Pierrick Pourchasse

Military entrepreneurs and the development of the French economy in the eighteenth century

Abstract In the eighteenth century, a few military entrepreneurs with connections to the secretary of state of the navy developed large companies in order to meet the needs of the French state, which included a naval fleet fit to compete with its enemies. One of these entrepreneurs was Babaud de la Chaussade. While initially specialising in timber supply, his enterprise came to monopolise anchor manufacturing and owned one of the largest iron foundries in France. For over 30 years, Babaud’s enterprise had a presence in all the naval and French East India Company markets for iron products. The enterprise was bought by the French state at the end of the eighteenth century and survived until the end of the twentieth century.

Danish shipping in the Mediterranean during the Revolutionary wars (1793–1795)

During the French Revolutionary Wars, Denmark benefited from neutrality to develop its navigation across the globe. In Europe, the Danish shipowners developed their tramping activities, taking freight from port to port. The Mediterranean, where demand in freight was high, was part of the traditional circuit of Danish ships. Despite pressure from the British government, the authorities of Copenhagen maintained their neutrality during the conflict. Shipowners used various techniques to neutralize their business and transport goods between all European ports. For neutral merchants, wartime was a period of great prosperity because of the increased demand and the high prices and freight. This article focuses on the operations of the Danish merchant fleet in the Mediterranean, and highlights the great prosperity of the Danish mercantile marine during this period.

Speculations and Embargoes on the Grain Trade at the Time of the Revolutionary Wars ( 1792–1795)

In 1793. a grain crisis touched France as major European powers joined forces to combat the new Republic- In addition to the military conflict, a real fwar on hunger’ took place involving four actors. First, the revolutionary government; it understood that the grain supply was essential to the sur- vival of the regime. For the working classes, bread had become a right and the authorities had the duty to ensure the right to obtain subsistence. Any failure led naturally to riots that the revolutionary government desperately wanted to avoid. Second, England, which asserted that the French Republic was not legitimate, decided ‘to starve the rebels’ and, contrary to all the rules of neutral trade, put an embargo on all foodstuffs to France. In the North Sea, the English Channel and the Mediterranean, British ships led a veritable hunt against vessels loaded with grain, but also stockfish, rice and so on. Third, grain-producing countries who naturally wanted to sell their surplus to France; their interest increased as the French demand led to rising prices that offered great opportunities for speculators. These countries were in Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic and North Seas, but also in the Mediterranean (North Africa, Morea, Sicily, the Levant). Fourth, the neutral northern powers who understood that they could make a lot of profit from the needs of France by organizing trade and providing transport between producer countries and France; the merchants of Hamburg and Copenhagen belonged to the only neutral maritime powers (with the USA) that had the fleets and the capital to meet French demand.

Navigocorpus, a database for shipping information. A methodological and technical introduction

Navigocorpus is a database which stores information about shipping information from the XVIth century on. Each travel is stored as a list of chronologically ordered points (ports and high-sea points). Any kind of information items (taxes paid, cargo items loaded and unloaded, commercial operations, sea hazards, characterization of the point or of the ship, etc.) can be linked to any point. The result is a highly flexible and powerful tool. Any kind of extra information can be inserted at any moment, from original sources or existing databases. Navigocorpus is based on FileMaker. Any kind of data processing is allowed. It was elaborated as part of a French ANR research project, and is based on FileMaker.

Temps et grand cabotage européen. L’exemple de la navigation dans les mers du Nord de l’Europe

L’une des premieres exigences d’une entreprise d’armement est de perdre le moins de temps possible pour multiplier les voyages des navires. Cependant, a l’epoque moderne, le temps est difficile a maitriser, que ce soit le temps passe sur la mer qui est subi par le navire ou le temps passe dans les ports qu’il est difficile de prevoir. Face a cette situation, le monde du negoce essaie de reduire l’incertitude du voyage par differents moyens. Au xviiiesiecle, la productivite des navires s’accroit grâce a des progres techniques mais aussi en raison d’une meilleure gestion du facteur temps.

La Vierge contre les Anglais : mémoire d’un non-événement (Lorient, 1746)

Au cours de la periode moderne, la Vierge vient regulierement au secours des fideles catholiques agresses par l’ennemi protestant. En 1746, lors de la guerre de Succession d’Autriche, l’armee britannique suspend le siege de la ville de Lorient alors que les autorites municipales s’appretent a capituler. La mauvaise preparation de l’operation explique ce depart precipite mais pour les Lorientais l’evenement est incomprehensible. En l’absence de toute raison permettant de comprendre la fuite de l’ennemi, le recours au divin devient l’explication admise. Pour les habitants de Lorient, la Vierge est intervenue pour sauver la ville. Tres rapidement la memoire sacralise l’evenement qui se transforme en grande victoire contre l’ennemi britannique. Au cours des siecles suivants, l’utilisation de l’affaire de la descente anglaise, offre un exemple des conflits entre l’histoire telle qu’elle s’est reellement deroulee et la memoire, c’est-a-dire l’histoire telle que les hommes, ou un certain nombre d’entre eux, voudraient qu’elle soit.