Military entrepreneurs and the development of the French economy in the eighteenth century

Abstract

In the eighteenth century, a few military entrepreneurs with connections to the secretary of state of the navy developed large companies in order to meet the needs of the French state, which included a naval fleet fit to compete with its enemies. One of these entrepreneurs was Babaud de la Chaussade. While initially specialising in timber supply, his enterprise came to monopolise anchor manufacturing and owned one of the largest iron foundries in France. For over 30 years, Babaud’s enterprise had a presence in all the naval and French East India Company markets for iron products. The enterprise was bought by the French state at the end of the eighteenth century and survived until the end of the twentieth century.