Editing Tours (section)

===19th to 20th centuries===
The arrival of the railway in the 19th century saved the city by making it an important nodal point. The main railway station is known as Tours-Saint-Pierre-des-Corps. At that time, Tours was expanding towards the south into a district known as the Prébendes. The importance of the city as a centre of communications contributed to its revival and, as the 20th century progressed, Tours became a dynamic conurbation, economically oriented towards the service sector. The city was briefly the ''de facto'' capital of France during the [[Franco-Prussian War]] playing host to [[Léon Gambetta]] and representatives of the [[Government of National Defence]] who escaped the then ongoing [[Siege of Paris (1870-1871)|Siege of Paris]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.herodote.net/almanach-ID-1873.php|website=herodote.net|access-date=7 July 2022|title=7 octobre 1870: Gambetta quitte Paris en ballon|language=fr|archive-date=28 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528203000/https://www.herodote.net/almanach-ID-1873.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

====First World War====
[[File:Tours Cathedral Saint-Gatian.jpg|thumb|[[Tours Cathedral]]: 15th-century [[Flamboyant]] Gothic west front with Renaissance pinnacles, completed 1547.]]
The city was greatly affected by the [[First World War]]. A force of 25,000 American soldiers arrived in 1917, setting up textile factories for the manufacture of uniforms, repair shops for military equipment, munitions dumps, an army post office and an American military hospital at Augustins. Because of this, Tours became a garrison town with a resident general staff. The American presence is remembered today by the [[Woodrow Wilson]] Bridge over the Loire, which was officially opened in July 1918 and bears the name of the President of the [[United States]] from 1913 to 1921. Three American air force squadrons, including the 492nd, were based at the [[Parçay-Meslay]] airfield, their personnel playing an active part in the life of the city. Americans paraded at funerals and award ceremonies for the Croix de Guerre. They also took part in festivals and their [[YMCA]] organised shows for the troops. Some men married women from Tours.

====Inter-war years====
In 1920, the city hosted the Congress of Tours, which saw the creation of the [[French Communist Party]]. One future consequence of that congress was the presence of [[Ho Chi Minh]], the [[Vietnam|Vietnamese]] nationalist, who became one of the first members of the party.

====Second World War====
Tours was also marked by the [[Second World War]], as the city suffered massive destruction in 1940. For four years it was a city of military camps and fortifications. From 10 to 13 June 1940, Tours was the temporary seat of the French government before its move to [[Bordeaux]].

German [[incendiary bombs]] caused a huge fire, which blazed out of control from 20 to 22 June and destroyed part of the city centre. Some architectural masterpieces of the 16th and 17th centuries were lost, as was the monumental entry to the city. The Wilson Bridge, which carried a water main that supplied the city, was dynamited to slow the progress of the German advance. With the water main severed, nobody could extinguish the inferno. That made inhabitants have no option but to flee to safety. More heavy air raids by Allied forces devastated the area around the railway station in 1944, causing several hundred deaths.

====Post-war developments====
A plan for the rebuilding of the central area drawn up by the local architect [[Camille Lefèvre]] had been adopted even before the end of the war. The plan was for 20 small quadrangular blocks of housing to be arranged around the main road (la [[rue Nationale]]), which was widened. This regular layout attempted to echo but simplify the 18th-century architecture. [[Pierre Patout]] succeeded Lefèvre as the architect in charge of rebuilding in 1945. At one time, there was talk of demolishing the southern side of the [[rue Nationale]] to make it in keeping with the new development.

The recent history of Tours is marked by the personality of [[Jean Royer]], who was mayor for 36 years and helped save the old town from demolition by establishing one of the first [[Conservation Areas]]. This example of conservation policy would later inspire the Malraux Law for the safeguarding of historic city centres. In the 1970s, Jean Royer also extended the city to the south by diverting the course of the [[Cher (river)|Cher River]] to create the districts of Rives du Cher and des Fontaines. At the time, it was one of the largest urban developments in Europe. In 1970, the [[François Rabelais University]] was founded and centred on the bank of the Loire in the downtown area, not, as was the current practice, in a campus in the suburbs. The latter solution was also chosen by the twin university of Orleans. Royer's long term as mayor was, however, not without controversy, as is exemplified by the construction of the practical but aesthetically unattractive motorway, which runs along the bed of a former canal just {{convert|1500|m|ft|abbr=off}} from the cathedral. Another bone of contention was the original Vinci Congress Centre by [[Jean Nouvel]]. The project incurred debts although it  at least made Tours one of France's principal conference centres.

[[Jean Germain (politician)|Jean Germain]], a member of the Socialist Party, became mayor in 1995 and made debt reduction his priority. Ten years later, his economic management was regarded as much wiser than that of his predecessor because of the financial stability of the city returning. However, his achievements were criticised by the municipal opposition for a lack of ambition. There were no large building projects instituted under his two terms. That position is disputed by those in power, who affirm their policy of concentrating on the quality of life, as evidenced by urban restoration, the development of public transport and cultural activities.