Attachment to the Hautes-Alpes

On March 9, 1790, following the Revolution, the National Assembly gave the communes of La Grave and Villar-d’Arène the choice of their department: Isère or Hautes-Alpes. The inhabitants researched carefully, sending emissaries to Grenoble and Briançon to weigh the pros and cons. Finally, the proximity of Briançon, its safer road, and certain privileges —notably on the price of salt—tipped the scales. Villar-d’Arène thus chose the Hautes-Alpes, hoping to preserve the freedoms acquired in the 14th century by aligning with the Briançonnais. But the centralizing Jacobinism of the Republic quickly put an end to these hopes, abolishing the valley’s old direct democracy of the valley.