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Les conséquences des guerres de la Révolution et de l'Empire pour l'économie britannique (1793-1815)

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  • François M. Crouzet

Abstract

[eng] The impact of the french wars on the british economy. . Any attempt at isolating the economic impact of the Wars from the process of the Industrial Revolution and other factors runs into serious difficultes, since it implies counterfactual statements about what would have happened if peace had been maintained. The most obvions effect was the dislocation of international trade ; British trade, however, even though it suffered some major slumps, was able to rebound sharply after each ol them. Another aspect of the war period was a strong and protracted inflation ; « supply shocks », corresponding to harvest failures, were the direct origin of most upward jumps, but war was the basic factor of the rising trend, through the mobilisation, the outburst of military expenses and foreign remittances, inconvertibility, floating exchange rates and lax monetary policier ; the monetarist explanation of inflation retains its basic validity. Agricultural production benefited from rising prices and irnproving terms of trade, but at the expense of the rest of the economy. The impact of the war on the development of British industries is much more difficult to ascertain and ambivalent, but the accumulation of industrial capital undoubtedly suffered at least sorne « crowding ont » by heavy government borrowing. Overdramatic views of the period should be dismissed. War did not jeopardize the process of the Industrial Revolution, neither was it an aecelerator of economic progress. It strengthened, however, the British advantage in relation to the Continent. England was to remain the only super-power during the 19th centnry, but she was already an « advanced » and « rich » country betore the Wars. [fre] Les conséquences des guerres de la Révolution et de l'Empire pour l'économie britannique (1793-1815). . Les répercussions des French Wars sur l'économie britannique sont difficiles à dissocier du processus de la révolution industrielle et de l'influence d'autres facteurs ; on ne peut tenter d'isoler leurs effets qu'en recourant à des hypothèses contractuelles sur ce qui serait advenu en l'absence de guerres. La dislocation des échanges internationaux est le résultat le plus évident du conflit ; mais le commerce britannique, malgré de sévères reculs temporaires, poursuit sa progression à long terme. La période des guerres se caractérise aussi par une inflation prolongée ; les flèches de prix correspondent en général à des récoltes déficitaires, mais la hausse de long terme est imputable à la guerre ; elle est liée à la mobilisation, mais aussi à la très forte croissance des dépenses militaires et des paiements extérieurs, à l'inconvertibilité, à la politique monétaire expansionniste et à la dépréciation du change, et l'explication monétariste de l'inflation peut être tenue pour fondamentalement valable. L'agriculture est l'un des seuls secteurs à bénéficier sans ambiguïté d'une impulsion due à la guerre, à travers la hausse des prix et l'amélioration des termes de l'échange vis-à-vis de l'industrie ; mais l'accélération de sa croissance implique un détournement de ressources au détriment des autres secteurs. La guerre exerce, au contraire, des effets ambivalents sur le développement industriel, et la résultante est difficile à établir. Mais il est hors de doute que les emprunts publics ont exercé, dans une certaine mesure, un effet d'éviction sur l'accumulation du capital industriel. Au total, on doit écarter les vues extrêmes sur cène période. La guerre n'a ni bloqué la révolution industrielle, ni accéléré la croissance. Mais elle a renforcé la supériorité britannique sur le Continent. L'Angleterre, qui était déjà auparavant une nation « avancée » et « riche », émerge de la guerre comme l'unique superpuissance du XIXe siècle.

Suggested Citation

  • François M. Crouzet, 1989. "Les conséquences des guerres de la Révolution et de l'Empire pour l'économie britannique (1793-1815)," Revue Économique, Programme National Persée, vol. 40(6), pages 1119-1136.
  • Handle: RePEc:prs:reveco:reco_0035-2764_1989_num_40_6_409188
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    1. Williamson, Jeffrey G., 1984. "Why Was British Growth So Slow During the Industrial Revolution?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(3), pages 687-712, September.
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