Les voies de passage vers la société industrielle en Grande-Bretagne et en France (1780-1914)

This article treats the comparative development of French and British economies during the nineteenth century. The focus is on the production of material goods, and the productivities in industry and agriculture are the principal indices under consideration. Our findings indicate that despite the French lateness in adopting factory technology, industrial productivity did not lag behind British levels, due mainly to a specialisation in French industry in more skill-intensive, luxury products. In agriculture, however, there was a significant British lead which resulted from a higher land-labour ratio and the consequent importance of animal husbandry. A larger area devoted to new crops of animal feed implied greater traction power and fertiliser availability. In both industry and agriculture, however, the variances in patterns of production may ultimately be traced to the major structural difference whereby French peasants remained in their villages, holding small properties while the British countryside was enclosed by landlords, pushing the population to crowded cities. The specific path of development that Britain followed as a result of this historical transformation should not be considered the intrinsically 'correct' path which serves to judge alternative patterns of development as 'retarded' or 'backward'O'Brien Patrick K., Keyder Caglar. Les voies de passage vers la société industrielle en Grande-Bretagne et en France (1780-1914). In: Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations. 34ᵉ année, N. 6, 1979. pp. 1284-1303