Günter Dinhobl (Hrsg.): Sonderband 7. Eisenbahn/Kultur – Railway/Culture (2004)
I. Für eine Kulturgeschichte der Eisenbahn / Towards a cultural history of railways - Michael Cotte: Railways and Culture: An Introduction
Michael Cotte (opposed); Lyon (balanced). Some groups or industrialists proposed also to establish a railway between Loire collieries and Rhone Valley. Frerejean, an iron master and copper industrialist in Vienne-Isère and Lyon was probably the first who did one; Galline, a large traditional carriage company of Lyon also did. A contrasted situation in which Seguin was initially only the Givors traders’ champion! Opinions and Attitudes towards New Technology Possibilities We must emphasize that the railway debate was real and intensive but only among the regional and national elites. It did not concern the ordinary people and even the middle classes during the preparatory times of French railways. The reason lied probably in the original pattern of railways. It was a foreign example, coming from a country who had recently been a ruthless enemy: the British Isles. Indeed, the well educated upper classes were reading newspapers and periodicals, all in a rapid development, and sometimes they were making trade and travelling to other European countries. Coming back to peacetime produced a feeling of securitiy and a renewal of affairs. With that information, they discovered the British industrial advance after the end of the Napoleonic wars, and a large part of them quickly became fascinated. Among them, we may note that some civil engineers, merchants, and manufacturers were able to have industrial or construction initiatives. The group interested in new technologies also involved a large range of the French aristocracy, coming back to political power with the French Restoration. With merchants, medium bankers and local elites, they supported the financial effort to invest in new technologies, expecting large benefits. On the other hand, a large group of British civil engineers, mechanical contractors and traders sought to find new markets on the Continent, in the first place, in France, the closest country. A significant number of engineers, entrepreneurs and specialised British workers chose to come to France and others European countries to be employed or to create or develop factories or workshops. What did really the French elites understand and expect from the new technical system of British Isles in the mid 1820s? Through a kind of “Anglo-mania”, we may point out a large optimism and sometime naivety for the defenders of the new technical solutions such as suspension bridges, high pressure steam engines for ships, English steelworks and, of course, railways. For the economy, the most important hopes were: 1) overcoming the typical and enormous French transportation problems and its natural difficulties such as distances, bad weather and seasonal interruptions. 52
