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Experiences of conversion: The French automobile firms Renault and Berliet from First to Second World Wars |
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| Autor:
Peter Leßmann-Faust |
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| Jahr:
2009 |
Heftnummer:
2 |
Seite(n):
202-221 |
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The First World War accelerated the growth of the French automobile industry in a number of ways, including the physical size of the production plant, machinery and equipment, the labour force, and diversity and depth of production. The first French tank was brought into military service by Louis Renault’s automobile firm in the Paris region. Most important for the supply of the army was the truck. At the end of the war, Marius Berliet’s automobile firm in Lyon accounted for two thirds of French industry’s output of trucks.
The French automobile industry was at a disadvantage in the period after 1918 since the French vehicle market was flooded by ex-military passenger cars and by used American trucks. In addition to that, Renault had not planned for the postwar-period, was very hesitant in modernizing its plants and machinery and also had to face rapid success from a new competitor, Citroën. Berliet suffered from poor planning, introducing a passenger car with a weak chassis due to soft steel onto the market. The “Popular Front” government’s transport policy favoured public and rail transport rather than individual road users.
The attempts of prime ministers Daladier and Reynaud to arm France for the Second World War encountered reluctance from patrons Louis Renault and Marius Berliet, who were still not at ease with the clashes of labour relations and social policy during the “popular front”-years 1936 until 1936. Wishing to participate in the economic upturn in 1938, they did not want to be burdened with armaments production based on government orders. Finally, in autumn 1939, the government sent state commissioners to Berliet and Renault to force them to manufacture for the French army.
During the German occupation of France 1940 to 1944, both firms seem to have willingly followed the orders of the Nazi regime to produce vehicles for the German war machine. The French post-war government presented a bill for this behaviour immediately after the liberation of France: Both Renault and Berliet were nationalized, although Berliet only for a short period of time.
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