Trying to forestall unrest in France

The kings of France took some measures to prevent insurrections such as England’s in

1649. First, a clever cleric, Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642) set up governmental offices

that cut into the power of the French nobles and concentrated the king’s authority.

Chief Minister to Louis XIII, Richelieu suited Louis XIV, who succeeded in 1643, just

fine.

The English Civil War, which began the year before Louis XIV’s coronation, was a clash

between King Charles I and members of Parliament. Louis XIV sought to eliminate a

potential forum for dissent when he stopped calling the French equivalent of

Parliament, the Estates-General, into session.

Like the English Stuarts — James I and Charles I — Louis XIV believed that he, as king,

was God’s deputy. His spectacularly luxurious palace at Versailles, the showplace of all

Europe, reflected this conviction. Louis XIV raised taxes to support his free spending

and waged an expensive war with Britain from 1701–1713. The French people began

to grumble and kept grumbling as succeeding kings involved France in more money-

draining conflicts, including the War of Austrian Succession from 1740–1748 (France

sided with Frederick the Great of Prussia) and the Seven Years’ War from 1756–1763,

the conflict that Americans call the French and Indian War.

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