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2F The Sun King: Louis XIV, France and Europe, 1643–1715

French Finances and the Cost of War

  • 3 things to know
  • Component 2

Overview

Recall questions on financial management after 1683, Colbert's successors and the strain of the wars between 1688 and 1714.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What problem affected French financial management after 1683?

Key term

How did the crown use the sale of offices as a wartime financial expedient?

Key term

Besides selling offices and manipulating currency, what other financial expedients did the crown resort to?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What problem affected French financial management after 1683?

    Model answer

    After Colbert's death in 1683, French finances lacked a minister of comparable ability to manage the economy and royal revenues effectively.

  2. 2

    How did Colbert's successors as Controller-General, including Le Peletier and Pontchartrain, perform in managing royal finances?

    Model answer

    They struggled to maintain the fiscal discipline and mercantilist policies Colbert had established.

  3. 3

    Which two prolonged conflicts placed enormous strain on French finances between 1688 and 1714?

    Model answer

    The Nine Years' War (1688–1697) and the War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714).

  4. 4

    How did the crown use the sale of offices as a wartime financial expedient?

    Model answer

    The crown sold existing offices and created new venal positions to raise revenue during wartime.

  5. 5

    What monetary expedient did the French crown employ to fund its wars?

    Model answer

    Currency debasement and recoinage were used to stretch royal finances during wartime.

  6. 6

    Besides selling offices and manipulating currency, what other financial expedients did the crown resort to?

    Model answer

    Forced loans and extraordinary taxation were imposed to meet wartime costs.

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