The globalisation of France: Provincial cities and French expansion c. 1500–1800

This study of port cities, focusing on those on the Atlantic facade of France, argues that their economic significance cannot be understood within the canons of an insular French, or even European history. They were often case studies of the more general phenomenon of the early globalisation of Euro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:History of European ideas 2008-12, Vol.34 (4), p.424-430
Main Author: Drayton, Richard
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atlantic port cities
Cities
Colonial commerce
Diaspora
Early globalisation
Economic diasporas
France
Globalization
Imperialism
International Trade
Slave trade
Slavery
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Description
Summary:This study of port cities, focusing on those on the Atlantic facade of France, argues that their economic significance cannot be understood within the canons of an insular French, or even European history. They were often case studies of the more general phenomenon of the early globalisation of Europe. In particular, navigation, fishing, trade, and colonisation, depended not only on the seas and the port but also on the agrarian hinterlands. They were often determinative of national imperial expansion. Thus, the success of exports and imports were not necessarily judged on Atlantic crossings but rather on the supply and demand of national or European economies. Commerce did not end on the seashore, in a port, or even in a contraband network, but often deep within a nation’s hinterlands.
ISSN:0191-6599
1873-541X
DOI:10.1016/j.histeuroideas.2008.08.004