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!