THE ECONOMIC HISTORY OF REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE Economics 2009 – 2010 Academic Decathlon.
-
Upload
morris-french -
Category
Documents
-
view
214 -
download
0
Transcript of THE ECONOMIC HISTORY OF REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE Economics 2009 – 2010 Academic Decathlon.
THE ECONOMIC HISTORY OF REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE Economics 2009 – 2010 Academic Decathlon
Introduction
Political and social crisis led to Economic dislocation War between France and
most of Europe The Reign of Terror, which
ended in 1794 After 1799, Napoleon
Bonaparte directed a more stable government
The French Industrial Revolution truly began in 1815
Reference: USAD p. 3
Agriculture
Before the Revolution, 28.4 million people lived in France
80 percent of the population lived in rural areas
Over 66.7 percent were agricultural laborers
Over the 1700s, productivity grew between 25 to 40 percent
Pre-Revolution Three-field rotation Use of newly designed plows Correct use of new fertilizer
Post-Revolution Better irrigation system Wider usage of draft
animals Planting of grass and clover
for land restoration and food More systematic use of
fertilizer
Demographics Techniques
Reference: USAD p. 3-4
Industry
In 1789, France manufactured the most goods in the world
Industries with sustained growth Cotton textiles Iron Coal
Capital-intensive luxury industries included silk, arms, paper, porcelain, soap, and tapestries
Foreign markets Pondicherry in India Port-au-Prince in Saint-
Domingue
Creepy headless mannequin wearing silk dress
Reference: USAD p. 4
Atlantic Economy
Before the Revolution, bilateral trade with colonies was more important than the triangular trade
Caribbean colonies Martinique Guadeloupe Saint-Domingue (now
Haiti) Imports from Canada
Salt fish Beaver pelts Timber
Reference: USAD p. 4-5
Beaver as pelt < beaver as pet
Pre-Revolution Economic Structure
For exports, agricultural goods outnumbered industrial goods 3 to 1
France mainly imported raw materials for industry
French international trade was growing much more quickly than British international trade
International Trade The Rich and the Poor
Nobles were seigneurs Owned 1/4 to 1/3 of the
land Had commercial, judicial,
and tax privileges Poverty existed both in
the city and countryside Rural poverty dominated
western, southern, and central France
The rise of industry initially hurt the poor more than it helped them
Reference: USAD p. 5
Depression
French trade experienced a depression in the mid-1780s
France imposed a treaty on Britain in 1786, lowering trade duties
Failure of a new tax system led to British domination in commerce
In 1788, a hail storm destroyed most of the north’s cereal crop
The Old Regime and the French Revolution by Alexis de Tocqueville People stopped believing that their
lives were improving This led to the French Revolution
De Tocqueville, famous historian… among historians
Reference: USAD p. 5-6
Machine Breaking
Reference: USAD p. 6
Laborers rallied to destroy machines in the summer of 1789
Mainly took place in Champagne The Forez Normandy Picardy
Destroyed machines were worth hundreds of thousands of livres
Luddites preferred own survival to the growth of France’s industrial sector
Fig. 1. object of Luddites’ hatred
Birth of a New System
In 1789, the National Assembly ended the system of privileges
The National Assembly made new laws in 1791 Allard Law, which erased
many limitations on entering a trade
End of quality inspection of goods
Le Chapelier Law, which outlawed labor unions
New patent system Government revenue came
from a customs duty and direct land tax
Reference: USAD p. 6-7
The ever busy National Assembly
Entrepreneurialism
The labor force was quite rowdy back then
Reference: USAD p. 7
Laissez-faire was used during the early stage of the Revolution
Laborers began to demand more due to the new ideology of equality Used strikes Rioted against new
techniques Continued to break machines
Due to the above, entrepreneurs focused on Exploitation of traditional
commerce Government contracts Smuggling
A New Currency
In November 1789, the National Assembly set aside Church lands
In March 1790, the lands were nationalized
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy changed the clergy into elected employees of a secular state
What Backed the Currency The Currency Itself
In December 1789, the state issued treasury bonds backed by the nationalized lands
The bonds, or assignats, became a de facto currency
In November 1790, they became the official currency
A cycle of inflation began The state paid off debt in
valueless assignatsReference: USAD p. 8
Foreign and Civil Wars
In April 1792, Austria and Prussia began a war with France
The execution of Louis XVI led to several countries declaring war The Dutch Republic Great Britain Portugal Russia Sardinia Savoy Spain
The Federalists divided France Factionalism fomented civil war
King Louis XVI, looking snazzy in his pre-prison days
Reference: USAD p. 8
Government Controls
In May 1793, the National Convention set price ceilings on bread and grain
The system was the Maximum
Local officials decided prices
Parochialism fostered dispute between the various parts of local government
Goals The First Maximum
Reference: USAD p. 8-9
Supply the armies Provide food at affordable
prices to citizens Methods to achieve the
goals Rationing food End of liberal economic
policy Dawn of state control for
setting priorities, distributing resources, and carrying out state directives
The Draft
The National Convention created the Committee of Public Safety
The Committee established the first universal draft
Exempt from the draft Laborers that grew grain Arms workers Transporters of raw
goods, food, and munitions
Industrial production focused on the war effort
Reference: USAD p. 9
Paris: then largest weapons manufacturer, now fashion capital
The General Maximum
In September 1793, universal price caps were set on flour and grain
Local officials were empowered to Determine transportation
costs Appropriate food Set up public granaries
The General Maximum was established to include prices for Raw materials Manufactured goods Almost all food items
A granary, perhaps of the public variety
Reference: USAD p. 9-10
State Influence
Leaders made a conscious choice to use terror to control the public
The National Convention said, “Terror is the order of the day”
Victims of the Reign of Terror 1,000,000 suspected 300,000 imprisoned 50,000 killed
The State and Science Terror
Reference: USAD p. 10
Efficiency in steel production Claude Berthollet Gaspard Monge Alexander Vandermonde
State-created educational organizations National Institute of Arts
and Sciences Polytechnic Institute
Requisition and Nationalization
Revolutionary armies used violence to appropriate food
Whatever belonged to emigrant nobles was sold
A state fiat required land to be sold in small lots
Successes of the price controls Mitigation of inflation Increase in war production Obviated famine
Reference: USAD p. 10-11
Maximilien Robespierre, victim of the Terror he created
End of the Reign of Terror
In the autumn of 1794, the assignat sharply depreciated
The White Terror emerged against the Great Terror
The winter of that year was the worst of the century, straining basic supplies
Early in 1795, the government printed over 7 billion livres of assignats
No More Controls Inflation
Reference: USAD p. 11
In July 1794, a coup against the Committee of Public Safety occurred
In August, the new Maximum ended wage controls
In December, the Maximum was abolished
Babeuf, Marx, and Napoleon
In 1796, Gracchus Babeuf led a conspiracy to subvert the government for the working class
Famous people affected by Babeuf Karl Marx Vladimir Lenin Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon had to moderate the state planning that laborers supported due to elites’ suspicion
Reference: USAD p. 11-12
Babeuf, defiantly wearing his hat askew
Wartime Problems
Smugglers were heroes Smuggling-abundant ports
Bordeaux Dunkerque Rouen
Goods smuggled into France British textiles German steel Italian olive oil Polish grain
Transportation Smuggling
Reference: USAD p. 12
Overland transportation deteriorated Highways Local roads Appropriation of horses
and oxen The blockade choked off
seaborne transportation and trade
Territorial Expansion
In the late 1790s, France acquired control of many areas Belgium The Dutch Republic The Rhineland Numerous Italian states The Swiss Confederation Egypt Syria
Raw materials from territories Belgian coal Rhenish iron Piedmontese silk
Map of France at its peak; can be mistaken for the EU
Reference: USAD p. 13
Hothouse Industries
Speculators and government contractors invested money in manufacturing and mining
Coal mining and metallurgical industries prospered
Cotton textile entrepreneurs invested in technology
These businesses thrived under fleeting, artificial conditions
Most new businesses eventually failed
Greenhouse = temporary conditions, plants = businesses
Reference: USAD p. 13-14
Effects of the Revolution
Royal, Church, and noble lands were sold
Exceptions to the regular pattern of sales were forests and wasteland
The middle class bought most of the land
Small lots of land hindered agricultural efficiency
Declined in urban areas Stagnated or declined in
rural areas 1799 industrial output
decreased by 1/3 from 1789
The south and west were worse off than the north and east
Landownership Standard of Living
Reference: USAD p. 14
Conclusion
The Directory used a mix of liberal and planning policies
Economic growth was stymied Population losses from
war, disease, and the Terror
Naval blockade Loss of overseas empire
The Revolution postponed industrialization, but was the groundwork for rapid growth in the 19th century
Reference: USAD p. 14
Farewell, citizens!