Wars, Blockade, and Economic Change in Europe, 1792–1815

Abstract

The wars which raged almost continuously from 1792 to 1815 and which are generally, but not quite properly, called in English the Napoleonic wars, are the longest period of warfare which Europe has known since the early eighteenth century, and as they took place at a crucial stage of economic development, when the Industrial Revolution had just taken off in England and when its preliminary stirrings were showing in various places of the Continent, their impact upon the growth of industry in Continental Europe was quite serious. Unlike the twentieth-century world wars, the Napoleonic wars were not marked by large-scale physical destruction; though the productive potential of some towns or districts suffered from military operations or civil disturbances, such destruction was quite limited in space and time. On the other hand, most European countries suffered during the wars from bouts of paper-money inflation, which had undoubtedly serious consequences—especially in France during the Revolution, when the working capital of many merchants and manufacturers was destroyed through the combination of a sharp rise in their costs, of price control under the maximum, and of payment of government orders in depreciated assignats. Also, the diversion of resources to military purposes and the heavy burden of taxation and exactions must not be underestimated.

A Cervejaria Brahma e os investimentos alemães no Brasil durante as duas Guerras Mundiais

“…Em particular, o estreitamento do intercâmbio comercial que decorreu da integração dos mercados na economia mundial do século XIX ofereceu meios para atingir de modo mais profundo os interesses mercantis de inimigos em caso de guerra (Crouzet, 1964).…”

“…Em particular, o estreitamento do intercâmbio comercial que decorreu da integração dos mercados na economia mundial do século XIX ofereceu meios para atingir de modo mais profundo os interesses mercantis de inimigos em caso de guerra (Crouzet, 1964).Entretanto, nas primeiras décadas do século XX, o alcance dos interesses europeus nas Américas, o volume dos negócios e a presença de capitais em forma fi nanceira ou industrial em outros países tornaram mais complexa a tarefa de asfi xiar economicamente o inimigo, e até mesmo saber quais seriam os verdadeiros proprietários das empresas.Este é um artigo de acesso aberto, licenciado por Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 3.0), sendo permitidas reprodução, adaptação e distribuição desde que o autor e a fonte originais sejam creditados. …”

Europe and the Causes of Globalization, 1790 to 2000

“…This last effect is the primary reason why wars (or Great Depressions) have such long-lasting consequences: industries which have grown up under such hothouse conditions tend to require protection to survive, and whenever wars end they leave powerful protectionist coalitions in their wake. Thus, according to Crouzet (1964) Viewed in this context, a key institutional innovation which ushered in the long 19 th century, and helped make it the canonical period of globalization, was the international system instituted by the Congress of Vienna, which marked the end of an unusually bloody, lengthy, and worldwide conflict. In Paul Schroeder's view, the political equilibrium which ensued arose from "a mutual consensus on norms and rules, respect for law, and an overall balance among the various actors in terms of rights, security, status, claims, duties and satisfactions rather than power" (Schroeder 1992, p. 694).…”

Commodity Market Integration, 1500-2000

“…In a classic article, François Crouzet (1964) industries which had prospered under these wartime circumstances were unlikely to favor peacetime moves towards free trade; the effects of the war-time shock were thus to prove quite persistent, with path-dependence being induced by the political process.…”