built to protect Paris in anticipation of a future war. The establishment of the railway in 1847 transformed the city, with the agricultural village very quickly became a working-class town. 20th Century On the eve of the First World War, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges had more than 10,000 inhabitants. It was the first railway town in the country with the largest sorting in Europe. The Foyer and HBM sets were built at this time. On July 30, 1908, following the calls for a 24-hour general strike launched by the General Confederation of Labour to demand a 10-hour day, weekly rest, a salary increase and the end of Piece work, thousands of demonstrators gathered in Vigneux-sur-Seine and Draveil, then converged in the town where a violent confrontation took place between the National Gendarmerie and the workers. The result fight left four dead and more than 200 injured among the workers, and 69 injured on the side of the forces of order. A local odonym (“Place du 30-Juillet-1908”) recalls these events. The next day, Georges Clemenceau ordered the arrest of thirty leaders of the CGT, including its general secretary Victor Griffuelhes, to neutralize the union. A painting by Théodore Rousseau, titled La Seine à Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, which was in the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille was destroyed in 1916. During the First World War, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges hosted the 232nd Territorial Infantry Regiment (normally quartered in Argentan). The school hospital becomes the Auxiliary Hospital of the Military Wounded Relief Society (HASSBM) No.42, while the Ferry School Group becomes the Auxiliary Hospital of the Ladies of France Association (HAADF) No.248. After the introduction of paid leave, at the time of the great departures on vacation, a derailment on July 30, 1937 left twenty-nine dead and one hundred and eleven injured at the junction between the Brunoy and Corbeil lines. During the Second World War, the city was bombarded by Allied aircraft because the Wehrmacht used the railway installations. Many Resistance fighters are also killed after the “Triage sabotage”. After these events, a new demographic surge saw the construction of large housing estates in the North part of Villeneuve. On January 1, 1968, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, which until then had been part of the department of Seine-et-Oise, became one of the municipalities of the new Val-de-Marne. 21st Century The town, compared to the rest of Val-de-Marne, is perceived as noisy and undesirable place to go. It has lost its charm during the