Thirty Glorious Years
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''Les Trente Glorieuses'' (; 'The Glorious Thirty') was a thirty-year period of economic growth in France between 1945 and 1975, following the end of the Second World War. The name was first used by the French demographer
Jean Fourastié Jean Fourastié (; 15 April 1907 in Saint-Benin-d'Azy, Nièvre - 25 July 1990 in Douelle, Lot) was a French civil servant, economist, professor and public intellectual. He coined the expression ''Trente Glorieuses'' ("the glorious thirty ears) ...
, who coined the term in 1979 with the publication of his book ''Les Trente Glorieuses, ou la révolution invisible de 1946 à 1975'' ('The Glorious Thirty, or the Invisible Revolution from 1946 to 1975'). The term is derived from '' Les Trois Glorieuses'' ('The Glorious Three'), the three days of revolution on 27–29 July 1830 in France. As early as 1944, Charles de Gaulle introduced a dirigiste economic policy, which included substantial state-directed control over a capitalist economy. This was followed by thirty years of unprecedented growth, known as the ''Trente Glorieuses''. Over this thirty-year period, France's economy grew rapidly like economies of other developed countries within the framework of the
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
, such as
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and Japan. These decades of economic prosperity combined high productivity with high average wages and high consumption, and were also characterized by a highly developed system of social benefits. According to various studies, the real purchasing power of the average French worker's salary went up by 170% between 1950 and 1975, while overall private consumption increased by 174% in the period 1950–74. The French standard of living, which had been damaged by both
World War A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...
s, became one of the world's highest. The population also became far more urbanized; many rural
départements A department (, ) is an administrative or political division in several countries. Departments are the first-level divisions of 11 countries, nine in the Americas and two in Africa. An additional 10 countries use departments as second-level div ...
experienced a population decline while the larger metropolitan areas grew considerably, especially that of
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. Ownership of various household goods and amenities increased considerably, while the wages of the French working class rose significantly as the economy became more prosperous. As noted by the historians Jean Blondel and Donald Geoffrey Charlton in 1974,
If it is still the case that France lags in the number of its telephones, working-class housing has improved beyond recognition and the various 'gadgets' of the consumer society–from television to motor cars–are now purchased by the working class on an even more avid basis than in other Western European countries.
Up until the 1973 oil crisis, the French economy had been faring smoothly. under François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac. The oil shock had signified the end of this period of explosive growth. In his book ''
Capital in the Twenty-First Century ''Capital in the Twenty-First Century'' (french: Le Capital au XXIe siècle) is a book written by French economist Thomas Piketty. It focuses on wealth and income inequality in Europe and the United States since the 18th century. It was initially ...
'', French economist
Thomas Piketty Thomas Piketty (; born 7 May 1971) is a French economist who is Professor of Economics at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Associate Chair at the Paris School of Economics and Centennial Professor of Economics in the I ...
describes the ''Trente Glorieuses'' as an exceptional 'catch up' period following the two world wars. He cites statistics showing that normal growth in wealthy countries is about 1.5–2%, whereas in Europe growth dropped to 0.5% between 1913 and 1950, and then 'caught up' with a growth rate of 4% between 1950 and 1970, until settling back to 1.5–2% from 1970 onward.


See also

*
Economic history of France Economic history of France since its late-18th century Revolution was tied to three major events and trends: the Napoleonic Era, the competition with Britain and its other neighbors in regards to 'industrialization', and the 'total wars' of the l ...
* Japanese post-war economic miracle * Miracolo economico *
Post–World War II economic expansion The post–World War II economic expansion, also known as the postwar economic boom or the Golden Age of Capitalism, was a broad period of worldwide economic expansion beginning after World War II and ending with the 1973–1975 recession. The ...
*
Record years The record years ( sv, Rekordåren) is a period in the economy of Sweden, dating from the international post–World War II economic expansion to the 1973 oil crisis, and largely coinciding with the mandates of prime ministers Tage Erlander and ...
* Spanish miracle *
Wirtschaftswunder The ''Wirtschaftswunder'' (, "economic miracle"), also known as the Miracle on the Rhine, was the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II (adopting an ordoliberalism-based social ma ...


References


Further reading

* * Volkmar Lauber, ''The political economy of France: from Pompidou to Mitterrand'' (Praeger Publishers, 1983). {{Economic miracle and tiger economy 1940s economic history 1950s economic history 1960s economic history 1970s economic history 1940s in France 1950s in France 1960s in France 1970s in France Contemporary French history Economic history of France Economic booms Post–World War II economic booms es:Treinta gloriosos