The proliferation of global conflicts has revived the armament factory in Bergerac, established in 1915 during the Great War and now owned by a public company. This activity is breathing new life into the economy of a long-struggling sub-prefecture in Dordogne.
The Bergerac gunpowder factory, set up in 1915 to supply French artillery during the First World War, is experiencing an unexpected revival. Fully owned by the state through Eurenco, successor to the Société nationale des poudres et explosifs, the plant nearly shut down in 2007 due to a lack of orders. Main production was then shifted to a Swedish subsidiary, leaving only the manufacture of modular charges for 155-millimeter shells, such as those for the Caesar howitzer.
Today, France's rearmament policy, against a backdrop of tensions in Europe, is boosting the site's operations. Spanning 170 hectares and classified as a high-threshold Seveso site due to handling hazardous substances, it benefits from rising global demand for ammunition. For Bergerac's 26,000 residents, this resurgence is a boon in a rural area where the average monthly household income stands at 1,936 euros, 700 euros below the national average.
The locals are not particularly proud of it, but the area's economic history has been tied to armed conflicts for over a century: prosperity in wartime, decline in peacetime.
