Middle-Class Anti-Commercialism in the French Revolution

vichy · Number of posts: 918 Location: Northwest US Registration date: 2008-07-26

Quote:

The result of these new forces was the Anglo-French commercial treaty of 1786 (often called the Eden Treaty, after the name of its English negotiator), which put an end to the hundred years' commercial war between the two western powers. During the negotiations Pitt had stood firmly on his ground, with the result that in the final settlement the British forced compliance with practically all their demands, while the French allowed nearly all theirs to drop. Customs duties were lowered all along the line, usually down to 10 or 15 per cent. of the value of the goods, and prohibitions on imports were abolished. On the other hand, almost the only British industry which was still uneasy about French competition, namely, the silk industry, had its demands respected to the extent of nothing less than a total prohibition on the importation of French silks into England.

But it was soon to prove that this somewhat belated breach with the century-old restrictive policy had no support in French public opinion, least of all in industrial circles. Indeed, one may go so far as to say that it was precisely this departure from the tradition of commercial war that led to a renewal of the old policy after the French Revolution. The Eden Treaty, which was signed less than three years before the convening of the French States General on May 5, 1789, in fact occupied almost from the very beginning a foremost place in the long list of sins imputable to the ancien régime. The French textile industries, especially the cotton industry, had as early as the 'eighties managed to benefit by the great technical revolution in England, mainly by attracting British foremen and machinery to French mills; but, naturally enough, they were not yet anything like equal to their teacher.

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Moreover, it has been observed that Robespierre, one of the sworn enemies of Great Britain during the Revolution, was a representative of the province of Artois and in such capacity voiced the dislike that was there fostered against British competition.

The Continental System: An Economic Interpretation by Eli Filip Heckscher, 1922

I swear, every day I find out something retarded about the French revolutionaries.

Alex

Lol, Vichy. Don't give up the fight! Vive la revolucion!

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vichy wrote:

I swear, every day I find out something retarded about the French revolutionaries.

Weren't they into establishing fiat currency as well?

vichy · Number of posts: 918 Location: Northwest US Registration date: 2008-07-26

"Weren't they into establishing fiat currency as well?"
Yes.