Reincarnated: Vive La France
Chapter 236: Project Framework and Employment Impact of the 1937 Draft Budget

Chapter 236: Project Framework and Employment Impact of the 1937 Draft Budget

OFFICE OF NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION

Palais Bourbon, Paris | April 1937

Internal Document – For Circulation with Budget Draft.

Title: Project Framework and Employment Impact of the 1937 Draft Budget

As per the provisions laid out in the Fiscal Draft Budget for 1937, the National Emergency Reconstruction Council provides below a sector-wise, project-focused summary highlighting budgetary allocations, estimated employment, and strategic objectives for each initiative.

These programs constitute the core of Head of State Étienne Moreau’s recovery vision for the Republic.

National Reconstruction and Infrastructure Development (₣30 Billion)

1. National Highway Program

Budget: ₣8 Billion

Jobs Created: 300,000

Timeline: Q2 1937 – Q3 1938

Objective: Develop 4,000 km of strategic east–west and north–south transport corridors, linking resource zones to ports and garrisons.

2. Railway Electrification & Expansion

Budget: ₣7 Billion

Jobs Created: 250,000

Objective: Electrify high-traffic lines from Alsace to the Rhône Valley; reduce coal dependency and improve industrial logistics.

3. Urban Housing Construction

Budget: ₣5 Billion

Jobs Created: 120,000

Objective: Build low-cost apartment blocks in Paris, Marseille, Lille, and Lyon; alleviate slums and house industrial workers.

4. Rural Electrification

Budget: ₣4 Billion

Jobs Created: 80,000

Objective: Extend power to 20,000+ villages; stimulate rural industry and domestic consumption.

5. Port and Waterway Modernization

Budget: ₣3 Billion

Jobs Created: 50,000

Objective: Dredge and widen Marseille, Le Havre, and Rhône routes for faster exports/imports.

6. Dual-Use Airfields and Strategic Roads

Budget: ₣3 Billion

Jobs Created: 60,000

Objective: Construct airfields and multi-use highways that serve both military and civil logistics.

Industrial Modernization and Technological Investment (₣20 Billion)

7. Steel Sector Mechanization

Budget: ₣4 Billion

Jobs Created: 100,000

Objective: Consolidate foundries in Lorraine and Saint-Étienne; double national steel output.

8. Aircraft Industry Subsidies

Budget: ₣5 Billion

Jobs Created: 75,000

Objective: Fund production lines for civilian aircraft convertible into military bombers.

9. Synthetic Fuel and Petrochemicals

Budget: ₣3 Billion

Jobs Created: 50,000

Objective: Reduce oil import reliance; extract synthetic fuels from domestic coal and colonial rubber.

10. Automobile Sector Support

Budget: ₣3 Billion

Jobs Created: 85,000

Objective: Modernize plants at Renault, Peugeot, and Citroën for mass truck/car production.

11. National Innovation Bureau

Budget: ₣2 Billion

Jobs Created: 20,000

Objective: Fund radar, radio, and materials science research under state oversight.

12. Technical Academies and Machine Import

Budget: ₣3 Billion

Jobs Created: 40,000

Objective: Train engineers, import foreign tools, and establish technical colleges.

National Defense Preparedness (₣15 Billion)

13. Tank & Artillery Production Expansion

Budget: ₣4 Billion

Jobs Created: 70,000

Objective: Scale tracked vehicle and artillery output to prewar levels; support dual civilian-military production lines.

14. Reinforcement of Maginot & Coastal Defenses

Budget: ₣3 Billion

Jobs Created: 60,000

Objective: Fortify gaps in Maginot Line and enhance defenses at Brest, Toulon, and Bizerte.

15. Civil Aviation for Postal and Reserve Use

Budget: ₣3 Billion

Jobs Created: 55,000

Objective: Expand fleet of long-range civilian aircraft; design modular bomber conversions.

16. Weapons Research & Logistics Institutes

Budget: ₣2 Billion

Jobs Created: 20,000

Objective: Create dual-use institutions under civilian façade to test weapons and train logistical officers.

17. National Engineering Corps

Budget: ₣3 Billion

Jobs Created: 100,000

Objective: Form corps of state-employed, semi-militarized builders for war and peace infrastructure projects.

Agricultural Reform and Rural Revitalization (₣10 Billion)

18. Farm Equipment Subsidies

Budget: ₣3 Billion

Jobs Created: 60,000

Objective: Mechanize plowing, threshing, and irrigation systems in central and western France.

19. Rural Credit Banks

Budget: ₣2 Billion

Jobs Created: 30,000

Objective: Extend state-backed loans to 250,000 farms at 3–5% annual interest.

20. Price Stabilization Programs

Budget: ₣2 Billion

Jobs Created: 25,000

Objective: Guarantee crop prices to prevent rural bankruptcy and overproduction crises.

21. Land Reclamation and Reforestation

Budget: ₣1 Billion

Jobs Created: 40,000

Objective: Reclaim flood plains and plant state forests in Massif Central and Pyrenees.

22. Food Reserves Expansion

Budget: ₣1 Billion

Jobs Created: 10,000

Objective: Build regional grain silos and emergency stockpiles for strategic reserves.

23. Rural Cooperatives

Budget: ₣1 Billion

Jobs Created: 15,000

Objective: Establish village-level collection and distribution centers to reduce middlemen.

Social Welfare, Public Health, and Civic Labor (₣10 Billion)

24. Veterans’ Pensions and Family Benefits

Budget: ₣2.5 Billion

Jobs Created: 0 (Social Transfer)

Objective: Monthly pensions for over 1 million beneficiaries; moral and social duty.

25. Rural Health Clinics Expansion

Budget: ₣2 Billion

Jobs Created: 15,000

Objective: Construct 250 clinics and staff them with newly graduated nurses and doctors.

26. Vocational Training & Technical Colleges

Budget: ₣3 Billion

Jobs Created: 50,000

Objective: Train 300,000 workers per year in trades, engineering, and sanitation.

27. Civic Labour Corps (Corps du Travail National)

Budget: ₣2 Billion

Jobs Created: 250,000

Objective: Create mobile work brigades for forestry, roads, canals, and electrification.

28. Worker Housing Grants

Budget: ₣0.5 Billion

Jobs Created: 10,000

Objective: Finance housing for miners and factory workers near industrial zones.

Colonial Economic Integration & Trade (₣7 Billion)

29. Colonial Rail and Road Infrastructure

Budget: ₣2.5 Billion

Jobs Created: 50,000

Objective: Connect inland mineral zones to coastal shipping points in Africa and Indochina.

30. Mineral Extraction Zones

Budget: ₣2 Billion

Jobs Created: 40,000

Objective: Expand bauxite, phosphate, rubber, and manganese production under SOEs.

31. Cash Crop Agricultural Expansion

Budget: ₣1.5 Billion

Jobs Created: 30,000

Objective: Incentivize cocoa, cotton, coffee in West Africa and Southeast Asia.

32. Franc Zone Currency Integration

Budget: ₣1 Billion

Jobs Created: 5,000

Objective: Stabilize trade and taxation across the colonial empire using a unified financial standard.

Currency Stability and Financial Reform (₣5 Billion)

33. Franc Stabilization Reserve

Budget: ₣2 Billion

Jobs Created: 0

Objective: Hold gold and bonds to back the franc and suppress inflation.

34. Commodity Strategic Stockpiles

Budget: ₣1 Billion

Jobs Created: 10,000

Objective: Maintain emergency reserves of oil, wheat, and coal for wartime crisis.

35. Capital Repatriation Amnesty

Budget: ₣1 Billion

Jobs Created: 20,000

Objective: Offer tax holidays and legal incentives for French capital held abroad to return home.

36. State Development Bank

Budget: ₣1 Billion

Jobs Created: 15,000

Objective: Issue subsidized loans for housing, utilities, and export-industry startups.

National Unity, Propaganda, and Cultural Revival (₣3 Billion)

37. State-Controlled Radio & Cinema

Budget: ₣1.5 Billion

Jobs Created: 8,000

Objective: Broadcast educational, cultural, and patriotic content daily across the nation.

38. Youth Festivals and Civic Pageants

Budget: ₣0.5 Billion

Jobs Created: 5,000

Objective: Sponsor over 1,000 regional events by 1938 to rekindle shared identity.

39. Public Art and Architecture Program

Budget: ₣1 Billion

Jobs Created: 10,000

Objective: Commission national monuments, bridges, and decorative arts that reflect republican strength and dignity.

Total Estimated Jobs Created (Direct): 2,233,000

Additional Indirect Employment: Estimated at 2.5–3.0 Million

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Prepared by: Office of the Minister of National Recovery

Under the authority of Head of State Étienne Moreau

For Review Prior to April 7th Budget Finalization