Marché noir : the economy of survival in Second World War France

"Marché Noir Kenneth Mouré shows how the black market in Vichy France developed not only to serve German exploitation, but also as an essential strategy for survival for commerce and consumers. His analysis explains how and why the black market became so prevalent and powerful in France and remained necessary after Liberation. Marché Noir draws on diverse French archives as well as diaries, memoirs and contemporary fiction, to highlight the importance of the black market in everyday life. Vichy's economic controls set the context for adaptations - by commerce facing economic and political constraints, and by consumers needing essential goods. Vichy collaboration in this realm seriously damaged the regime's legitimacy. Marché Noir offers new insights into the dynamics of black markets in wartime, and how illicit trade in France served not only to exploit consumer needs and increase German power, but also to aid communities in their strategies for survival. Kenneth Mouré is Professor of History at the University of Alberta, and taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He specializes in twentieth century French history, with particular interest in the policy responses to economic crises. His published works include Managing the Franc Poincaré (1991) and The Gold Standard Illusion (2002). The Black Market in Wartime France On the rue Philippe de Girard in Montmartre the restaurant's front door is closed, as if no longer in business. A young man loiters nearby to direct customers to an entry from the alley. Inside, drinks are ready at the zinc counter and the menu offers exemplary fare for the Occupation years. Rutabagas, leeks and Jerusalem artichokes (topinambours) are the staple vegetables. But there are rare meat dishes as well, and pâté, and real coffee, and desserts made with real sugar, and even chocolate, all long unavailable in restaurants abiding by ration restrictions. The restaurant, Le couvre-feu, offers period dishes with black-market supplements. The staff are actors costumed to play wartime roles. This is retro café theatre in 1990. The décor and menu give patrons the atmosphere and flavours of the Occupation, without its dangers, or its very real privations.1 Black-market activity was pervasive in wartime France, and distributed a growing share of the resources essential for survival. In his last diary entry in December 1942, the Jewish journalist Jacques Biélinky wrote that anyone trying to live on the food from ration tickets alone would starve. 'The black market takes everything, and those who live on their tickets are condemned to starve.'2 Regional directors of the Bank of France, reporting on economic activity across France, found it impossible in 1942 to calculate the proportion of licit to illicit commerce. The borderline between the two had become too uncertain and the trend clearly favoured growth of the 'parallel economy' outside the law. Official estimates of the volume of black-market traffic and prices understated their real extent"-- Includes bibliographical references and index. xv, 309 pages : 24 cm