The ‘Palladium of prosperity’: Lobbying between Marseilles and Paris from the revolution to the restoration (1789-1817)

Abstract

This article investigates the multifaceted lobbying activities carried out by the Chamber of Commerce of Marseilles (CoC) from the French Revolution to the Restoration periods (ca. 1789-1817). Part of historical literature recognises this crucial period as the birth of modern-day lobbyism. I will examine the long and heated political debates regarding the free port of Marseilles, definitively abolished in 1817, through the strategies employed by the CoC to preserve it. These strategies encompassed sending delegates to Paris, discreetly engaging with state councillors and ministers, disseminating pamphlets and songs, as well as consolidating influence on municipal and regional powers. Freedom of trade in this context was paradoxically intertwined with the local merchants’ monopoly on the lucrative French Levant trade, alongside the prosperity of hinterland manufacturing facilitated by mercantilist policies.