The name of Dunkirk derives fromWest Flemishdun(e) 'dune' or 'dun' andkerke 'church', thus 'church in the dunes'.[6] A smaller town 25 km (15 miles) farther up the Flemish coast originally shared the same name, but was later renamedOostduinkerke(n) in order to avoid confusion.
Until the middle of the 20th century,French Flemish (the local variety ofDutch) was commonly spoken.
Afishing village arose late in the tenth century, in the originally flooded coastal area of theEnglish Channel south of theWestern Scheldt, when the area was held by theCounts of Flanders, vassals of theFrench Crown. About AD 960, CountBaldwin III had a town wall erected in order to protect the settlement againstViking raids. The surrounding wetlands were drained and cultivated by the monks of nearbyBergues Abbey. The nameDunkirka was first mentioned in atithe privilege of 27 May 1067, issued by CountBaldwin V of Flanders.[citation needed] CountPhilip I (1157–1191) brought further large tracts of marshland under cultivation, laid out the first plans to build aCanal from Dunkirk to Bergues and vested the Dunkirkers withmarket rights.
In the late 13th century, when theDampierre countGuy of Flanders entered into theFranco-Flemish War against hissuzerain KingPhilippe IV ofFrance, the citizens of Dunkirk sided with the French against their count, who at first was defeated at the 1297Battle of Furnes, but reachedde facto autonomy upon the victoriousBattle of the Golden Spurs five years later and exacted vengeance. Guy's son, CountRobert III (1305–1322), nevertheless granted further city rights to Dunkirk; his successor CountLouis I (1322–1346) had to face thePeasant revolt of 1323–1328, which was crushed by KingPhilippe VI of France at the 1328Battle of Cassel, whereafter the Dunkirkers again were affected by the repressive measures of the French king.
Count Louis remained a loyal vassal of the French king upon the outbreak of theHundred Years' War withEngland in 1337, and prohibited the maritime trade, which led to another revolt by the Dunkirk citizens. After the count had been killed in the 1346Battle of Crécy, his son and successor CountLouis II of Flanders (1346–1384) signed a truce with the English; the trade again flourished and the port was significantly enlarged. However, in the course of theWestern Schism from 1378, English supporters ofPope Urban VI (the Roman claimant) disembarked at Dunkirk, captured the city and flooded the surrounding estates. They were ejected by KingCharles VI of France, but left great devastations in and around the town.
Upon the extinction of the Counts of Flanders with the death of Louis II in 1384, Flanders was acquired by theBurgundian, DukePhilip the Bold. The fortifications were again enlarged, including the construction of a belfrydaymark (a navigational aid similar to a non-illuminated lighthouse). As a strategic point, Dunkirk has always been exposed to political greed, by DukeRobert I of Bar in 1395, byLouis de Luxembourg in 1435 and finally by theAustrian archdukeMaximilian I of Habsburg, who in 1477 marriedMary of Burgundy, sole heiress of late DukeCharles the Bold. As Maximilian was the son of EmperorFrederick III, all Flanders was immediately seized by KingLouis XI of France. However, the archduke defeated the French troops in 1479 at theBattle of Guinegate. When Mary died in 1482, Maximilian retained Flanders according to the terms of the 1482Treaty of Arras. Dunkirk, along with the rest of Flanders, was incorporated into theHabsburg Netherlands and upon the 1581 secession of theSeven United Netherlands, remained part of theSouthern Netherlands, which were held byHabsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands) asImperial fiefs.
Statue ofJean Bart in Dunkirk, the most famouscorsair of the city
The area remained much disputed betweenSpain, theNetherlands,England andFrance. At the beginning of theEighty Years' War, Dunkirk was briefly in the hands of the Dutch rebels, from 1577. Spanish forces under DukeAlexander Farnese ofParma re-established Spanish rule in 1583 and it became a base for the notoriousDunkirkers. The Dunkirkers briefly lost their home port when the city was conquered by the French in 1646 but Spanish forces recaptured the city in 1652. In 1658, as a result of thelong war between France and Spain, it wascaptured after a siege by Franco-English forces following thebattle of the Dunes. The city along withFort-Mardyck was awarded to England inthe peace the following year as agreed in the Franco-English alliance against Spain. The English governors wereSir William Lockhart (1658–60),Sir Edward Harley (1660–61) andLord Rutherford (1661–62).
On 17 October 1662, Dunkirk wassold to France byCharles II of England for £320,000.[7] The French government developed the town as a fortified port. The town's existing defences were adapted to create ten bastions. The port was expanded in the 1670s by the construction of a basin that could hold up to thirty warships with a double lock system to maintain water levels at low tide. The basin was linked to the sea by a channel dug through coastal sandbanks secured by two jetties. This work was completed by 1678. The jetties were defended a few years later by the construction of five forts, Château d'Espérance, Château Vert, Grand Risban, Château Gaillard, and Fort de Revers. An additional fort was built in 1701 called Fort Blanc.
During the reign ofLouis XIV, a large number ofcommerce raiders andpirates once again made their base at Dunkirk, the most famous of whom wasJean Bart. The main character (and possible real prisoner) in the famous novelMan in the Iron Mask byAlexandre Dumas was arrested at Dunkirk. The eighteenth-century Swedish privateers and piratesLars Gathenhielm and his wifeIngela Hammar are known to have sold their gains in Dunkirk.
As France and Great Britain became commercial and military rivals, the British grew concerned about Dunkirk being used as an invasion base to cross the English Channel. The jetties, their forts, and the port facilities were demolished in 1713 under the terms of theTreaty of Utrecht.[8] TheTreaty of Paris of 1763, which concluded theSeven Years' War, included a clause restricting French rights to fortify Dunkirk. This clause was overturned in the subsequentTreaty of Versailles of 1783.[9]
Dunkirk's port was used extensively during the war by British forces who brought in dock workers from, among other places, Egypt and China.[10]
From 1915, the city experienced severe bombardment, including from the largest gun in the world in 1917, the German 'Lange Max'. On a regular basis, heavy shells weighing approximately 750 kg (1700 lb) were fired fromKoekelare, about 45–50 km (30 miles) away.[11] The bombardment killed nearly 600 people and wounded another 1,100, both civilian and military, while 400 buildings were destroyed and 2,400 damaged. The city's population, which had been 39,000 in 1914, reduced to fewer than 15,000 in July 1916 and 7,000 in the autumn of 1917.[10]
During theSecond World War 1940Battle of France, theBritish Expeditionary Force (BEF), while aiding the French and Belgian armies, were forced to retreat in the face of overpowering German Panzer attacks. Fighting in Belgium and France, the BEF and a portion of the French Army became outflanked by the Germans and retreated to the area around the port of Dunkirk. More than 400,000 soldiers were trapped in the pocket as the German Army closed in for the kill. Unexpectedly, the German Panzer attack halted for several days at a critical juncture. For years, it was assumed thatAdolf Hitler ordered the German Army to suspend the attack, favouring bombardment by theLuftwaffe. However, according to the Official War Diary ofArmy Group A, its commander,GeneraloberstGerd von Rundstedt, ordered the halt to allow maintenance on his tanks, half of which were out of service, and to protect his flanks which were exposed and, he thought, vulnerable.[16] Hitler merely validated the order several hours later.[17] This lull gave the British and French a few days to fortify their defences. The Allied position was complicated by Belgian KingLeopold III's surrender on 27 May, which was postponed until 28 May. The gap left by the Belgian Army stretched from Ypres to Dixmude. Nevertheless,a collapse was prevented, making it possible to launch anevacuation by sea, across theEnglish Channel, codenamed Operation Dynamo.British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill ordered any ship or boat available, large or small, to collect the stranded soldiers. 338,226 men (including 123,000 French soldiers) were evacuated – themiracle of Dunkirk, as Churchill called it. It took over 900 vessels to evacuate the BEF, with two-thirds of those rescued embarking via the harbour, and over 100,000 taken off the beaches. More than 40,000 vehicles as well as massive amounts of other military equipment and supplies were left behind. Forty thousand Allied soldiers (some who carried on fighting after the official evacuation) were captured or forced to make their own way home through a variety of routes including via neutral Spain. Many wounded who were unable to walk were abandoned.
Map of Dunkirk surroundings during the Allied attempt to retake Dunkirk in 1944
Dunkirk was again contested in 1944, with the2nd Canadian Infantry Division attempting to liberate the city in September, as Allied forces surged northeast after their victory in theBattle of Normandy. However, German forces refused to relinquish their control of the city, which had been converted into a fortress. To seize the now strategically insignificant town would consume too many Allied resources which were needed elsewhere. The town was by-passed masking the German garrison with Allied troops, notably the1st Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade. During theGerman occupation, Dunkirk was largely destroyed by Allied bombing. The artillery siege of Dunkirk was directed on the final day of the war by pilots fromNo. 652 Squadron RAF, andNo. 665 Squadron RCAF.[citation needed] The fortress, under the command of German AdmiralFriedrich Frisius, eventually unconditionally surrendered to the commander of the Czechoslovak forces,Brigade GeneralAlois Liška, on 9 May 1945.[18]
The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Dunkirk proper, in its geography at the given years. The commune of Dunkirk absorbed the former commune of Malo-les-Bains in 1969,Rosendaël andPetite-Synthe in 1971,Mardyck in 1979 andFort-Mardyck andSaint-Pol-sur-Mer in 2010.[20][21]
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found onPhabricator and onMediaWiki.org.
The arms of Dunkirk areblazoned: Per fess Or and argent, a lion passant sable armed and langued gules, and a dolphin naiant azure crested, barbed, finned and tailed gules.
Location of Dunkirk in the arrondissement of Dunkirk
The commune has grown substantially by absorbing several neighbouring communes:
1970: Merger with Malo-les-Bains (which had been created by being detached from Dunkirk in 1881)
1972: Fusion withPetite-Synthe and Rosendaël (the latter had been created by being detached fromTéteghem in 1856)
1980: Fusion-association with Mardyck (which became anassociated commune, with a population of 372 in 1999)
1980: A large part of Petite-Synthe is detached from Dunkirk and included intoGrande-Synthe
2010: After a failed fusion-association attempt withSaint-Pol-sur-Mer andFort-Mardyck in 2003, both successfully become associated communes with Dunkirk in December 2010.
Using this measurement and thelatitudes of the two cities they could calculate the distance between theNorth Pole and theEquator in classical French units of length and hence produce the first prototypemetre which was defined as being one ten millionth of that distance.[26] The definitive metre bar, manufactured from platinum, was presented to the French legislative assembly on 22 June 1799.
Two belfries in Dunkirk (the belfry near theChurch of Saint-Éloi and the one at theHôtel de Ville) are part of a group ofbelfries of Belgium and France, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005 in recognition of their civic architecture and importance in the rise of municipal power in Europe.[27]
The 63-meter-high Dunkirk Lighthouse, also known as the Risban Light, was built between 1838 and 1843 as part of early efforts to place lights around the coast of France. At the time of its construction it was one of only two first order lighthouses (the other being Calais) to be set up in a port. Automated since 1985, the light can be seen 28 nautical miles (48 km) away. In 2010 it was listed as an historical monument.
Two museums in Dunkirk include:
TheMusée Portuaire, which displays exhibits of images about the history and presence of the port.
TheMusée des Beaux-Arts, which has a large collection of Flemish, Italian and French paintings and sculptures.
Dunkirk has a ferry route toDover that is run byDFDS, which serves as an alternative to the route to the service to nearbyCalais. The Dover-Dunkirk ferry route takes two hours compared to Dover-Calais' 1 hour 30 minutes, is run bythree vessels and runs every two hours from Dunkirk. Another DFDS route connects Dunkirk toRosslare Europort in theRepublic of Ireland and carries truck freight as well as a limited number of private car passengers. The Dunkirk-Rosslare route take 24 hours and is run by the MFRegina Seaways.
In September 2018, Dunkirk's public transit service introduced free public transport, thereby becoming the largest city in Europe to do so. Several weeks after the scheme had been introduced, the city's mayor, Patrice Vergriete, reported that there had been 50% increase in passenger numbers on some routes, and up to 85% on others. As part of the transition towards offering free bus services, the city's fleet was expanded from 100 to 140 buses, including new vehicles which run on natural gas. The Dunkirk free public transport initiative, initially lauded for its bold ambition, saw a significant decline in ridership after the initial surge. While the first three months post-launch demonstrated a dramatic increase in usage, with some lines experiencing up to 120% higher demand on weekends, the system faced substantial challenges. By the end of the first three months, ridership plummeted by 73% from its peak, eventually stabilizing at only 12% more than pre-pandemic levels (2019-2020). This decline was primarily due to the inability of the public transport infrastructure to handle the overwhelming demand, leading to overcrowding, delays, and reduced service quality. Despite these issues, Dunkirk’s free transport program remains operational, albeit limited to weekends, a marked reduction from its original full-time service. This scaling back underscores the difficulties in maintaining such an ambitious project, with financial constraints and logistical inefficiencies contributing to its partial rollback. While the program succeeded in increasing mobility for low-income residents and reducing car usage initially, its long-term sustainability has been questioned, casting doubt on its viability as a model for other cities. (https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/after-becoming-largest-european-city-to-offer-free-public-transit-theyre-enjoying-a-revolution-from-their-buses/),https://theconversation.com/in-the-french-city-of-dunkirk-free-public-transport-has-led-to-more-walking-and-cycling-127411,https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-01-14/free-public-transit-can-it-work-in-every-city)
[28] As of August 2019, approximately 5% of 2000 people surveyed had used the free bus service to completely replace their cars.[29]
Dunkirk has anoceanic climate, with cool winters and warm summers. According to theKöppen Climate Classification system, Dunkirk has amarine west coast climate, abbreviated "Cfb" on climate maps.[32] Summer high temperatures average around 20 to 21 °C (68 to 70 °F), being significantly influenced by the marine currents.
Climate data for Dunkirk (1991–2020 averages, records 1892–present)
^Adler, Ken (2002).The measure of all things: The seven year odyssey that transformed the world. Abacus.ISBN978-0-349-11507-8.
^"Belfries of Belgium and France".UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved5 November 2021.
^"Dunkerque (59)"(PDF).Fiche Climatologique: Statistiques 1981–2010 et records (in French).Météo-France. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 10 March 2018. Retrieved7 September 2022.
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