The War Of France And Louis Xiv

The People of France in the last part of the 18th century were experiencing severe food shortages, increasing the cost of living, and political leaders who were doing very little to fix the state of chaos in which most people found themselves. In both rural and

It is often debated whether or not the reign of King Louis XIV had a positive or negative effect on France. Although there were improvements during his reign in transportation, culture, and national defense, there were far more negative aspects. He depleted the national treasury with his liberal spending on personal luxuries and massive monuments. His extreme fear of the loss of power led to poor decision making, which caused the court to be of lower quality. King Louis XIV’s disastrous rule brought about a series of effects that influenced the French Revolution in the following century.

In 1661 Louis appointed Jean-Baptiste Colbert as controller general of finances. This proved to be very successful in adding to the increase of France’s economy, and it helped Louis achieve his second goal of having “one law.” Colbert’s ideas were similar to that of mercantilism. He insisted on having an economic system that would make France a self-sufficient powerful country where they exported more than they imported. He improved France’s economy through the invention of a merchant marine fleet, the support of industries, the control of tariffs on French goods, and the collection of taxes. All of these gained money for France, which led to the creation of a powerful army. Due to a powerful army, France was able to secure its natural frontiers, even in the North East, which was France’s weakest natural border. While Louis claimed a flaw of his was that, “I loved war too much,” he was able to make a strong French presence in Europe, adding to his idea of “one law.”

In 1787, a few years after the British recognized American independency, the Revolution in France was beginning to unravel. France was desperately in need of financial assistance; it lacked a National Bank and National Treasury system. France had supported the American colonists in the American Revolution, and also gave financial support in the War of Austrian Succession, and the Seven Years War. A combination of the financial support given in these wars, maintaining their military, and the fact that France spent more then it collected in taxes each year, resulted in a substantial debt crisis for France.

This alliance had helped the Americans greatly by providing firearms, gunpowder, a naval force, more military strength, and most importantly, financial aid. America, at the time, had already been suffering from debt and did not have enough gold to back up the less important paper money. This financial aid from France had been essential in the United States' victory in the war overall with battles following Saratoga. To continue with the previous statement, the official formation of French-American alliance in 1778 that had offered the colonists everything Britain was asking for but with freedom. The alliance might have created a shaky bond between America and France but it had made the fight for independence fairer between the the two and

At the end of the 18th century, an undeclared war was going on between the United States and France because of the recent XYZ affair; triggering a positive reaction by Federalists like Fisher Ames to convince the authorities to make the war official. Not knowing what to do, President John Adams appointed former-President George Washington as commander of the army to hopefully resolve the issue with France through diplomacy (as was Washington's stance).

The French and Indian War was a pivotal turning point for the relationship between Britain and its American colonies. Prior to the French and Indian War, the colonies experienced salutary neglect, which consisted of Britain ignoring the colonies to deal with problems happening in Europe. On the contrary, during and after the war, Britain started to be more involved in their colonies by being present in the colonies, expecting money from them, and putting restrictions on the colonist’s freedom.

France had enough influence to convince the Dutch Republic and Spain to join the revolutionary war (“The Aftermath of Saratoga”). Having France as an ally helped the Americans even more because France was able to pull even more allies to the United States’ side of the war. Spain wouldn’t join the revolutionary war, but when France joined they were able to fight as France’s ally. Additionally, France was able to convince many powerful nations, like Russia, not to side with the British in the war (“The Aftermath of Saratoga”). This also shows that France’s aid in the war was crucial to the United States victory. If Britain had gotten more allies in the war things would have been even worse than they already were for the American soldiers. They were already fighting the British with very uneven odds. If the Americans had not won the Battle of Saratoga, and France had not joined the war, the United States army would have had less allies and more

After the American win at Saratoga, the French foreign minister, Comte De Vergennes, came to see America as a formal ally. This resulted in a treaty between America and France and formalized their alliance with France. In the “French Alliance”, written by Robert Rhodes Crout, he mentions, “On 8 January 1778 Vergennes informed the envoys that France was ready to make an alliance. The treaties were signed on 6 February, and Louis formally received the commissioners on 20 March… and a treaty of alliance to become effective in the event of war between France and England” (392). This treaty made the American forces have a different outlook on the war. They knew they had the resources, strength, and support they needed in order to defeat the British forces. The American forces then had a more positive perspective on the war, and going into battle because they were officially getting aid from the French. This meant that the American forces were getting more supplies and naval support which was much needed to turn the war around for American

Foreign aid provided to the American Rebellion as without France supporting the Americans, the Americans would not be able to strive for freedom. France helped provide food and weapons for the settlers to fight. If Benjamin Franklin were unable to persuade the French to support the American Patriots, they might not have remained able to win the war, without the moral and financial support of the French. The French and The English had been opponents for years. They had struggled in the Seven Years Conflict and Europe. The British had won the French in the French and Indian War and shredded them of all their North American nations. After the Patriots had won the Clash of Saratoga, the French considered the American Patriots might have a chance

An interesting fact is that both countries, America and France, fought their wars on their homeland. The Americans faced a small amount of British troops established in the colonies already, and they also had the Redcoats crossing and ocean from Great Britain. This gave the Americans an advantage that the French did not have. The Americans were blessed with more time to organize and more time for warning. The French did not have this advantage because they were fighting their own government on their own soil. Another significant part of each war is that the Americans did not have any neighbors whereas the French had to worry about invasion from other countries in their time of weakness. The best advantage the Americans had was the fact that the British Empire was the most hated country of the time. Many countries sent aid to America especially the French. The French paid for a large sum

France’s great advancements came at the expense of the people as Louis XVI left the nation with massive debt. Reestablishing France as a great colonial power came possibly with the hugest cost; the loss of the

Since the beginning of time, armies have attacked their neighbors with the conquered having to endure the pillaging of their properties and goods. The goods most sought after were things that most resembled the culture and values of the place they had raided. These typically included “religious articles, military banners or symbols, works of art, and important written records,” (Kurtz 1985, 1). These were sought after by the conquerors because they would represent their success in battle for years and they would be able to display them to show their dominance.

It helped me understand the core issues the economy was facing. I also found the merging of different viewpoints pivotal to my research as the combination of feudal issues with the economy provided me with a relevant historical debate. Whilst this book did not entirely focus on the economy, the relevant passages proved vital as it provided a historical debate whilst also exploring different viewpoints to the extent which economic distress was a major factor in the French revolution. I found particularly useful the analysis between the relationship of the finance ministers and economic distress and the extent to which it hindered France economically thus forming a coherent argument which I incorporated into my

Dutch War, also called Franco-Dutch War, (1672–78), the second war of conquest by Louis XIV of France, whose main goal in the conflict was to establish French possession of the Spanish Netherlands after having forced the Dutch Republic’s acquiescence. The Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–74) formed part of this general war.