The Industrial Revolution of France

Great Britain and France – a rivalry that ran for more than a half a millennium, but in the quest for industrial revolution, unfortunately for the home of the Eiffel Tower and the most romantic city in the world, they lose the top position. 

Stories of industrialization usually field with awe inspiring numbers as well as technological progress France’s story was no different. So how did France industrialized? And more importantly, why did it lagged behind its rivals in the north and later in east (Germany)?

Pre-Industrialized France

About 300 years ago, France stood as the top model of the so-called Ancien Regime also known aa a political landscape dominated by absolute rulers, nobility, and feudalism.

Agriculture dominated the economy, but the peasants who made up about 90% of the population and powering this sector do not own the land and most of their income and harvest went to the Church or the nobility who made up the 10%. Taxes mostly went to finance the luxurious lifestyle of the clergy and nobility.

Local trade existed, but restricted. In trade, regional customs border persisted, meaning, as example, a merchant from Normandy wanted to sell goods to neighboring Brittany, they paid customs or domestic tariffs despite being under a single kingdom.

On the other hand, mercantilism governed international trade. Mercantilism based a state’s wealth on the amount of metal currency it owned. Metal dictated economic wealth just as GDP measures today’s economies. This meant, imports, which resulted to gold and silver flowing out, was highly discouraged while exports promoted.

But just as trade, crafts and small industries suffered from hurdles as well. Guilds with strong its strong hierarchy held a monopoly of different trade, making it difficult for a beginner to start his own shop.

Income inequality, flawed land ownership, trade and industry restriction described the French economy in the 18th century. Nevertheless, Versailles or Paris attempted to stimulate industries. A process which today may be called as proto-industrialization.

Colbert and Napoleon

Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV’s finance minister, and Napoleon Bonaparte, one of Europe’s greatest military leader, shaped France’s economy that stimulated some industrial activity. Both using different means to warm up the economy for the later main event of industrialization.

Colbert propped up the economy following the lines of mercantilism. He used the demand of the nobility for luxury goods to stir up local industries from silk, porcelain, etc. Towns turned into centers of industries. Such as the case of Lyon with its silk industry and Beauvais’ tapestry industry. Imagine Colbert’s policy depending on companies like Channel and Louis-Vuitton to drive industries. In the end Colbert’s policy failed to stir change in the French economic landscape, worst, the monarchy, nobility and clergy failed to reform that resulted to a well-known Revolution.

A Revolution that gave an opportunity for a Corsican general named Napoleon Bonaparte to rise to power and lead France to conquering much of Europe. Conquering Europe meant a huge army that needed to armed, clothed, and fed.

This stimulated different industries and called for innovations. Textile demand prompted Joseph-Marie Jacquard to develop a loom, which became a milestone in the history of modern computer. Food demand saw men like Nicolas Appert starting 1795 to develop food packing technique using bottles. Besides food and textile, iron and infrastructure also developed. Mobilization of resources required more roads, canals, and ports. Construction and mining joined the war efforts. Alas, it failed prevent Napoleon’s downfall.

While Colbert stimulated industries with luxury goods and Napoleon drove it with war. Though it both failed to drive the French economy to industrialized, the skills and experience gained from them built the blocks for the industrialization of the 19th century.

Fundamental Changes

Between the time of Colbert and Napoleon, the French Revolution of the 1789 finally altered the French socio-political-economic landscape that allowed for industrialization.

The Revolution changed land ownership. Lands confiscated from the clergy and nobility turned over to the peasantry. The Napoleonic Code abolished guilds and local customs duties, thus liberalizing crafts and industries as well as expanding the domestic market.

An opportunity to innovate and to drive demand remained the key ingredient needed. Louis XVIII imposed high tariffs on imports that made local industries complacent and retarded innovation. Furthermore, agricultural exports proved to be profitable and industries remained neglected.  This changed, however, during the 1830s.

French Industrialization via Railroads

A monarchy and another Napoleon drove forward France’s industrialization. Wonders of the railroad in Britain reached France and the need to maintain a balance of power triggered Paris. Vanity and power contributed in the take-off French industrial growth.

King Louis-Philippe ruled France from 1830 to 1848. He hoped to be a progressive monarch. So, when the hype for railroads in Great Britain reached him. He decided to forward his credential by supporting this modern technology.

Back in the 1827, the St. Etienne-Andrezieux railroad line opened under Louis-Philippe’s predecessor. But under Louis-Philippe, he gave the industry steroids by declaring his patronage of the industry with the establishment of new networks. The railroad industry boomed.

In 1848, Louis-Philippe fell from power and arose Louis Napoleon later on Napoleon III, nephew of the conquering Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon III had a flare form recreating his uncle’s glory. He saw the railroad’s military potential. Thus, he continued his predecessor’s railroad fetish.

In numbers, between 1835 and 1844, 903 locomotives operated across France. By 1845 and 1854 it grew to 1,852. The expansion continued even after Napoleon III stepped down in 1870 and the Third Republic came to power. The Freycinet Plan between the 1870s and 1880s furthered the momentum of the network expansion.

This growth created a demand for various materials which gave many industries opportunities to profit. Several heavy industries exploited this. It, thus, powered the French industrialization.

Heavy Industries

Iron, steel, coal, and machinery industries benefited from the railroad boom. Centers of industries and new business families appeared. Ultimately making France as one of the most industrialized countries in the 19th century.

Railroad needed tracks made out of metal, i.e. iron and later steel. France already boasted an iron industry prior 1840s. In 1782, they inaugurated their first blast furnace and in 1820, they adopted British technology to cast iron. This resulted in increased production.

Men like Francois de Wendel drove the industry. In 1804 he started an iron forge using English technology that he learned as a refugee in England during the Revolution. He used steam engines in mining and smelting. The railroad boom propelled further his wealth up. His family became similar to a Korean chaebol creating the De Wendel industrial dynasty that remained active to this day as the Wendel S.E. By 1860, they employed 10,000 workers. They later expanded to railroad construction itself and shipbuilding.

The 1860s further saw increase in steel in iron output. The introduction of the hot blast method drove this. In numerical terms, from production 125,300 tons of iron in 1826, it stood to 1,250,000 tons by 1865, almost a 1,000% increase.

Steam engine powered locomotives, machines, and mines. It became the 19th century’s semiconductor, a strategic technology sustaining industries. French tradesmen brought the technology back from Great Britain just like De Wendel.

The use of steam engines further expanded with rising demand for locomotives. Growth in other industries also contributed. Petin & Gaudet for instance used steam engines to power hammers for making train tires. Hence, from 625 machines operating in 1830, it grew to 32,000 by 1875, about a 5,000% increase.

In this field, men like Eugene Schneider made a fortune. He bought the Le Creusot Metalworks and by 1838 introduced France’s first domestically produced locomotive, the Gironde. From metalworks and locomotives, Schneider’s family expanded to other industries including the arms industry. They became France’s champion against Germany’s Krupp. Like the De Wendel, the Schneiders became an industrial dynasty and from them came out Schneider Electric.

As steam engines equals to a semiconductor, coal represents the oil of the industrial age. With the rise of steam engines, so as the need for coal. In 1789, France needed 450,000 tons of coal and locally produced 230,000 tons, by 1850, it grew to a demand of 7.2 million tons with domestic sources accounting to 4.4 million tons. 1,600% increase in demand and about 1,900% increase in domestic production.

The Textile Industry

Textile became a staple of industrialization stories. For France, it saw leaps and bounds, but the competitor remained strong.

The French textile industry came later due to the strong market share of cheap British made fabrics. They carved a niche in high-end luxury goods, hence the less need for machinery and industrial scale production. Nevertheless, technology advanced. From 1830 to 1860, British spindle techniques led to 200% increase in textile production.

In 1830, Barthelemy Thimonnier invented the sewing machine. His invention caught the eye of the French military who contracted him to make uniforms. To meet his obligations, he established a factory with 80 sewing machines. His factory, however, angered local weavers who destroyed his facility. He rebuilt his factory in 1848, but it too went down. The ventures left him broken and he passed away poor.

Regional Development

The rise of industries and wealthy families saw towns and regions becoming growth hubs. Mainly due to close proximity to raw materials. Names of cities and towns became synonymous to various industries.

For textile, Lyon continued to be a center of silk while Rouen in Normandy became famous for cotton. Roubaix in Lille became textile manufacturing hub. Melhouse took the dye industry.

Heavy industries developed in the region of Alsace-Lorraine due to its abundance in coal and iron deposits. The De Wendel family, in fact, came from Lorraine. Saint-Chamond and Le Creusot also shared a piece of industrial pie with the latter hosting the Schneider family.

In 1873, the lost of the Alsace-Lorraine region dented French industries, nevertheless, onward to progress.

Later Industrial Developments

With the dawn of the latter half of the 19th century, more industries, especially in metals and machinery emerged. France became a major player in these industries.

The development of electrometallurgy, especially aluminum, boosted French industries. The Hall-Heroult process contributed to the growth. Electrochemistry, which led to development of batteries also took place in France.

Finally, the dawn of automobile came and famous French brands appeared. In 1891, Arman Peaugot established a company the bare his name began operations with assistance from Gottlieb Daimler and Emile Levassor. Do not forget Renault which began operation in 1898 with its quadricycles.

France became a major power in the world, though it failed to take the top spot from Britain and then later Germany followed by the United States of America.

Challenges in French Industrialization

No doubt that France industrialized in the 19th century and became an economic power. It failed, though, in becoming No. 1 for several reasons. Questions even exists if France experienced an industrial revolution.

First, political upheaval, even to this day, damaged the economy. In 1760s France matched Great Britain. Revolutions, from the French Revolution to 1848 Revolution, along with the Napoleonic Wars distracted the French from a sustainable industrialization.

Second, France suffered shortages in resources needed for industrialization, especially coal and iron. While Great Britain transitioned to coal, France kept using the more expensive charcoal to power machineries. Even with the discovery of coal fields, the quality stood inferior to British coal.

Then came problems in transportation. Despite canal projects that connected rivers and seas, it failed to create a massive network that lowers shipping cost. The dismal quality of roads across Europe also contributed to this.

Finally, agriculture remained a main source of sustenance. The land reforms of the Revolution kept most in farms rather than in factories. In 1806, 65.1% of the population worked in agriculture. By 1896, it decreased to 42.5% of the populations. Nevertheless, it remained as a top employer.

In 1806, population working in industries stood at 20.4%. By 1896, it grew to 31.4%, but still lower than agriculture.

With agriculture still employing most French, the number of workers available remained low, thus wages stood higher than those of Great Britain. Only with the 1840s, notoriously dubbed as the Hungry Forties, triggered a surplus in labor causing wages to fall.

With the huge share of agriculture in employment followed by limitations in resources, some doubt if France experienced an industrial revolution. A paper from Calcutta University said, “One can say France witnessed industrialization, but not an industrial revolution.”

Summing Up

In just 2 centuries, France transformed from a medieval economic system to a major industrialized power.

From an economy dominated by nobility and mercantilism, it witnessed patches of growth in industry driven by luxury and war. But it sowed the seeds of skills and experience where the addition of technology and government support led to industrial growth.

The marvel of railroads, national pride, and military necessity finally pushed various industries forward and the adoption of latest technologies. Heavy industries grew just as some families and regions.

Nevertheless, challenges remained such as in the case of textile that remained dominated by the British or the loss of Alsace-Lorraine in 1873. Limitations in resources, lack of good transportation and finally political instability lagged France behind its neighbors most especially Great Britain and Germany.

Despite its challenges, France industrialized and became a great power by the end of the 19th century. It built progress and prosperity that gave birth to the era dubbed as Belle Epoque.

Update History: Rewritten on March 10, 2024

See also:

Great Spurt

Industrial Revolution: Belgium

Industrial Revolution: Germany 
Industrial Revolution: Japan

Bibliography:

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Berand, Ivan. An Econoic History of Nineteenth-Century Europe: Diversity and Industrialization. New York, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Carlock, Randel. Strategic Planning for the Family Business: Parallel Planning to Unify the Family and Business. New York, New York: Palgrave, 2001.

Caron, Francois. An Economic History of Modern France. New York, New York: Routledge, 1979.

Caron, Francois. "France: Modern Period" in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, Volume 1, Joel Mokyr (ed.). New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Klooster, John. Icons of Invention: The Makers of the Modern World From Guttenberg to Gates. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2009.

Inventors and Inventions. Tarrytown, New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2008. 

"Industrial History: France." European Route of Industrial Heritage. Accessed on March 30, 2015. http://www.erih.net/industrial-history/france.html  

"Industrial Revolution France." University of Calcutta. Accessed on March 10, 2024. URL: https://www.caluniv.ac.in/academic/History/Study/IR-France.pdf