State capitalism and working class radicalism in the french aircraft industry

| STATE CAPITALISM AND WORKING-CLASS RADICALISM IN THE FRENCH AIRCRAFT INDUSTRY HERRICK CHAPMAN State Capitalism an Working-Class Rad’ ' ¡n the French Aircraft In ustry iThis One A 0K State Capitalism and Working-Class Radicalism in the French Aircraft Industry Herrick Chapman UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley Los Angeles Oxford University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd Oxford, England © 1991 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 90-10790 Chapman, Herrick CIP State capitalism and working-class radicalism in the French aircraft industry / Herrick Chapman cm Includes bibliographical references 1SBN 0-520-05958-0 (alk paper).—ISBN 0-520-07125-5 (pbk : alk paper) Aircraft industry—Government ownership—France Aircraft industry workers—France—Political activity I Title HD9711.F72C53 1991 338.4762913'0944—dce20 Printed in the United States of America 123456789 The paper used in this publication meets the imum requirements of American National Standard for Information ces—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI 239.48-1984 © To Liz Material com direitos autorais Contents LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS / ix ACKNOWLEDGMEN/TSxi ABBREVIATIO/NSxv UNTRODUCTIO/ N PART I+ PRIVATE ENTERPRISE IN DECLINE 1928-193/ 613 The Fai £ Industrial Ref The Revival of Working-Class Militancy / 43 PART II + AN INDUSTRY EMBATTLED, 1936-193/ 871 June ’36 / 75 ationalization / 10 PART III ° REARMAMENT, REPRESSION, AND WAR 1938-19/41049 5R, earmame/n1t53 Breaking the CGT / 175 The Eall of France / 212 PART IV + FROM VICHY TO THE COLD WAR 1940-19/520317 10 Building Airplanes for the Luftwaffe / 237 Liberation and Reform, 1944-1946 / 256 Toward a Postwar Industrial Order, 1947-1950 / 276 APPENDIX TABLES / 317 NOTES / 321 BIBLIOGRAPHY / 375 INDEX / 397 tủ Illustrations- CHART= Factory floor plan, at SNCAO in Bouguenais near Nantes / Z7x FIGURES Following page 147 Apprentices in training at an Amiot factory near Paris, c 1989-45 Air Minister Pierre Cot and state engineer Albert Caquot on a visit to the Soviet Union in 1937 Cartoon from L’Union des Métaux criticizing the sixty-hour week Assembly hall for building the Bréguet 691 bomber at the Bréguet factory in Vélizy-Villacoublay in 1939 Women at work building the Amiot 143 at the Amiot factory in 1939-40 Production line for the Dewoitine 520 at the SNCAM factory in Toulouse in 1940 Employee dining hall at the Amiot factory, c 1940 Gathering of the Patriotic Militia from the SNCASE factory on the streets of Toulouse to celebrate the Liberation in 1944 Air Minister Charles Tillon visiting the SNCASO plant at Chateauroux in 1945 10 “The SNECMA Strike, 1947,” by Willy Ronis MAPS Following figures Principal locations of aircraft factories in France in 1940 Principal locations of aircraft factories in the Paris region in 1940 Acknowledgments I wish to thank a few of the many people who have helped me in the course of this study Patrick Fridenson taught me, as he has so many scholars, how to navigate in the archives of twentieth-century France His encouragement more than once gave me the courage to persevere at the frontiers of public access Charles Tilly offered useful advice about how to proceed when I embarked on the project Tony Judt, Lynn Hunt, Robert Paxton, and George Ross all read the entire manuscript at crucial points in its preparation The book is much the better for their criticism, even as its shortcomings remain my own This study began as a doctoral dissertation at the University of Cali- fornia, Berkeley, where my dissertation director, Gerald Feldman, pro- vided wise counsel while encouraging me to follow my own convictions in shaping the work Reginald Zelnick gave the dissertation an unusually close reading, which helped me enormously in revising the manuscript, as did the suggestions of James Sheehan and Paul Robinson from Stan- ford University I have also benefited from friends and colleagues who read drafts or offered advice about how to work with my sources I wish particularly to thank Susanna Barrows, Barton Bernstein, Stephen Cohen, Patrick Fridenson, Gene Goldenfeld, Dena Goodman, Richard Kuisel, Joby Margadant, Ted Margadant, Walter McDougall, Aimée Moutet, Karen Offen, Catherine Omnés, Steve Owen, Paul Rabinow, Bill Reddy, and Michael Seidman Research on industrial life in a recent period in the French past de- pends entirely on the patience and support of busy archivists, labor of- ficials, and business executives willing to offer guidance, open doors, and make materials accessible I wish especially to thank Pierre Cézard, Yvonne Poulle, and Christine Pétillat at the Archives Nationales; Gen- eral Charles Christienne and M Lechoix at the Service Historique de xi xử ACKNOWLEDGMENTS YArmée de Air; Claude Lévy at the Comité d’Histoire de la Deuxième Guerre Mondiale; Marie-Geneviève Chevignard at the Fondation Na- tionale des Sciences Politiques; Annie Benhamou-Hirtz at the Union des Industries Métallurgiques et Miniéres; René Huot-Marchand and Claude Bresson at the Groupement des Industries Francaises Aéronau- tiques et Spatiales; Claude Acker, Mme Tubolique, and M Delacarte at Aérospatiale; General Pierre Gallois at the Société Marcel Dassault; Gen- eral de Bordas at the Fondation pour les Etudes de la Défense Natio- nale; Jeff Apter and Denise Rosencwajg at the CGT; M Imont and Mme Berthier at the Fédération des Travailleurs de la Métallurgie; Jacques Delys and Robert Corsin at the Comité Central d’Entreprise of SNECMA; Edouard Pivotsky and Henri Rieu at the Union des Syndicats des Travailleurs de la Métallurgie in Toulouse; Roger Martelli at the Institut de Recherches Marxistes; Agnes Peterson and Helen Solanum at the Hoover Institution; and John Taylor at the National Archives of the United States A number of persons and institutions have offered special assistance along the way John Barzman shared valuable archival material on Le Havre Emmanuel Chadeau led me to several sources and generously shared his insights about some of the common ground we explored Jennie Kiesling took valuable time out from her own archival diggings to track down photographs Michelle Harrison assisted in the research Lori Cole helped read the proofs Norman Rubin provided material on productivity in the industry, and written reminiscences by Wilhelm Reverdy proved especially useful Less tangible, but no less important, contributions were from colleagues and friends at Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Pittsburgh Center for Social His- tory who inspired me to think about this study in ways I could not have done on my own Funds from the Social Science Research Council and a Fulbright-Hays Grant supported my initial research in France A grant from Stanford University enabled me to make a follow-up trip for sev- eral weeks to supplement the original research Sheila Levine and Rose Vekony at the University of California Press provided expert guidance as the manuscript made its journey to print In the bibliography I have listed the former workers, trade union militants, engineers, state officials, and company managers who allowed me to interview them about their experiences in the industry I am grate- ful to them for giving their time, sharing their memories, and tolerating the intrusion that interviewing inevitably involves I am most indebted to family and friends Pat and Fred Painton made their home in Paris a haven for body and soul Both my family and my wife’s provided all kinds of material and emotional support, and they always conveyed faith in the enterprise I only wish our mothers, Katha- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi rine Leonard and Dorothy Cohen, had lived to see the book Our daugh- ters, Julia and Natalie, are still too young to understand my gratitude for letting me work in my study and my pleasure when they occasionally burst in anyway For helping to care for them I thank Vicky Byrne Most of all, I wish to thank my wife, Liz, my toughest reader and staunchest supporter, who has shared in this work in every way The book grows out of our life together in the historical craft I treasure her contribution more than any acknowledgment can convey ... State Capitalism an Working- Class Rad’ '' ¡n the French Aircraft In ustry iThis One A 0K State Capitalism and Working- Class Radicalism in the French Aircraft Industry Herrick... giving their time, sharing their memories, and tolerating the intrusion that interviewing inevitably involves I am most indebted to family and friends Pat and Fred Painton made their home in. .. strife and international crisis the men and women who worked in the factories and design offices of the aircraft industry, who sat in corporate board rooms and in the bureaus of government ministries,