Western Civilization 2: French Wars under King Louis XIV
By Ivana 1/5/18 Lesson 40 Tom Woods Ron Paul Curriculum
King Louis the fourteenth was one of the most powerful monarchs in French history. He reigned from 1643 to 1715, an astonishing total of seventy two years, longer than any other European ruler.
In the second half of his rule, he led France into a series of campaigns and attacks across Europe. He conquered a lot of land, and made enemies out of nearly every European monarch. France became the dominant power in Europe for quite a while, but its position of power did not last. Unfortunately, all those years of campaigning took a heavy toll on the French people, and with the heavy taxes imposed upon them by their king to fund his wars, poverty and starvation were inevitable.
The first in this series of wars is known as the War of Devolution. It lasted from 1667 to 1668, and was a French invasion of the Spanish Netherlands. Louis retreated after demands were made by the outraged English, Swedish, and Dutch empires. The only territory Louis gained was the region of Flanders, today the northern part of Belgium.
France ended up conquering all of Flanders in the Franco Dutch War, which started in 1672 to 1678. The third war fought by King Louis was a conflict between him and an alliance between England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and several smaller European states. Known as the Nine Years War, the fighting lasted from 1688 to 1697. France did not lose any of the land won by fighting, but decades of war severely weakened the economics and finances of the country.
The Spanish War of Succession, 1701-1714
The War of Succession is exactly what it sounds like. It was fought between France and The Holy Roman Empire. Both had rival candidates to place on the Spanish throne, after the death of the childless Charles the second. Louis suffered a major defeat at the battle of Blenheim in 1704. It was his first major defeat in all his years of campaigning.
France itself was invaded in the year 1708 and Louis was forced to make amends. However, they were not enough for the Dutch and the Holy Roman Empire, who had suffered because of the wars the French waged against them. All the years Louis spent conquering land were fruitless, because they were all divided amongst his opponents.
King Louis died in 1715, leaving behind him a financially desolate France.
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