Maritime Power and the Power of Money in Louis XIV's France


Book Description

A detailed analysis of the limitations of the system which relied on intermediaries and private suppliers to finance, build and maintain the French navy. Although Louis XIV's navy did not "win" in any recognisable sense during the wars of the later seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, it was nevertheless one of the largest military institutions of the entire early modern world at a key moment in the evolution of the modern state and modern warfare. This book examines how Louis XIV's navy was financed, arguing that the way the state spends money, and the relative efficiency and accountability of that spending, is fundamental to understanding the effectiveness of a military system. It outlines how the French crown depended on fiscal intermediaries and private suppliers, explores how its failure to control the spending and activities of its contractors fundamentally limited France's strategic possibilities at sea, and discusses how these structural problems were progressively and disastrously exposed as the state's financial situation deteriorated. The book sets the activities of the French navy in the wider context of the wars of the period, showing that France necessarily had to give precedence to the funding of its army. Overall, the book highlights the limitations of the contractor state, demonstrating that early modern navies were both too complex and investment-heavy to be entirely outsourced.




The Crisis of French Sea Power, 1688–1697


Book Description

The French navy that fought in the Nine Years War was essentially Colbert's creation. Earlier in the century Richelieu had given France the beginnings of a navy: ships, ports, a corps of officers and an administra tive structure. But most of his work was undone by neglect in the years after his death, and the task of making France a maritime power had to begin again under Louis XIV. Colbert's efforts to build a navy were distinguished by the same stubborn energy that he brought to all his other tasks. Behind his desire for naval might lay his vision of France as the first commercial power in Europe, for he saw clearly that mercantile preponderance could never be achieved without the backing of a strong fleet of warships. Trade would follow the flag, as he believed it had for his envied models and perpetual rivals, the Dutch. Soon after Louis XIV's assumption of power, Colbert set about the enOImOUS labour of resurrecting the navy founded by Richelieu; he soon found that the task was really one of creation, virtually ex nihilo. Ships or built, sailors recruited, captains enticed home from were purchased service under foreign flags, bases planned and constructed, an adminis trative system established.







International Politics and Warfare in the Age of Louis XIV and Peter the Great


Book Description

The Peace of Westphalia (1648), ending the Thirty Years' War, resulted in the rise of the modern European states system. However, dynasticism, power politics, commerce, and religion continued to be the main issues driving International politics and warfare. Dr. William Young examines war and diplomacy during the Age of Louis XIV and Peter the Great. His study focuses on the later part of the Franco-Spanish War, the Wars of Louis XIV, and the Anglo-Dutch Wars in the West. In addition, the author explores the wars of the Baltic Region and East Europe, including the Thirteen Years' War, Second Northern War, War of the Holy League, and the Great Northern War. The study includes a guide to the historical literature concerning war and diplomacy during this period. It includes bibliographical essays and a valuable annotated bibliography of over six hundred books, monographs, dissertations, theses, journal articles, and essays published in the English language. International Politics and Warfare in the Age of Louis XIV and Peter the Great is a valuable resource for individuals interested in the history of diplomacy, warfare, and Early Modern Europe.




The Sinews of Power


Book Description

First published in 1989. `The book is a distinguished work - of importance to students of governmental development generally. It is written in a fluent, non-technical manner that should reach a wide audience.' American Historical Review.




The Navy and Government in Early Modern France, 1572-1661


Book Description

The role of the navy as an instrument of royal power in France, C16/C17, with a reappraisal of Richelieu's performance as Grand-Master of Navigation.




Fighting Ships and Prisons


Book Description




Making of the West, Volume II: Since 1500


Book Description

Students of Western civilization need more than facts. They need to understand the cross-cultural, global exchanges that shaped Western history; to be able to draw connections between the social, cultural, political, economic, and intellectual happenings in a given era; and to see the West not as a fixed region, but a living, evolving construct. These needs have long been central to The Making of the West. The book’s chronological narrative emphasizes the wide variety of peoples and cultures that created Western civilization and places them together in a common context, enabling students to witness the unfolding of Western history, understand change over time, and recognize fundamental relationships.




The Making of the West, Volume B: 1340-1830


Book Description

Students of Western civilization need more than facts. They need to understand the cross-cultural, global exchanges that shaped Western history; to be able to draw connections between the social, cultural, political, economic, and intellectual happenings in a given era; and to see the West not as a fixed region, but a living, evolving construct. These needs have long been central to The Making of the West. The book’s chronological narrative emphasizes the wide variety of peoples and cultures that created Western civilization and places them together in a common context, enabling students to witness the unfolding of Western history, understand change over time, and recognize fundamental relationships.




The Influence of Sea Power Upon the French Revolution and Empire, 1793-1812 Volume 2


Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1918 edition. Excerpt: ...of 10,871 considerably exceeds this amount; but it will be safer, in considering a subject of so great importance as the absolute injury done, and effect produced, by war upon commerce, to accept the larger figure, or to say, in round numbers, that eleven thousand British vessels were captured by the enemy during the protracted and desperate wars caused by the French Revolution. It is the great and conspicuous instance of commerce-destroying, carried on over a long series of years, with a vigor and thoroughness never surpassed, and supported, moreover, by an unparalleled closure of the continental markets of Great Britain. The Directory first, and Napoleon afterwards, abandoned all attempts to contest the control of the sea, and threw themselves, as Louis XIV. had done before them, wholly upon a cruising war against commerce. It will be well in this day, when the same tendency so extensively prevails, to examine somewhat carefully what this accepted loss really meant, how it was felt by the British people at the time, and what expectation can reasonably be deduced from it that, by abandoning military control of the sea, and depending exclusively upon scattered cruisers, a country dependent as Great Britain is upon external commerce can be brought to terms. 1 Guerin gives the total number of captures by France from Great Britain, from 1793 to the Peace of Amiens, March 25, 1802, including both ships of war and merchant vessels, as 2,172; while the French lost in all, from ships-ipf i In: Inn-to fishing-boats, between 1,520 and 1,550. Of this total, 27 were ships-of-the-line and 70 frigates, --a number considerably below that given by James, the painstaking English naval historian. Allowing 150 as the number of smaller naval vessels taken, .