GIPE-PUNE-OIIOI2 - DSpace@GIPE

266 WORLD~CRISIS : INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS'
regions. But the reconstitution 'Of France since 1920 has
implied the resuscitation of this old social class, semi~
agriculturl;ll, semi~industrial. It is this feature in the
social economy of France that has greatly prevented th~
emergen.ce of un.employment. on a palpable scale
and militated against the crisis manifesting itself in an
.acute form as in other countries.
Another feature of economic F ranee deserves -to be
mentioned in this conn.ection. Even in pre~war times it
was a tendency of employers and capitalists to establish
their work$ away from the urban centres. It Was with
the object of getting cheaper labour and keeping some~
what aloof from the theatres of syndicalist activities that
the entrepreneurs sought the rural sites for their factories.
'Certain regions began in this manner to specialize in
-certain kinds of production; textile, cutlery etc. Besides.
the invasion of Northern France by Germany compelled
the industries to migrate towards the central districts.
the south~west and the south~st. Finally~ the postwar
achievements in electrification have rendered possible
the establishment of workshops in villages which previously
were exclusively agricultural. . Altogether • among
the new tendencies in the industriali~ation of France the
distribution of works over varied centres. "over the
length and breadth of the country," may be regarded as .
.a marked characteristic. " The avoidance of centralization
in the establishment bf industrial enterprises is anotLer
factor that has helped France to avoid big doses of un- -
,employment such as ate ~hsequent on heavy depression.
The comparative absence of unemployment in
France is noted by German WOrknleh as a socio-economic
fact of great -value from which Germany' s employers