France

Gerschenkron’s appraisal of French economic growth reflects what was probably the mainstream view among scholars in the 1950s. The period of both the Bourbon Restoration and the so-called Bourgeois Monarchy,’ he says, ‘must be regarded as one of relative stagnation’ (Gerschenkron 1968:265). Thereafter, he pinpointed a ‘spurt’ during the 1850s which, however, ‘could not be sustained and the French industrial economy continued at a rather slow pace until some acceleration occurred in the years immediately preceding the outbreak of war in 1914’ (Gerschenkron 1968:266). Over the whole of the century, French economic performance is judged as ‘unimpressive’. Among the various retarding factors that were then discussed by the literature on the subject, Gerschenkron stresses the character of the ‘French family farms’ and an ill-advised tariff policy (Gerschenkron 1968:268).