Editing Toulouse (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Toulouse|Timeline of Toulouse}}
[[File:Enceinte_gallo-romaine_-_Toulouse_-_PA00094679.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The remains of the Roman wall in Toulouse illustrate the early use of brick and stone in construction.]]
[[File:Liénard de Lachieze Missel romain copié en 1492 - Martyre de saint Saturnin de Toulouse - Détail.jpg|thumb|The martyrdom of Saint Saturnin]]
[[File:Reino de los visigodos-en.svg|thumb|In the 5th century, Toulouse was the capital of a vast [[Visigothic Kingdom#Kingdom of Toulouse|Visigothic Kingdom]] that stretched from [[Loire Valley|the Loire]] to [[Gibraltar]].]]

===Early history===
The Garonne Valley was a central point for trade between the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic since at least the [[European Iron Age|Iron Age]]. The historical name of the city, ''Tolosa'' (Τολῶσσα in [[Greek language|Greek]], and of its inhabitants, the ''Tolosates'', first recorded in the 2nd century BC), is of unknown meaning or origin, possibly from [[Aquitanian language|Aquitanian]] or [[Iberian language|Iberian]],<ref>[[Albert Dauzat]] et [[Charles Rostaing]], ''Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de lieux en France'', 2nd ed., Librairie Guénégaud 1978.</ref> but it has also been connected to the name of the [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] [[Volcae Tectosages]],<ref>''Le Nom de Toulouse'' de Pierre Moret, 1996, Université Toulouse le Mirail – Toulouse II, p. 11; ''Histoire de Toulouse'', 1974, p. 11.</ref> or to the [[wikt:Toulouse|same root]] as Irish ''[https://www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk/sengoidelc/duil-belrai/lorg.php?facal=tulach&tairg=Old-Irish+headword&seorsa=Gaidhlig tulach]'' or Welsh ''[https://glosbe.com/cy/en/twlch twlch]'', (little hill).

====Toulouse refounded by the Romans on the banks of the Garonne====
Tolosa enters the historical period in the 2nd century BC, when it became a [[Roman Republic|Roman]] military outpost. After the conquest of [[Roman Gaul|Gaul]], it was developed as a Roman city in [[Gallia Narbonensis]]. Under the reign of Emperor [[Augustus]] and thanks to the [[Pax Romana]], the Romans moved the city a few kilometres from the hills where it was an ''[[oppidum]]'' to the banks of the Garonne, which were more suitable for trade.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019">Collective work directed by Jean-Marc Olivier and Rémy Pech: "''Histoire de Toulouse et de la métropole''". Éditions Privat, 2019.</ref>

In the second half of the 1st century, the emperor [[Domitian]] distinguished Toulouse by placing it under the patronage of the goddess [[Athena|Pallas Athena]], so that the Latin poets [[Martial]], [[Ausonius]] and [[Sidonius Apollinaris]] called the city ''Palladia Tolosa'' (Palladian Toulouse), a term that was still used in the Renaissance and even today when the city is presented as propitious to the arts and letters.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

Around the year 250, Toulouse was marked by the martyrdom of [[Saturnin]], the first bishop of Toulouse. This episode illustrates the difficult beginnings of Christianity in Roman Gaul.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

====Capital of the Visigothic kingdom====
In the 5th century, Toulouse fell to the [[Visigothic kingdom]] and became one of its major cities, even serving as its [[Visigothic Kingdom#Kingdom of Toulouse|capital]], before it fell to the [[Francia|Franks]] under [[Clovis I|Clovis]] in 507 during the [[Battle of Vouillé]].<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/> From that time, Toulouse was the capital of [[Duchy of Aquitaine|Aquitaine]] within the Frankish realm.<ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mAgDwx4pS0QC&pg=PA59| title=The Capetians: Kings of France 987-1328| page=59| isbn=9780826435149| last1=Bradbury| first1=Jim| date=27 February 2007| publisher=Bloomsbury}}</ref>

====Under Frankish rule====
In 721, [[Odo the Great|Duke Odo]] of [[Aquitaine]] defeated an invading [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] [[Muslim]] army at the [[Battle of Toulouse (721)|Battle of Toulouse]]. Many Arab chroniclers consider that Odo's victory was the real stop to Muslim expansion into [[Christendom|Christian Europe]], incursions of the following years being simple raids without real will of conquest (including the one that ended with [[Charles Martel]]'s victory at the [[Battle of Tours]], also called the Battle of Poitiers).<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k415420b/f39. |title=Recueil de l'Académie des jeux floraux |year=1842}}</ref>

The Frankish conquest of [[Septimania]] followed in the 750s, and a quasi-independent [[County of Toulouse]] emerged within the Carolingian sub-kingdom of Aquitaine by the late 8th century. The [[Battle of Toulouse (844)|Battle of Toulouse of 844]], pitting [[Charles the Bald]] against [[Pepin II of Aquitaine]], was key in the [[Carolingian Civil War]].<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

===County of Toulouse===
{{further|County of Toulouse}}
[[File:Raymond IV of Toulouse.jpg|thumb|[[Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse]] was a leader of the [[First Crusade]].]]
[[File:La_chambre_de_Saint_Dominique_(maison_Seilhan)_-_panoramio.jpg|thumb|St Dominic's room at ''Maison Seilhan'' is considered the birthplace of the [[Dominican Order]].]]
[[File:Couvent des Jacobins de Toulouse - Autel de St Thomas d'Aquin.jpg|thumb|Burial of [[Thomas Aquinas|Saint Thomas Aquinas]] in the [[church of the Jacobins]] in Toulouse]]
[[File:Détail_Annales_1413.jpg|thumb|Over nearly 5 centuries the [[capitoul]]s (the municipal consuls) held an exceptional collection of their portraits in the [[Handwritten Annals of the City of Toulouse|municipal annals]].]]
[[File:Salle des illustres 12.JPG|thumb|Painting representing the first session of the poetry contest of the ''[[Consistori del Gay Saber]]'' (later known as the Academy of the Floral Games), the oldest literary society in Europe]]
[[File:Parliaments and Sovereign Councils of the Kingdom of France in 1789 (fr).png|thumb|upright=1.15|The [[Parlement of Toulouse]] was the second most important and oldest in the kingdom after that of Paris, making Toulouse the judicial capital of a large part of southern France.]]
[[File:Pastel pigment cocagnes et feuilles - Muséum du pastel.jpg|thumb|The woad trade, which was the only source of blue dye at the time in Europe, made the fortune of the merchants of Toulouse during the Renaissance.]]
[[File:1650 - Toulouse, ville capitale du Languedoc, archevesché, parlement et université.jpg|thumb|1650 - Toulouse, capital of [[Languedoc]]]]
[[File:Capitole Toulouse - Salle des Illustres.jpg|thumb|The vast Hall of the Illustrious (''Salle des Illustres'') in the [[Capitole de Toulouse|Capitole]] presents numerous paintings and sculptures illustrating the history of Toulouse.]]

Charlemagne had created the county of Toulouse in 778 to guard the border of Muslim Spain, but the disintegration of the kingdom of Aquitaine and the weakness of royal power in the following centuries led to the ''de facto'' independence of the county of Toulouse and many provinces.

In the 11th and 12th centuries, southern France was still steeped in Latin culture. Unlike the north of France, justice followed written Roman law and the nobles were highly educated. This was the time of the [[troubadours]] who wrote their poetry in [[Occitania|Occitan]] (called "Provençal" at the time), then one of the most sophisticated languages in Europe. Like the other great lords of the [[Southern France|Midi]], the counts of Toulouse maintained and favoured these poets, this is how Count [[Raymond V, Count of Toulouse|Raymond V]] employed for some time the famous [[Bernart de Ventadorn|Bernard de Ventadour]], expert in singing [[courtly love]].<ref name="Guide_Michelin">''Pyrénées Toulouse Gers'', Le Guide Vert Michelin, 2016.</ref>

In 1096, [[Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse]], left with his army at the call of the [[Pope Urban II]] to join the [[First Crusade]], of which he was one of the main leaders.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Jotischky|first=Andrew|title=Crusading and the Crusader States|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|year=2004|isbn=978-0-582-41851-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rTUlDwAAQBAJ}}</ref> This exodus of its warriors and nobles, reinforced by the creation of the faraway [[County of Tripoli]] by Raymond IV at the beginning of the 12th century, weakened the city militarily as well as the ascendancy that its counts had over it. The Duke [[William IX of Aquitaine]] challenged the possession of the city on the grounds that it should have been inherited by his wife [[Philippa, Countess of Toulouse|Philippa]] (daughter of the [[William IV, Count of Toulouse|previous count of Toulouse]], whereas Raymond IV was only his brother). More than 50 years later his granddaughter [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]] still claimed the inheritance in vain.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

In the 12th century the city left its Roman limits and a new district developed around the [[Basilica of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse|church of Saint-Sernin]]: the ''Bourg''. The church of Saint-Sernin was famous and revered for its many relics, and the chapter of its canons, which had possessions as far away as Spain, was powerful enough to free itself from the control of the bishop of Toulouse. This dissent had important local political repercussions, making the ''Bourg'' in practice a separate district from the city. In 1152, the notables of Toulouse took advantage of a weakening of the county power to obtain for their city a great autonomy, they created a municipal body of consuls, called [[capitoul]]s in Toulouse, to lead the city. The ''Bourg'', which had only a quarter of the inhabitants of Toulouse, obtained as many capitouls as the rest of the city.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/> Economically, Toulouse, which was at the center of a large cereal-growing plain, was distinguished by its numerous mills that took advantage of the force of the Garonne, among which the [[Bazacle Milling Company]] was the first recorded European joint-stock company.

==== The fight against Catharism and its various aspects ====
At the beginning of the thirteenth century the County of Toulouse was caught up in [[Albigensian Crusade|another crusade]] that would last twenty years (1209-1229), of which it was the target this time. The reason for this was the development of [[Catharism]] in the south of France, which the [[Pope Innocent III]] wanted to eradicate by all possible means.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

After an initial victory of the crusaders led by [[Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]] who defeated the combined forces of Count [[Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse|Raymond VI of Toulouse]] and King [[Peter II of Aragon]] at the [[Battle of Muret]], the following years saw the fate of the county of Toulouse swing alternately in favour of one party or the other. Finally, a late intervention by King [[Louis VIII of France]] in 1226 tipped the balance in favour of the crusaders, resulting in the submission of Count [[Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse|Raymond VII]] to the French Crown and the end of the independence of the County of Toulouse.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

But beyond the military crusade, this struggle took on several important aspects for the city of Toulouse:
* The [[Dominican Order]] was founded in Toulouse by [[Saint Dominic]] in 1215. Spanish priest Dominic de Guzmán wanted to convert the Cathars to Catholicism peacefully, by preaching and by living a poor and exemplary life. After years of criss-crossing the [[Lauraguais]] countryside between Carcassonne and Toulouse, he changed his method and decided to preach in town. In 1215 he settled in Toulouse and founded a [[mendicant order]] which, within a few decades, would cover Europe with hundreds of convents: The Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>
* Under the impulse of the bishop of Toulouse, [[Folquet de Marselha|Foulques]], an original and austere architectural style was born in Toulouse, designed to break with the display of luxury of the Catholic church which drove the faithful towards the Cathars: the [[Southern French Gothic]].<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>
* In the [[Treaty of Paris (1229)|Treaty of Paris of 1229]], Toulouse formally submitted to the crown of France. The county's sole heiress [[Joan, Countess of Toulouse|Joan]] was engaged to [[Alphonse, Count of Poitiers]], a younger brother of [[Louis IX of France]]. The marriage became legal in 1241, but it remained childless and so after Joan's death, the county fell to the [[Crown of France]] by inheritance.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>
* Another consequence of the Treaty of Paris was the creation of the [[University of Toulouse]], established on the [[University of Paris|Parisian model]], strongly sponsored by the pope and intended as a means to dissolve the heretic movement.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/><ref>{{cite book |last1= Blackburn|first1= William Maxwell|date= 1879|title= History of the Christian Church from Its Origin to the Present Time|language= en|location= |publisher= Cranston and Stowe|page= 309}}</ref>
* Also in 1229, the [[Council of Toulouse]] was held, which laid the foundations for the long period of [[Medieval Inquisition|Inquisition]] that was to eradicate Catharism in the region after the military victory of the Crusade.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

===Kingdom of France===
In 1271, Joan of Toulouse and her husband Alphonse of Poitiers died without heirs. Toulouse, which since the treaty of 1229 had been subordinate to the [[kingdom of France]], no longer had a count and was annexed to [[Crown lands of France#Reign of Philip III|the royal domain]].<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/> The installation of numerous royal officers and the development of trade and crafts, which favoured the social ascension of merchants, renewed the city's elites. In 1298, [[Philip IV of France|King Philip the Fair]] greatly facilitated the possibility of ennobling the capitouls, whose council, renewed every year, was increasingly made up of rich merchants.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

The first half of the 14th century was a prosperous period, despite the dismemberment in 1317 of the very large bishopric of Toulouse (which lost two thirds of its area and a large part of its income, a loss only partially compensated by its elevation to the rank of archbishopric), and the episode of the [[Shepherds' Crusade (1320)|Shepherds' Crusade]] which brought a [[pogrom]] against Toulouse's Jewish population in 1320.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/03/is-it-time-for-the-jews-to-leave-europe/386279/." |title=Goldberg, Jeffrey. "Is it Time for the Jews to Leave Europe?" The Atlantic. April 2015. |website=[[The Atlantic]] |date=16 March 2015 |access-date=21 March 2015}}</ref> In 1335, Toulouse had between 35,000 and 40,000 inhabitants.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

In 1323, the ''[[Consistori del Gay Saber]]'' was created in Toulouse to preserve the [[Lyric poetry|lyric art]] of the [[troubadour]]s by organizing a poetry contest; and Toulouse became the centre of [[Occitania|Occitan]] literary culture for the following centuries. The ''Consistori'' is considered to be the oldest literary society in Europe, at the origin of one of the most sophisticated [[Leys d'amor|treatise]] on grammar and rhetoric of the Middle Ages, and in 1694 it was transformed into the Royal Academy of the [[Floral Games]] (''Académie des Jeux Floraux''), still active today, by king [[Louis XIV]].<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

The 14th century also saw a significant increase in the influence of the University of Toulouse, particularly following the move of the papacy from Rome to Avignon. Many law graduates from the University of Toulouse had brilliant careers in the [[Avignon Papacy|Avignon curia]], several became cardinals and three became popes: [[Pope John XXII|John XXII]], [[Pope Innocent VI|Innocent VI]] and [[Pope Urban V|Urban V]]. These powerful prelates financed the establishment of colleges in the university towns of southern France, not only Toulouse but also Montpellier, Cahors and Avignon.<ref name="Cyril Eugene Smith">Cyril Eugene Smith: "University of Toulouse in the middle ages, its origins and growth to 1500 AD." Ed. The Marquette university press, 1958.</ref>

The [[Black Death]] in 1348, then the [[Hundred Years' War]] caused a major crisis that lasted until the following century.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/> Despite strong immigration, the population lost more than 10,000 inhabitants in 70 years. By 1405 Toulouse had only 19,000 people.<ref>Biraben, Jean-Noël. ''La Population de Toulouse au XIVe et au XVe siècles [Pierre Wolff, Les Estimes toulousaines du XIVe et XVe siècles]''. Journal des savants, 1964, p. 300.</ref> In these hardships, the city was the key stronghold of the French defence in the south of France during the worst years of the Hundred Years' War, when the English troops from Aquitaine had taken Montauban and only Toulouse remained as an obstacle to their conquest of southern France. This military threat to the city and especially to the surrounding countryside was not conducive to its development, despite the strengthening of ties with the royalty that it entailed.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

In 1369, pope [[Urban V]] attributed to the Dominican church of the [[Church of the Jacobins|Jacobins of Toulouse]] the bones of the Dominican theologian [[Thomas Aquinas|Saint Thomas Aquinas]], perhaps to honor the city that had been the cradle of the Dominican order at the beginning of the previous century.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

The political and economic situation improved by the middle of the 15th century.<ref>Brumont, Francis. ''La commercialisation du pastel toulousain (1350–1600)''. Privat presse, 1994, p. 27.</ref> In 1443 King [[Charles VII of France|Charles VII]] established the second [[Parlement of Toulouse|parlement]] of France after that of Paris. Reinforcing its place as an administrative and judicial center, the city grew richer, participating in the trade of [[Bordeaux wine]] with England, as well as cereals and textiles. A major source of income was the production and export of ''pastel'', a blue dye made from [[Isatis tinctoria|woad]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.terredepastel.com/le-pastel// |title=terredepastel.com |publisher=terredepastel.com |access-date=3 May 2015}}</ref>

Toulouse suffered several fires, but it was in 1463 that the Great Fire of Toulouse broke out, ravaging the city for fifteen days. After this dramatic event, King Louis XIII exempted the city from taxes for 100 years. The capitouls issued municipal decrees favouring the use of brick in buildings, rather than excessively flammable wood or cob.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

In the 16th century, and until 1562, the economy of Toulouse experienced a golden age: its parlement made it the judicial capital of a large part of southern France, and the city became the first European centre for the trade in woad, the only blue dye then known in Europe which was very much in demand in the textile industry at the time. Its humanist milieu developed thanks to its university and parlement, which trained and attracted intellectual elites. The wealth generated by this culturally and economically dynamic environment is the source of the superb [[Renaissance architecture of Toulouse|Renaissance mansions]] in Toulouse. In 1550 the population of the city made it the second or third largest city in France. It was estimated to have 50,000 inhabitants, a figure it would not regain until the 18th century.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/><ref name="Toulouse-renaissance">Collective work directed by Pascal Julien, «catalogue de l'exposition Toulouse Renaissance» ("Toulouse Renaissance exhibition catalogue"), Somogy éditions d'art, 2018.</ref>

In 1562, the [[French Wars of Religion]] began and Toulouse became an ultra-Catholic stronghold in a predominantly [[Huguenots|Huguenot]] region, the era of economic prosperity came to an end. The governor of Languedoc, [[Henri II de Montmorency]], who had rebelled, was executed in 1632 in the [[Capitole de Toulouse|Capitole]] in the presence of King [[Louis XIII]] and [[Cardinal Richelieu]].<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

In 1666, [[Pierre-Paul Riquet]] started the construction of the [[Canal du Midi]] which links Toulouse to the Mediterranean Sea, and is considered one of the greatest construction works of the 17th century. Completed in 1681, the canal stimulated the economy of Toulouse by promoting the export of cereals and the import of olive oil, wine and other goods from the Mediterranean regions.<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

In the 18th century, Toulouse was a provincial capital that prided itself on its royal academies (the only city in France, along with Paris, to have three royal academies), but sometimes seemed far removed from the debates of ideas that agitated the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]].<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/><ref>Michel Taillefer, "''Toulouse au temps des Lumières : L'Académie des Sciences, Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres de Toulouse au XVIIIe siècle''".</ref> A famous example illustrates this backwardness of Toulouse mentalities of the time: in 1762 its powerful parlement sentenced [[Jean Calas]] to death. The philosopher [[Voltaire]] then accused the Parlement of Toulouse of religious intolerance (Calas was a Huguenot), gave the affair a European repercussion and succeeded in having the judgment of the parlement quashed by the King's Council, which did much damage to the reputation of the parlement. It was on this occasion that Voltaire published one of his major philosophical works: his famous ''[[Treatise on Tolerance]]''.

With the [[French Revolution]] of 1789 and the reform or suppression of all royal institutions, Toulouse lost much of its power and influence: until then the capital of the vast province of Languedoc, with a parlement ruling over an even larger territory, the city then found itself simply at the head of the single small department of [[Haute-Garonne]].<ref name="Histoire de Toulouse 2019"/>

===19th century===
On 10 April 1814, four days after [[Napoleon]]'s surrender of the [[First French Empire|French Empire]] to the nations of the [[Sixth Coalition]] (a fact that the two armies involved were not yet aware of), the [[Battle of Toulouse (1814)|Battle of Toulouse]] pitted the Hispanic-British troops of Field Marshal [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Wellington]] against the French troops of Napoleonic Marshal [[Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult|Soult]], who, although they managed to resist, were forced to withdraw. Toulouse was thus the scene of the last Franco-British battle on French territory.<ref>Anne Le Stang, ''Histoire de Toulouse illustrée'', {{p.|150}}.</ref>

Unlike most large French cities, there was no real industrial revolution in 19th century Toulouse.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} The most important industries were the gunpowder factory, to meet military needs, and the tobacco factory. In 1856 the railway arrived in Toulouse and the city was modernised: the ramparts were replaced by large boulevards, and major avenues such as the ''rue d'Alsace-Lorraine'' and the ''rue de Metz'' opened up the historic centre.

In 1875, a flood of the Garonne devastated more than 1,000 houses and killed 200 people. It also destroyed all the bridges in Toulouse, except the [[Pont Neuf, Toulouse|Pont-Neuf]].<ref>Spécial météo à Toulouse, ''L'Express'', nº 2948, semaine du 3 au 9 janvier 2008, ''Les crues les plus dévastatrices'', p. II.</ref>

===20th and 21st centuries===
[[File:Lignes_Aeriennes_Latécoére_(Latécoére-Toulouse).jpg|thumb|The epic of l'[[Aéropostale (aviation)|Aéropostale]] has written some of the most beautiful pages in the history of aviation in Toulouse.]]
[[World War I]] brought to Toulouse (geographically sheltered from enemy attacks) chemical industries as well as aviation workshops ([[Pierre-Georges Latécoère|Latécoère]], [[Dewoitine]]), which launched the city's aeronautical construction tradition and gave birth after the war to the famous ''[[Aéropostale (aviation)|Aéropostale]]'', a pioneering airmail company based in Toulouse and whose epics were popularised by the novels of writers such as [[Joseph Kessel]] and [[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]] (himself an ''Aéropostale'' pilot).<ref>Benoît Heimermann and Olivier Margot: ''L'aéropostale: la fabuleuse épopée de Mermoz, Saint-Exupéry, Guillaumet'', Arthaud editor, 1994.</ref><ref name="PetiteHistoireDeToulouse">Jean-Marie Pailler, Annick Thomas and Jack Thomas: ''Petite Histoire de Toulouse'', Éditions Cairn, 2017.</ref>

In the 1920s and 1930s the rise of the Toulouse population was increased by the arrival of Italians and Spaniards fleeing the fascist regimes of their country. Then, in the early 1960s, [[Pieds-noirs|French repatriates]] from [[Algerian War|Algeria]] swelled the city's population.<ref name="PetiteHistoireDeToulouse"/>

In 1963, Toulouse was chosen to become one of the country's eight "balancing Metropolis", regaining a position among the country's major cities that it had always had, but lost in the 19th century. The French state then encouraged the city's specialisation in aeronautics and space activities, sectors that had experienced strong growth in recent decades, fueling economic and population growth.<ref name="PetiteHistoireDeToulouse"/>

On 21 September 2001, an [[Toulouse chemical factory explosion|explosion]] occurred at the AZF fertiliser factory, causing 31 deaths, about 30 seriously wounded and 2,500 light casualties. The blast measured 3.4 on the [[Richter scale]] and the explosion was heard {{convert|80|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} away.<ref name="PetiteHistoireDeToulouse"/><ref>{{Citation | first = Pascal | last = Barbier | title = Urban Growth Analysis Within a High Technological Risk Area: Case of AZF Factory Explosion in Tolouse (France) | year = 2003 | publisher = Ecole Nationale des Sciences Géographiques | url = http://www.adpc.net/casita/Case_studies/Technological%20hazard%20and%20risk%20assessment/AZF_CASE_STUDY_REPORT_v2.doc | access-date = 9 March 2022 | archive-date = 3 August 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200803092848/http://www.adpc.net/casita/Case_studies/Technological | url-status = dead }}</ref>

In 2016, a territorial reform made Toulouse the regional [[Prefectures in France|prefecture]] of [[Occitania (administrative region)|Occitanie]], the second largest region in metropolitan France, giving it a role commensurate with its past as a provincial capital among the most important in France.<ref name="PetiteHistoireDeToulouse"/>