| Summary: | In the XVIIIth century, the Dauphiné appears as the archetype of the border province. This region seperated the Kingdom of France from the possessions of the Dukes of Savoie, and this situation gave it great strategic importance: the Dauphiné was the center of military, political and administrative rivalries. The article will examine the impact of this border situation, on local traders. We specifically analyze the interactions between merchants’ practices, and the reorganization of borders in Dauphiné. First, we study the relationship between the external and internal borders, in the Ancien Régime France. This border system hindered the expansion of international or national commercial activities. Therefore, the traders developed strategies to overcome the constraints imposed by regulations and tariffs. But at the same time, they could also take advantage ot the protections that borders guaranteed against their competitors. And the ideological positions of merchants combined free trade and protectionist demands, that tend in any case to exceed the exclusively military vision of the border.
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