Editing Bordeaux (section)

=== French Revolution: political disruption and loss of the most profitable colony ===
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At the beginning of the [[French Revolution]] (1789), many local revolutionaries were members of the [[Girondists]]. This Party represented the provincial bourgeoisie, favorable towards abolishing aristocracy privileges, but opposed to the Revolution's social dimension. The Gironde valley's economic value and significance was satiated by the city's commercial power which was in dire contrast to the emerging widespread poverty affecting its inhabitants. Trade and commerce were the driving factors in the region's economic prosperity, still this resulted in a significant number of locals struggling to survive on a daily basis due to lack of food and resources. This socioeconomic disparity served as fertile ground for discontent, sparking frequent episodes of mass unrest well before the tumultuous events of 1783.

In 1793, the [[Montagnard (French Revolution)|Montagnards]] led by [[Robespierre]] and [[Jean-Paul Marat|Marat]] came to power. Fearing a bourgeois misappropriation of the Revolution, they executed a great number of Girondists. During the purge, the local Montagnard Section renamed the city of Bordeaux "Commune-Franklin" (Franklin-municipality) in homage to [[Benjamin Franklin]].

At the same time, in 1791, a [[Haitian Revolution|slave revolt]] broke out at [[Saint-Domingue]] (current [[Haiti]]), the most profitable of the French colonies. In the lively era of the 18th century, Bordeaux emerged as a center of economic activity, particularly known at first for its successful wine trade. The city's placement along the Gironde River was very strategic, helping to facilitate the transportation of produce to markets both internationally and domestically, which led to an increase in exports and Bordeaux's economic prosperity. There was a significant transformation to the economic landscape of Bordeaux in 1785, which was spurred by the attraction of large profits, traders and merchants in Bordeaux began to turn their attention to the slave trade. This was a very important moment in the city's economic history seeing as it diversified its commercial expansion, at a serious moral cost. This introduced a new layer of difficulty to Bordeaux's economic activities. Even though it brought along significant wealth to certain segments of society, it complicated the socio-economic inconsistencies within the region. The entry into the slave trade brought even more tension within Bordeaux society. The trade exacerbated the divide between an elite with growing wealth and those living in poverty. This economic divide laid out the foundation for the mass unrest that would break out in the French Revolution.

Three years later, the Montagnard Convention abolished slavery. In 1802, Napoleon revoked the manumission law but lost the war against the army of former slaves. In 1804, Haiti became independent. The loss of this "Pearl" of the West Indies generated the collapse of Bordeaux's port economy, which was dependent on the colonial trade and trade in slaves.

Towards the end of the [[Peninsular War]] of 1814, the [[Duke of Wellington]] sent [[William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford|William Beresford]] with two divisions and seized Bordeaux, encountering little resistance. Bordeaux was largely anti-[[Bonapartist]] and the majority supported the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbons]]. The British troops were treated as liberators. Distinguished historian of the French revolution Suzanne Desan explains that "examining intricate local dynamics" is essential to studying the Revolution by region.