Interwar eugenics, hygiene, and pronatalism were older discourses that newly gained state backing.

Evidence

The rapid growth of three movements in France-eugenics, social hygiene, and pro-natalism-makes clear this growing preoccupation. Despite slightly different concerns, all three shared a larger agenda: the qualitative and quantitative improvement of the French race. None of these movements was new in the interwar period. France’s discourse on national degeneration dated back to the beginning of the Third Republic. What was new was the governmental support that advocates of racial regeneration now received. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 568

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes discourse of national degeneration familiar from broader European eugenics history and French natalist politics.
• SEED: Potential essay angle: how pronatalist natalist policies targeting French women extended metropolitan racial hierarchies into colonial administration.