Editing Metrication (section)

===France (1795–1840)===
The introduction of the metric system into France in 1795 was done on a district by district basis with Paris being the first district. By modern standards the transition was poorly managed. Although thousands of pamphlets were distributed, the Agency of Weights and Measures who oversaw the introduction underestimated the work involved. Paris alone needed 500,000 metre sticks, yet one month after the metre became the sole legal unit of measure, they only had 25,000 in store.<ref name="Alder">{{cite book |last=Alder |first=Ken |title=The Measure of all Things – The Seven-Year-Odyssey that Transformed the World |publisher=Abacus |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-349-11507-8 |location=London}}</ref>{{rp| 269}} This, combined with the excesses of the Revolution and the high level of illiteracy in 18th century France, made the metric system unpopular.

[[Napoleon]] himself ridiculed the metric system but, as an able administrator, recognised the value of a sound basis for a system of measurement. Under the {{lang|FR|décret impérial du 12 février 1812}} (imperial decree of 12 February 1812), a new system of measure – the {{lang|FR|[[mesures usuelles]]}} ("customary measures") was introduced for use in small retail businesses – all government, legal and similar works still had to use the metric system and the metric system continued to be taught at all levels of education.<ref name="Fevier">{{cite web
|url = http://www.industrie.gouv.fr/metro/aquoisert/metre.htm
|title = Un historique du mètre
|language = fr
|author = Denis Février
|publisher = {{lang|FR|Ministère de l'Economie, des Finances et de l'Industrie}}
|access-date = 10 March 2011
|archive-date = 28 February 2011
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110228185545/http://www.industrie.gouv.fr/metro/aquoisert/metre.htm
|url-status = live
}}</ref> That system reintroduced the names of many units used during the ancient regime, but their values were redefined in terms of metric units. Thus the {{lang|FR|toise}} was defined as being two metres, with six {{lang|FR|pieds}} making up one ''toise'', twelve {{lang|FR|pouces}} making up one ''pied'' and twelve {{lang|FR|lignes}} making up one ''pouce''. Likewise the {{lang|FR|livre}} was defined as being 500&nbsp;g, each ''livre'' comprising sixteen ''once'' and each ''once'' eight ''gros'' and the ''aune'' as 120 centimetres.<ref name="H&H">{{cite web
|url = https://archive.org/stream/outlinesofevolut00halluoft/outlinesofevolut00halluoft_djvu.txt
|title = Outlines of the evolution of weights and measures and the metric system
|first1 = William
|last1 = Hallock
|first2 = Herbert T
|last2 = Wade
|publisher = The Macmillan Company
|year = 1906
|pages = 66–69
|location = London}}</ref> This intermediate step eased the transition to a metric-based system.

By the {{lang|FR|Loi du 4 juillet 1837}} (the law of 4 July 1837), [[Louis Philippe I]]  effectively revoked the use of ''mesures usuelles'' by reaffirming the laws of measurement of 1795 and 1799 to be used from 1 May 1840.<ref name="histmet">{{cite web
| url        = http://www.french-metrology.com/en/history/history-mesurement.asp
| title        = History of measurement
| publisher        = Laboratoire national de métrologie et d'essais (LNE) (Métrologie française)
| access-date        = 6 February 2011
| archive-date        = 25 April 2011
| archive-url        = https://web.archive.org/web/20110425025041/http://www.french-metrology.com/en/history/history-mesurement.asp
| url-status        = dead
}}</ref><ref name="crease">{{cite book |first=Robert P. |last=Crease |title=World in the Balance: The Historical Quest for an Absolute System of Measurement |year=2011 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |location= New York & London |isbn=978-0-393-34354-0 |pages=124 & 164}}</ref> However, many units of measure, such as the ''livre'' (for half a kilogram), remained in everyday use for many years,<ref name="crease"/><ref>Crease (2011) refers to: {{cite book |last=Kennelly |first=Arthur E. |title=Vestiges of Pre-metric Weights and Measures Persisting in Metric-system Europe, 1926–27 |location=New York |publisher=Macmillan |year=1928 |page=vii}}</ref> and to a residual extent up to this day.
[[File:Fußmaße1.jpg|upright=0.75|thumb|Conversion table in an 1848 German schoolbook showing the metric equivalent of the foot in use in over two dozen countries, including several German states]]