Article from the London School of Economics about the effect of Napoleonās protectionism (Continental System)
Can temporary protection from trade with advanced economies foster the development of āinfant industriesā in developing countries? Reka Juha
Really fascinating excerpt:
āOn the eve of the French Revolution in 1789, there were only 900 spinning jennies in France, while Britain boasted 18,000.
During the 10 Āyear period of the blockade, cotton production capacity in the new technology quadrupled in France. But development was regionally uneven (see Figure 2). Consistent with increased protection in northern regions of the French Empire, spinning capacity in those regions increased enormously, while firms in areas around the Spanish border went bankrupt.ā
The article explains how the northern ports of Europe were the ones that most complied with the continental blockade, whereas the blockade was not successful in Spain due to the Spanish insurgency against Napoleonic rule, which is why their firms went bankrupt.
The author also says that there was enduring impact of the blockade decades later:
āAs late as 1850, more than three decades after the end of Napoleonic rule, Belgium and France, two areas of the empire that enjoyed high levels of protection from British trade, had larger cotton industries than other European countries. Most strikingly, the domestic cotton industry was generally small in countries that had been exposed to higher levels of British competition throughout the blockade.ā
