Ateliers Nationaux, or National Workshops ( a tel e ai nasiono)

pl. ( Hist.) Since the year 1845, it was the custom in France, during severe winters, or in times of distre caused by stagnation of trade, to open temporary workshops, in order to give employment to mechanics who were out of work. These workshops were called Ateliers de Charité, until 1848, when the provisional government of the republic reopened a vast number of these establishments under the name of A. They were under the control of a department called "The Committee of the Government for the Workmen;" they were all, however, badly organized, and failed calamitously. The principle on which they were conducted was, that every workman should have a living provided for him on a fixed scale. The result was, that workmen soon left private employers, and entered the national workshops. The numbers who flocked in soon became alarming. More than 100,000 men enrolled themselves, and insubordination soon began to show itself. Danger was imminent, and the National A embly ordered the di olution of the A.; an act which became the pretext for the terrible insurrection which ensanguined Paris in June, 1848.