You might be interested in threads from the FAQ section on "France's Population Growth in the Industrial Era":

• What are the factors behind of the slow population growth of France in the 19th Century? - 5 comments, over 2 years old.

• A commenter notes the proportionally large population of France at the beginning of the 19th century and then details the economic, social, sexual, and security factors that lowered its population growth during the rest of the century and beyond.

• Why has France had a slow increase in population compared to other Western European countries, especially during the Industrial Revolution? - 3 comments, over 1 year old.

• This thread summarizes the Malthusian limits that France hit in the 19th Century, the legal issues that discouraged procreation, lack of lifespan changes, and the general effects of industrialization on birth rate as observed in similar countries.

• What was the cause of France's low population growth compared to Germany or England? - 6 comments, over 1 old.

• A commenter here expounds upon the industrialization effects alluded to in the thread above this one and another talks about similar changes occurring throughout 19th century France's European contemporaries.

• Why did France stagnate in terms of population growth from the early 19th century until after WWII, while other countries around it grew very rapidly? - 7 comments, over 2 years old.

• This threads links the trend to the Napoleonic Wars and the Napoleonic Code's effects on land ownership inheritance.

• Why did Industrial Era France have a smaller population boom compared to the other European nations? - 6 comments, over 1 year old.

• A few commenters briefly compare English and French industrialization and also allude to war as the main factors in France's reduced population growth rate.