155236
What did Louis XIV contribute to France?
In history, few people can combine the time, the right place, the people and the people. In France, however, Louis XIV achieved this ideal. But for the rest of Europe, life would be much happier without him.
When the young Louis XIV came to the throne, France was already the most populous and powerful country at the time. Under the rule of two great cardinals, Mazarin and Richelieu, the ancient kingdom of France has become the most powerful centralized state. Louis XIV himself was a man of extraordinary ability.
Even the modern man of the 20th century is haunted by the glorious memory of the “Sun King” era. All kinds of etiquette in modern social life were created by the court etiquette in the period of Louis XIV.
Today, the theatres built under Louis XIV still teach us all kinds of knowledge, but we have not yet grasped its true meaning. During the reign of Louis XIV, the Collège de France (founded by Richelieu) held an important place in international academia, and other countries followed suit.
The achievements of Louis XIV are too numerous to enumerate, the list could go on and on.
French cuisine is an extremely difficult art, one of the highest manifestations of human civilization, and it appeared to cater to the monarch’s preferences. The reign of Louis XIV was a time of luxury, grandeur and elegance, and it still teaches us all kinds of knowledge today.
Unfortunately, there is a dark side hidden behind this gorgeous picture. The more dazzling it is on the outside, the more eclipsed it is on the inside, and the French ruled by Louis XIV was not spared.
In 1643, Louis XIV took over the throne from his father and died in 1715. This shows that for 72 years, France has been in the hands of one person, and this period spanned two generations.
Louis XIV was the first monarch to implement a dictatorship, an efficient and rigorous system that was later imitated by many kings, what we call “enlightened despotism” . He is not like some rulers who spend all day traveling and ignoring national affairs.
In the prosperous era, any monarch worked harder than his subjects. They wake up early in the morning and stay in the dark. While performing the “God-given monarchy” (no need to ask any subject for advice on governing the country), they also strongly feel the “sacred duty” covered by this power.
Of course, the king cannot do everything himself. Therefore, he had to find several assistants and advisors to assist him. Among these people are one or two generals, three or five diplomats, and a few clever financial advisers and economists. However, these senior advisors can only carry out the orders of the king and cannot make decisions on their own.
In the eyes of the general public, their monarchs are sacrosanct and represent the state and government. Thus, the honor of the country becomes the honor of a certain dynasty. This is diametrically opposed to the American ideal. France has become a country exclusively, ruled by and in the service of the Bourbon dynasty.
The negative effects of this system are obvious. The king represents everything, and everyone else can be ignored. Slowly, some prestigious old nobles were also forced to hand over their jurisdiction over the foreign provinces. These powers are transferred to the hands of a small royal bureaucrat with hands full of ink. In a government building far from Paris, he sits alone by a green window, performing duties that belonged to a feudal lord 100 years ago.
Those feudal lords, deprived of their right to work, came to Paris and enjoyed themselves at court. Soon, their estates suffered from an extremely dangerous economic disease known as “landlord absenteeism”. In just a generation, those busy feudal administrators were transformed into elegant aristocrats who roamed around Versailles with nothing to do.
Louis XIV was only 10 years old when the Treaty of Westphalia was signed. As a result of the Thirty Years’ War, the Habsburgs lost their absolute position on the European continent. And an ambitious young man will never miss the opportunity to let his country lose the achievements that once belonged to the Habsburg dynasty.
So in 1660, Louis married Maria Theresa, the daughter of the King of Spain. It didn’t take long for his father-in-law, Philip IV, the Hispanic king of the Habsburg dynasty, to pass away. Louis immediately announced that the Netherlands (now Belgium), which belonged to Spain, would be incorporated into the French territory as part of his wife’s dowry.
Such a merger would inevitably have catastrophic consequences for European peace, as well as a great threat to the security of the Protestant countries in Europe. In 1644, at the initiative of Jan DeWitt, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Dutch Republic, the three countries of the Netherlands, England and Sweden formed the first union of nations in history . But the alliance did not last long.
With money and enticing promises, Louis XIV bought off King Charles of England and the Swedish Parliament. Holland was betrayed by the Allies and had to obey fate.
In 1672, French troops invaded the Netherlands, all the way to the heart of the country. The dikes of Holland were again broken, and the sun of the kingdom of France shone on the swamps of Holland.
In 1678, the Netherlands and France signed the Treaty of Nimwegen, but this treaty did not solve any problems, but caused another war.
From 1689 to 1697, France launched the second war of aggression against the Netherlands, which ended with the signing of the Treaty of Riswick. But it did not help Louis XIV realize his dream of occupying European dominance.
Although Louis’ old rival Jan DeWitt died at the hands of the Dutch mob, his successor, William III, undid all of Louis’ efforts to become European hegemon.
