Research Catalog

Title

Planning the French canals : bureaucracy, politics, and enterprise under the Restoration / Reed G. Geiger.

Author

Geiger, Reed G.

Publication

Newark : University of Delaware Press ; London ; Cranbury, NJ : Associated University Presses, [1994], ©1994.

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Holdings

Details

Description

338 pages : maps; 24 cm

Summary

• The Becquey Program is one of the landmarks of French transport history. Francois Becquey, the politician/bureaucrat who was the director of the Bureau des ponts et chaussees, believed that the canal acts of 1821 and 1822 would finally provide a national network of mainline canals.
• He expected these canals to stimulate economic development, thereby allowing France to "catch up" with Britain, whose dense canal network was seemingly a necessary condition for its recent triumphs in the marketplace as well as on the battlefield.
• The Becquey Program has never been studied in detail, yet it is clearly one of the major landmarks in French transportation history. Its history is an opportunity to reexamine two of the oldest and most debated issues in modern French history: the alleged weakness of French economic liberalism and the putative backwardness of the French economy.
• The story of the Becquey Program also provides insight into the mentality and behavior of the haute banque of Paris, Becquey's own state corps of engineers, and the deputies of the French legislature - three overlapping elements among the emerging elite of notables who dominated political, social, and economic life during the Restoration.
• Finally, in a comparative framework, the debate over the canals led to an examination of the inadequacy of a British model and to a rehearsal of the arguments about state economic policy that the next generation would revive.

Subject

• Canals > France > History > 19th century
• Business enterprises > France > History > 19th century

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 309-327) and index.

Contents

• 1. Introduction. The Canal Age in France. The Belief in Economic Liberalism. The Concept of Economic Backwardness. Other Perspectives - Historiography, Railroads, and England -- 2. The French Canals to 1815: An Ambiguous Tradition. The Old Regime: From Pioneer to Laggard. Revolution and Empire: Dreams and Realities -- 3. Becquey's First Years in Office: Economic Liberalism in Theory and Practice. Theories of Economic Liberalism in the Early Restoration. Economic Liberalism at Work in 1817-18 -- 4. Becquey's Men: Proteges and Counselors. Joseph Michael Dutens and England as Model. Joseph Louis Etienne Cordier and the Nord as Model. Barnabe Brisson and the "Etat des depenses" -- 5. The Report to the King. Geography: A Network of grandes lignes. Finances: Ideals and Practicalities -- 6. Negotiating the Contracts: Bankers and Ministers. Plot, Scene, and Cast. The 1821 Contracts. The 1822 Contracts -- 7. The Chamber of Deputies in 1821-22: Process, Politics, People. Politics.
• Introduction of the Bills and Reports of the Commissions. The Debaters: Occupation, Geography, Party -- 8. Commonalities: Utilite, Esprit d'association. Grandes lignes. The Utility of a Canal Network: The Language of Advantage. The Spirit of Association and the English Model: Capitalistes, Speculateurs, Entrepreneurs. Grandes lignes and Economic Realities: The Layout of the Network -- 9. Differences: The Financial System. The Debate over Procedure: The Search for Companies. The Debate over Terms: The "Onerous" Contracts -- 10. The Results: Success and Failure of the Becquey Program.

ISBN

0874135273 (alk. paper)

LCCN

94007829

OCLC

• 30033009
• ocm30033009

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries