L'analyse économique de la question coloniale en France (1870-1914)

Despite the deep resistance of economists to colonial expansion, the colonial phenomenon had numerous ardent supporters amongst the political, intellectual and industrial circles of Second Empire France. This pro-colonialist position would further blossom during the first years of the Third Republic, embodied in particular by the existence of a colonialist party ; it was at this time that a true doctrine of French imperialism was founded. Amongst economist writings of the time, one text stands out, De la colonisation chez les peuples modernes by Paul Leroy-Beaulieu (1874), a book which would see multiple editions, with the 6th and final one published in 1908. This book would be the catalyst for debates amongst economists. The great paradox is that these key politicians, Jules Ferry in particular, would defend colonial expansion on the basis of primarily economic arguments ? ?Colonial policy is the daughter of industrial policy? although most economists themselves were opposed to such endeavours. The purpose of this paper will be to analyse the debate amongst economists and to understand why the importance of this economic thought was minimised in French debates, in spite of the fact that colonisation was considered an appendage of political economics, and finally, we will explore the extent to which this issue led to advances in economic theory.