Editing Nantes (section)

==={{anchor|Nantes since the ''comblements''}}Land reclamation===
[[File:Nantes comblements.png|thumb|upright=1.5|alt=Map of Nantes|Central Nantes in the first half of the 20th century. Waterways filled in from 1926 to 1946 are in brown, and buildings destroyed by American air raids in 1943 are in red.]]
At the beginning of the 20th century, the river channels flowing through Nantes were increasingly perceived as hampering the city's comfort and economic development. Sand siltation required dredging, which weakened the quays; one quay collapsed in 1924. Embankments were overcrowded with railways, roads and tramways. Between 1926 and 1946, most of the channels were filled in and their water diverted. Large thoroughfares replaced the channels, altering the urban landscape. Feydeau and Gloriette Islands in the old town were attached to the north bank, and the other islands in the Loire were formed into the [[Île de Nantes|Isle of Nantes]].{{sfn|Pétré-Grenouilleau|2008|p=188}}

When the [[land reclamation]] was almost complete, Nantes was shaken by the air raids of the [[Second World War]]. The city was captured by [[Nazi Germany]] on 18 June 1940, during the [[Battle of France]].{{sfn|Bois|1977|p=391}} Forty-eight civilians were executed in Nantes in 1941 in retaliation for the assassination of German officer [[Karl Hotz]]. They are remembered as "the 50 hostages" because the Germans initially planned to kill 50 people.{{sfn|Dictionnaire de Nantes|2013|p=242}} Allied [[Bombings in Nantes|bombing raids]] first hit the city in August 1941 and May 1942. The main attacks occurred on 16 and 23 September 1943, when most of Nantes's industrial facilities and portions of the city centre and its surrounding area were destroyed by American bombs.{{sfn|Pétré-Grenouilleau|2008|p=188}} About 20,000 people were left homeless by the 1943 raids, and 70,000 subsequently left the city. Allied raids killed 1,732 people and destroyed 2,000 buildings in Nantes, leaving a further 6,000 buildings unusable.{{sfn|Bois|1977|p=393}} The Germans abandoned the city on 12 August 1944, and it was recaptured without a fight by the [[French Forces of the Interior]] and the U.S. Army.{{sfn|Il y a 70 ans}}