The Short-Lived Revival of the Mechanical Engineering Industry in the Paris Region 1939–1958

Abstract

Reactivated by the drive for rearmament against Germany after 1935, the mechanical engineering industry in the Paris region survived the Vichy period (1940–1944) and post-war disturbances to blossom in the early 1950s. In the immediate post-war period, Parisian machine manufacturers profited from the absence of German firms in the global capital goods market, whereas the boom of consumer durables was just around the corner. In this sense, the 1950s was a period of transition. Before the emergence of the Common Market and the appearance in the provinces of large and fully operating assembly plants in the 1960s, small metalworking shops, traditionally located in the east end of Paris, managed to produce machines and mechanical parts in sufficient quantities and at suitable levels of quality, introducing technical innovations, specialising in particular activities and intensifying ties among themselves. After relevant statistical observations, this paper reviews company annual reports to sketch the growth of leading firms in each field of operation. It examines technological documents to clarify the practical innovations made by these small enterprises. It cites contemporary economic research in order to evaluate the capability of the production networks that appeared during the pre-war period of rearmament and show how they contributed to the post-war prosperity of French industry.

This chapter is a translation of an article that originally appeared in Shakai Keizai Shigaku 74(5) (Jan 2009), pp. 65–81.