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France is surrounded by over 100 islands. These days, many of the islands are popular tourist destinations, providing the opportunity for sun-soaked holidays on sandy beaches or an escape from the bustle of the mainland.
Others are home to nature reserves and areas of special environmental interest, requiring authorised permission to visit. There is even an island off France’s Mediterranean coast, Île du Levant, that is partially taken up by a nudist haven.
But, alongside being idyllic getaways, French islands have historically held another important role: as prisons. This may bring to mind the notorious overseas penal colonies of the French Empire (1852–1952), such as in French Guiana or in the south Pacific, where criminals were exiled and condemned to forced labour.
However, islands much closer to the French mainland also have significant histories of incarceration. Some of these islands, including Belle-ÃŽle-en-mer off the coast of Brittany, were used as sites of detention for young offenders, or colonies agricoles.
Up to a point, the overseas penal colonies functioned in parallel with the penitentiary on Belle-Île. Guiana and New Caledonia were both officially designated as penal colonies in the second half of the 19th century, a few decades before the citadel in Belle-Île formally became a young offenders’ institute.
But the beginning of the 20th century saw public and political sentiment towards the overseas penal colonies start to change, which was mirrored by a shift in attitudes towards colonies agricoles in France.
This was, at least in part, due to a prisoners’ revolt that broke out on Belle-Île 90 years ago, on August 27, 1934. The revolt, which saw 56 prisoners briefly escape, was