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The administration of ponts et chaussées at the first half of the French Revolution: The question of centralization in the relationship of Paris-départements

  • Korean Review of French History
  • Abbr : KRFH
  • 2019, (40), pp.83~114
  • DOI : 10.51786/RCHF.2019.02.40.83
  • Publisher : KOREAN SOCIETY FOR FRENCH HISTORY
  • Research Area : Humanities > History
  • Received : January 15, 2019
  • Accepted : February 10, 2019
  • Published : February 28, 2019

Kim, Daebo 1

1한국교원대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This article aims to highlight the administration of ponts et chaussées under the French Revolution, which has long been ignored in historiography. At the beginning of the Revolution, in order to establish the New Regime, the revolutionaries put themselves in the administrative reform including the ponts et chaussées. Convinced by the need to have ‘one administration’ for the maintenance and repair of roads that represent the general interest, the revolutionaries centralize the administration of ponts et chaussées around the Corps des ponts et chaussées created in 1716 by removing all public works institutions of pays d’Etats. In the wartime circumstances, the financing of roads, which was first in charge of department in 1791 because of the financial crisis, was also centralized in the name of the Republic’s salvation, for which the revolutionaries were forced to take all possible measures. At the same time, the central administration strengthens the inspection on finances and imposes standardized management system in all departments. Thus, the administration of bridges and roads is included in the standardization caused by the Revolution, and it can be seen as an aspect of strengthening the administrative domination of the central power upon the department.

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