pau was still a resort town where European nobility spent the winter. Good English, American, Russian, Spanish or Prussian society met in the Béarnaise city. Many public amenities were from this period, including the [[Funiculaire de Pau|Pau Funicular]] to connect the station to the upper town. Next to these public amenities, wealthy foreign visitors were building villas to improve the conditions of their stay. First built in the centre of town, these residences spread out more and more to enjoy the great outdoors and views of the Pyrenees.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} Between 1850 and 1910, many residences were thus built and still evoke the splendour of this period, today. This golden period of climate tourism in Pau stopped abruptly at the outbreak of [[World War I]].

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Pau in the early 20th century">
File:Pau1900-2.jpg|Pau at the dawn of 20th century
File:LL 128 - PAU - La Montée de la Gare.jpg|A tramcar of the [[Tramway de Pau]] on the ''Montée de la Gare'', at the start of the 20th century
File:DT s%C3%A9rie 2 n%C2%B023 - PAU - Rue Nouvelle Halle.jpg|Rue de la Halle-Neuve, in 1904
File:CC 88 - PAU - Le Pont de Juricon et le Chateau.jpg|A general view, around 1910
</gallery>

The first balloon flights took place in Pau in 1844 and the first flights by [[airplane|plane]], from 1909, the year in which the [[Wright brothers]] transferred to Pau (on the moor of Pont-Long, in commune of Lescar). They had originally initiated a first aviation school at [[Le Mans]] (Sarthe Department), formed of three student pilots, who they were committed to train in France. Pau alone hosted seven global aircraft manufacturers until 1914 and became the world capital of aviation. The military aviation school, which trained the [[flying ace]]s of [[World War I]], then the fighter school of France, settled there. French aviators Thénault, Simon, [[Paul Codos]], [[Georges Bellenger (aviator)|Georges Bellenger Bellenger]], [[Roland Garros (aviator)|Garros]], [[Charles Nungesser|Nungesser]], [[Georges Guynemer|Guynemer]], and the [[Béarn]]ais aviators Artigau and Mace, among many others, and finally the American aviators [[Gervais Raoul Lufbery|Lufbery]], Thaw, Chapman, Prince and the McConnell brothers, were among those who flew there.

Pau hosted the [[18th régiment d'infanterie]], [[1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment|1st]] and [[18th Parachute Chasseur Regimen]] (parachute regiment) who were stationed in the town. All participated in the various conflicts of the 20th century. The 18th RCP was dissolved in 1961, due to having contributed to the [[Algiers putsch of 1961|putsch of the generals of Algiers]]. It had previously participated in the [[May 1958 crisis]] which had ended the [[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]]. The 1st RCP remained in barracks in 1983 in [[Idron]] camp when one of its elements was struck in Beirut by the [[1983 Beirut barracks bombing|attack of the Drakkar building]], which had 58 victims among its troops.

During [[World War II]], the Continental Hotel collected many refugees, including Jews hounded by Vichy and the Nazis, even when the soldiers of the [[Wehrmacht]] requisitioned two floors of the hotel.<ref>Jean Touyarot, L'Hôtel des ombres, Seuil, 2011, 220 p.</ref>

From 1947, during the four mandates of Mayor [[Louis Sallenave]], the town of Pau experienced strong growth. In 1957, exploitation of the [[Lacq gas field]], discovered in 1951, gave new momentum to the region with the industrial development of Béarn and the Lacq area ([[Elf Aquitaine|SNPA]], [[Électricité de France|EDF]], [[Pechiney]] and [[Rhône-Poulenc]] being the most important employers),{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} the population of the town doubled in 20 years. Major infrastructure projects were carried out, such as the construction of several schools representing more than 100 classes, creation of the Pau-Uzein airport in 1955 (now the [[Pau Pyrénées Airport]]) to modernise the old Pau-Pont-Long airfield (in the commune of Lescar), creation of social housing (all of the ''Ousse des Bois'' in 1961, and Dufau Terrace from 1962), creation of the exhibition centre, the [[University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour]] and construction of a second bridge over the River Gave in Jurançon. A vast town planning scheme allowed the extension of the commune to the north through the ''coulée verte'' [green corridor]. The configuration of the city shortly moved from the end of the 1960s. The fame and prestige of the city increased thanks to the conference of the Indochinese States from June to November 1950,<ref>Voir l'explication des aboutissants de la conférence dans Hugues Tertrais, la piastre et le fusil. Le coût de la guerre d'Indochine, 1945–1954. Paris : ministère de l'Économie, des Finances et de l'Industrie, Comité pour l'histoire économique et financière de la France, 2002, p. 95-102</ref> visits of Heads of State such as president [[Charles de Gaulle]] in February 1959 and the first Secretary of the [[Soviet Union]], [[Nikita Khrushchev]], travelling in Lacq in 1960.

[[André Labarrère]], mayor from 1971 to 2006, worked towards a first step of the beautification of the city. Within its recent mandates, on the outskirts, the university was expanding and the Pau-Pyrénées was one of the first in France to develop a [[Optical fiber|fibre-optic]] network, infrastructure offering a very high-speed internet access both to individuals and companies. New facilities were created, including sports, such as the [[Zénith de Pau]]}, the [[Palais des Sports de Pau|Palais des Sports]], the [[Fronton (court)|Jaï Alaï]], and the [[artificial whitewater]] arena. The city acquired an important centre of health. The racecourse and the airport (depending on CCI) were renovated. The centre of town also saw significant upheavals with the rehabilitation of the [[Palais Beaumont]] and the construction of a new private commercial centre named ''Centre Bosquet''. Pau finally embarked on the pedestrianisation of its centre with the reconfiguration of its bus network, the renovation of the [[Place Clemenceau (Pau)|Place Clemenceau]], the central square of Pau, and the modernisation of the ''Palais des Pyrénées'', a shopping centre in the city centre, near to the ''Place Clemenceau''. New underground parking compensated for the removal of 400 parking spaces on the surface; also two underground car parks gained redesigned access.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} Finally, a media library was created in 2012 in the Les Halles quarter.