Editing Cambrai (section)

===20th century===
[[File:LL 16 - Cambrai - Vue générale vers la Place d'Armes.JPG|thumb|left|The ''Place d'Armes'', on a market day before the First World War]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1974-029-09, Frankreich, Cambrai, Flüchtlinge.jpg|thumb|left|Refugees at Cambrai in September 1918]]
In 1914, the German army occupied the city. This occupation, which lasted for four years, was marked by scenes of looting, requisitions and arrests of hostages. From 20 November to 17 December 1917, the vicinity of the town of Cambrai was the theatre of the [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]], which saw the massive use of [[tank]]s for the first time.

In 1918, the Germans burned the city centre before leaving, destroying the city hall and the municipal archives. In total, more than 1,500 buildings were totally destroyed, of the 3,500 which consisted of Cambrai. The centre was to be rebuilt, a task which was entrusted to the architect {{Interlanguage link multi|Pierre Leprince-Ringuet|fr}}.<ref group=b>p.264</ref><ref group=b>p.266</ref>

[[World War II]] also struck Cambrai. The city was bombed by the [[Luftwaffe]] on 17 May 1940, during the [[Battle of France]], before falling the next day at the same time as [[Saint-Quentin, Aisne|Saint-Quentin]]. The remains of the [[Ninth Army (France)|9th French Army]] and [[Henri Giraud|General Giraud]] were taken prisoner by the Germans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://souvenirfrancaisarras.com/node/70|title=La bataille d'Arras : 20–24 mai 1940}}, Marcel Dégardin, Souvenir Français Arras</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://la-guerre-au-jour-le-jour.over-blog.com/article-10463976.html|title=18 mai 1940 – La seconde guerre mondiale au jour le jour|date=18 May 2007 }}</ref>

From 27 April until 18 August 1944, 18 [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] air raids were directed against the railway tracks, killing 250 people and destroying 1,700 buildings,<ref group=b>p.275</ref> or more than 50% of the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/region/bombardements-de-cambrai-soixante-dix-ans-plus-tard-les-ia13b45101n2096868|title=Bombardements de Cambrai: soixante-dix ans plus tard, les habitants témoignent|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150303025315/http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/region/bombardements-de-cambrai-soixante-dix-ans-plus-tard-les-ia13b45101n2096868|archive-date=2015-03-03}}</ref> The first American tanks entered the city on 2 September.

After the war, the priority again was reconstruction. A municipality of the "union of the left" was elected in 1945, led by {{Interlanguage link multi|Raymond Gernez|fr}} who would remain at the head of the city until 1981, promoting moderate socialism.<ref group=b>p.285</ref> As early as 1947, the city submitted to a development project of the Ministry of Reconstruction. The municipality gave priority to the construction of houses: The ''Maison du Cambrésis'' [House of le Cambrésis], later ''Maison Familiale'' group, an [[HLM]] cooperative society, contributed substantially to the reconstruction of the city.<ref group=b>p.279</ref> The population of the city increased, while the surrounding area tended to be depopulated. At the same time, the city lost industrial jobs and moved towards the tertiary sector, but it was public administrations which provided the bulk of jobs.<ref group=b>p.280-284</ref>