page_title: Compagnie des mines d'Anzin
section_title: First Empire and Bourbon restoration
hierarchical_section_title: Compagnie des mines d'Anzin / First Empire and Bourbon restoration
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Carte des concessions dépendant de la Compagnie des mines d'Anzin.
context_page_description: The Compagnie des mines d'Anzin was a large French mining company in the coal basin of Nord-Pas-de-Calais in northern France.
  It was established in 1756 and operated for almost 200 years.
  The company used innovative pumping technology to support deep mining operations in the rich bituminous coalfield.
  At its peak in the mid-19th century it was one of the largest industrial enterprises in France, with about 12,000 miners.
  Émile Zola visited the region during a strike in 1884 which he used as the basis for his novel Germinal.
  The work was dangerous and unhealthy, but the company paid the miners well compared to other industries, provided housing, welfare and pensions, and sponsored social activities.
  The mines reached their peak of prosperity before World War I, but were badly damaged during the war.
  They struggled to regain profitability in period leading up to World War II.
  The mines were nationalized in 1946.
  Many were closed in the 1970s and 1980s. The last ceased operation in 1990.
  The landscape has been partly restored but traces of mining such as slag heaps, ponds and railway cuttings remain, and a few heritage sites have been preserved.
context_section_description: The company was the first to build housing for miners in 1810 near Valenciennes.
  There are still 79 settlements founded by the company including villages, towns and garden cities.
  The company generally only provided housing, and did not introduce community facilities in these settlements.
  From 1820 there were increasing numbers of exploratory mines throughout the concession area.
  The pits sunk at Abscon in 1823 and 1824 were disappointing. The company decided to exploit the promising deposits in the Denain area more intensively, and opened multiple mines in this area between 1826 and 1831 including Villars, Turenne, Bayard and la Pensée.
  When Scipion Périer died in 1821, Casimir Périer became director of the Anzin mines and Joseph Périer became assistant director.
  In 1823  Casimir Périer replaced his brother Scipion as head of the company, and initiated a thorough reorganization to improve profitability. 
  Wages were reduced, older workers retired, and modern equipment installed.
  In 1831 King Louis Philippe named Casimir Périer president of the council and Minister of the Interior.
  From the time of the Revolution until 1833 there was only one short and partial strike in 1824.
  Joseph Périer was concerned that productivity might suffer if the mines supervisory staff became too close to the workers. In 1826 he asked the general agent of the Anzin company "to arrange a kind of police that would inform him if the director, the under-director and the master foremen were doing their job."
  Joseph Périer became director after Casimir died in 1832, and Casimir's son Auguste became assistant director.
  4,000 miners went on strike in May 1833, and almost all the pits were closed by shutting down the pumps.
  The miners held out for eight days against the management, authorities and 5,000 troops who were brought in to "restore order".
  The strike then collapsed. A few of the leaders were tried and let off with light punishments.
  The cause is obscure but may have been due to general dissatisfaction with Perier's efficiency measures.
  The company was quick to exploit steam-powered railways, and in 1834 built a line for coal trucks between Saint-Waast and Denain.
  The Somain-Péruwelz Railway, built by the Compagnie des mines d'Anzin, was one of the first passenger railways in France. 
  The concession was granted on 24 October 1835 and work started immediately.
  On 21 October 1838 the "Train d'Anzin" opened to passenger traffic.
  It was not until 1846 that the official railway line reached the region, making Saint-Waast the first railway station in the Nord.
  The line was soon extended to Abscon.
  The census of 1842 shows that Joseph Périer may have been the most wealthy property-owner in France, paying 56,503 francs, mostly for the Anzin mines.
  The Renard (Fox) pit was opened in 1836, later to be the subject of Émile Zola's novel Germinal.
  The dialect poet Mousseron ("Cafougnette") worked there for 46 years.
  The Joseph Périer mine was opened in 1841, and reached coal at 75 metres (246 ft).
  By 1867 it had reached a depth of 380 metres (1,250 ft).
  Pits proliferated in the Valenciennes region at Saint-Waast (Réussite, Régie), Anzin (St Louis) and Escaudain (St Mark).
  The company was the largest coal producer in France, but soon faced competition from companies operating nearby, notable the Aniche company to the west of the concession.
  The main shareholders and executives included leading French businessmen and politicians such as such as Adolphe Thiers (1797–1877).
  The wife of Auguste Casimir-Perier (1811–76), a member of the board, was sister of the wife of Gaston Audiffret-Pasquier (1823–1905) who also sat on the board.
  Audiffret-Pasquier was an Orleanist leader, president of the national assembly and then of the senate.
caption: The railway was the main artery of the Compagnie d'Anzin.
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