Louis XIV And His Foreign Policy
Louis XIV (1638-1715), was known as the 'Sun King'. By the time Louis tookup the reign of the government in 1660, France had turned into the mostpowerful nation of Europe. At this time many of France's neighboringcountries had been weakened both by revolts within their own countries andexpensive wars with other lands. In Louis's mind, the natural boundaries ofFrance were the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the river Rhine. His intentionswere to push the frontiers of France out to these limits as well as winglory for himself. As a result Louis plunged France into 30 years offoreign wars trying to achieve his ambition.This paper discusses Louis' XIV's foreign policy and analyzes whether hisforeign policy was successful or not. Louis XIV's notorious dictum was "I am the State". Even the lateCharles De Gaulle often echoed this. Louis XIV (1638-1715) - king of France(1643-1715) - was known as the 'Sun King'. Louis, the third monarch of theBourbon family, ruled for 72 years, the longest reign in European history.His rule typified the period of absolute monarchy in the second half of the17th century, during which time kings ruled without the restraint of
By 1680 France was dominant in Europe, andit was largely for this achievement that the city of Paris rightly awardedthe title "Great" to Louis XIV. During Louis's reign, France alsoconsolidated the administration of its colonial possessions and commerce,becoming a world power. His marriage(1660) to the Spanish princess Marie Therese served as a pretext for theWar of Devolution (1667-68). The Sun King fought his last conflict, the War of the SpanishSuccession, not to win new lands for himself but to secure the Spanishcrown for his grandson, Philip of Anjou. Although the Dutch had by then moved againsthim with the Triple Alliance of 1668 the marriage netted him part ofFlanders. Ultimately, LouisXIV wished to bring glory to France and to his dynasty, and he diedbelieving that he had. Thiswar ended with the Treaty of Ryswick (1697), through which Louis lost minorterritories. The economy suffered during the longyears of war. Truly, well over half his reignwitnessed major armed conflicts. [University of Victoria, Department of History 2003]Under Louis XIV, France, had, at a heavy price, become a modern state withan effective armed force, able bureaucracy and a practical theory ofpolitics. TheProtestant states, especially England and Holland, worried about therevival of religious warfare. The wars of Louis XIV were, * 1667-1668 War with Spain - The War of Devolution * 1672-1678 The Franco - Dutch war * 1689-1697 War of the League of Augsburg. After the Dutch War he was hailed both as Louis the Great and as the SunKing, in reference to the fact that he took the sun as his emblem. 1996] All along Louis's maintained a cordial relationship with England. Louis reached the height of his power in the 1670s, andhe protected what he had achieved for the next four decades in the face ofa Europe united against him.
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