Ancien RégimeThe Old Order; Development

of the French Monarchy

Ancien RégimeThe Old Order; Development

of the French Monarchy

17th century print of

Louis XIVas the sun

Celui qui n'a pas vécu au dix-huitième siècle avant la Révolution ne connaît pas la douceur de vivre ("Those who haven't lived in the eighteenth century before the Revolution do not know the sweetness of living")

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord 1754-1838

le Peuple sous l’ancien RegimeThe people under the Ancien Regime

Major topics for this session

• Origins

• Medieval Monarchy

• Development of the Nation State

• Sun King

• Great War for the Empire

• France and the American Revolution

origins

origins

The education of the children of Clovis, 1861--Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Vercingétorix jette ses armes aux pieds de Jules César, 1899, par Lionel-Noël Royer.Vercingetorix flings his sword at the feet of Julius Caesar

Gauls become Franks or Frankish people

• the Franci or gens Francorum (Lat.) were a West Germanic tribe living north and east of the Lower Rhine, first attested in the third century

• 3rd-5th century-some raided Roman territory, others joined the Roman troops in Gaul

• only the Salian Franks formed a kingdom on Roman-held soil that was acknowledged by the Romans after 357

• 5th century-as West Roman authority collapsed, all the Frankish tribes were united under the Merovingian kings (Clovis, c.466-481-511)

• this Salian political elite would be one of the most active forces in spreading Christianity over western Europe

Bateme de Clovis par Sainte Remy

497

Baptism of Clovis by Saint Remigius

497

statue in front of Reims Cathedral, 1896

Bateme de Clovis par Sainte Remy

497

Baptism of Clovis by Saint Remigius

497

statue in front of Reims Cathedral, 1896painting c. 1500

From Clovis to Charlemagne

481-814

Batai"e de Poitiers, en octobre 732(Battle of Tours, October 732)

Carl von Steuben (1788-1856) painted between 1834 and 1837

Charlemagne (742-768-800-814)CAROLVS MAGNVS or Karl der Grosse

•742-born the son of King Pépin le Bref (Pippin the Short) III, grandson of Charles Martel, victor of Tours. Beginning of the Carolingians

•768-at his father’s death he became king of the Franks, began his conquests

10th century copy of a lost original, which was made back

between 829 and 836 in Fulda for Eberhard von Friaul

Karl the Great & Pépin le Bossu

Charlemagne (742-768-800-814)CAROLVS MAGNVS or Karl der Grosse

•742-born the son of King Pépin le Bref (Pippin the Short) III, grandson of Charles Martel, victor of Tours. Beginning of the Carolingians

•768-at his father’s death he became king of the Franks, began his conquests

•25 December 800--crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in Aachen (Aix la Chape"e)

•814-at his death the empire is divided between his sons and interminable wars follow during the early middle ages (9th-11th centuries)

Division of theHoly Roman

Empire under the Treaty of Verdun,

843

Les Capétiens (the Capetian dynasty)

The first Capetian monarch was Hugh Capet (c.940–996), a Frankish nobleman from the Île-de-France, who, following the death of Louis V of France (c.967–987) – the last Carolingian King – secured the throne of France by election. He then proceeded to make it hereditary in his family, by securing the election and coronation of his son, Robert II (972–1031), as co-King. The throne thus passed securely to Robert on his father's death, who followed the same custom – as did many of his early successors.The Capetian Kings were initially weak rulers of the Kingdom – they directly ruled only small holdings in the Île-de-France and the Orléanais, all of which were plagued with disorder; the rest of France was controlled by potentates such as the Duke of Normandy, the Count of Blois, the Duke of Burgundy (himself a member of the Capetian Dynasty after 1032) and the Duke of Aquitaine (all of whom facing to a greater or lesser extent the same problems of controlling their subordinates). The House of Capet was, however, fortunate enough to have the support of the Church …

Wikipedia

Periodization of Western CivilizationAncient History

Third Millennium BC (BCE)introduction of writing

to476 AD (CE)

fall of the West Roman Empire

Medieval History476 AD

to1500 AD

Renaissance1450s-printing, fall of

Constantinople1485-Tudor monarchy1492-expulsion of the

Moors from Spain

Modern HistoryEarly Modern Europe

1500-1815

Periodization of Medieval History

Dark Ages5th to 9th c.s(476-800)

fall of Rometo Charlemagne

Early Medieval9th through 11th c.s(800-1095-1099)

to the First Crusade

High Middle Ages12th & 13th c.s(1100-1300)

Late Medieval14th & 15th(1300-1500)

the Two Swords of Pope Gelasius Iletter to the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius in 494

the Lords Spiritualthe higher clergy

the Two Swords of Pope Gelasius Iletter to the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius in 494

the Lords Spiritualthe higher clergy

the Lords Temporalthe nobility

the Two Swords of Pope Gelasius Iletter to the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius in 494

the Lords Spiritualthe higher clergy

the Lords Temporalthe nobility

There are two powers, august Emperor, by which this world is chiefly ruled, namely, the sacred authority of the priests and the royal power. Of these that of the priests is the more weighty, since they have to render an account for even the kings of men in the divine judgment. You are also aware, dear son, that while you are permitted honorably to rule over human kind, yet in things divine you bow your head humbly before the leaders of the clergy and await from their hands the means of your salvation. In the reception and proper disposition of the heavenly mysteries you recognize that you should be subordinate rather than superior to the religious order, and that in these matters you depend on their judgment rather than wish to force them to follow your will.

letter to the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius in 494

the Three Estates of France

First Estatethe Lords Spiritual

Cardinal Archbishops, Archbishops,Bishops, Abbots,even lower clergy

Second Estatethe Lords Temporal

King, Princes of the Blood, Dukes,Counts, Marquises, nobility of the sword,

nobility of the robe

Third Estate

percent in1789

0.5%

1.5%

98%1st 2nd 3rd

la Noblesse--feudalism

• lord (seigneur or liege)

• vassal (vasseu)

• fief (feodum, Lat.) land held by the vassal, conferred by the lord

• homage

• fealty

• diffidatio

• sovereignty (the monopoly of justice and power)

• sovereign liege lord (king)10th century representation

of Roland swearing fealty

Medieval Monarchy

Medieval MonarchyTrès Riches Heures du Duc

de Berry (The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry) commissioned around 1410

Le Tiers Étatthe Manorial System

• demesne (demeine, O.F., from dominiun, Lat.)

• manor

• seigneur (lord, either 1st or 2nd estate)

• serf

•vi"ein

• cottagers

• bordars

• slaves (sclavus, Lat.)

Generalized Planof an English fiefnote the three-fields croprotation system of the

late Middle Ages

Krak des Chevaliersone of the best preserved castles in the world, expanded by the knights Hospitalers,

1150-1250 on the modern Syrian-Lebanese border

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartresthe last of at least five churches built and rebuilt after fire on this site,

9th c. to 1260

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartresthe last of at least five churches built and rebuilt after fire on this site,

9th c. to 1260

Medieval cities

Lutece/Paris in 508(when Clovis established it as his capital)

as drawn by Jean-Baptiste d’Anville in 1705

Palace & Public Square

ca. 1180Le Temple

Chateau du Louvre

Notre-Damede Paris(begun 1163)

ca. 1223after the reign of Philippe Auguste

population 150,000 (?)

Les Ha"es

Louvre

Temple

TuileriesPalais & Jardin

ca. 1422 to 1589

Bastion de St Antoine(later known as the Bastille)

1370-1383

Faubourg StAntoine

Hotel-de-Sensbuilt between 1475 and 1507, one of three remaining medieval buildings

Stadter Luft macht frei (City air makes a man free)

• medieval cities either grew upon the remains of ancient cities or out of the villages huddled outside castle walls

• castles were built upon high ground (berg burg, Ger., bourg, Fr.)

• the city people were thus burgers or bourgeois

• in the Holy Roman Empire, cities gained charters granting certain liberties from the feudal lord. He was willing to grant these because of the taxes, stemming from commerce, which the city paid

• a famous such liberty was that runaway serfs who lived in the city for a year and a day became free men

• tradesmen formed guilds to protect their economic interests

• city populations, a small minority, broke down the feudal system

the Commercial Revolution; 12th-18th centuries

• 1095-1250--crusades led to the rise of banking, money economy, and demand for the eastern goods such as:

• spices, silks, ivory, jade, diamonds, improved glass-manufacturing techniques, early forms of gun powder, oranges, apples, and other Asian crops, and many other products

• the Knights Templars, with their headquarters in Paris and chapter houses in all the major European cities, functioned as bankers for their order and for laymen who carried on trade

• other medieval banking houses were the Medici of Florence (1397) and the Fuggers of Augsburg (15th cent.)

• 1451--when the Ottomans conquered Constantinople, the pressure to establish an all-water trade route to the East grew intense, and the rest is, as they say, “history.” Modern History

Development of the Nation State

François I of France - Jean and François Clouet (c.1535, oil on panel) (Louvre).

How to create a nation from bickering feudal nobles

• one Lord must emerge supreme to exercise state sovereignty, the monopoly of justice and power

• castles must no longer provide safe refuges from which rebellious nobles can defy their sovereign liege

• in order to accomplish this, kings need greater sources of revenue through taxes on the new commerce

• this enables them to buy the mercenaries and the artillery to reduce the rebels’ castles

Bombard-Mortar of the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem Rhodes, 1480–1500. Founded at the request of Pierre d'Aubusson, the bombard was used for close defense of the wa"s (100–200 meters) at the Siege of Rhodes. It fired 260 kg granite ba"s. The bombard weighs about 3,325 kg. Musée de l'Armée.

Bombard-Mortar of the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem Rhodes, 1480–1500. Founded at the request of Pierre d'Aubusson, the bombard was used for close defense of the wa"s (100–200 meters) at the Siege of Rhodes. It fired 260 kg granite ba"s. The bombard weighs about 3,325 kg. Musée de l'Armée.Austrian Pumhart von Steyr

early 15th century Army History Museum, Vienna

By the 15th century, castle walls proved no match for the crude artillery which could be hired by the besiegers

Le diverse et artificiose machine del capitano

1588 engraving by Agostino Ramelli

How to create a nation from bickering feudal nobles

• one Lord must emerge supreme

• castles can no longer provide safe refuges from which rebellious nobles can defy their sovereign liege

• kings need greater sources of revenue through taxes on the new commerce

• this enables them to buy the mercenaries and the artillery to reduce the rebels’ castles

• 15th century-France saw the end of England’s ambitions in the Hundred Years’ War (1336-1454) and the absorption of southern Burgundy, after the death of Charles the Bold (1477)

Burgundy

source of contention between France and the Habsburg Empire

for the next two centuries

Burgundy

source of contention between France and the Habsburg Empire

for the next two centuries

Charles le Temeraire1433-1467-1477

How to create a nation from bickering feudal nobles

• one Lord must emerge supreme

• castles can no longer provide safe refuges from which rebellious nobles can defy their sovereign liege

• kings need greater sources of revenue through taxes on the new commerce

• this enables them to buy the mercenaries and the artillery to reduce the rebels’ castles

• 15th century-France saw the end of England’s ambitions in the Hundred Years’ War (1336-1454) and the absorption of southern Burgundy, after the death of Charles the Bold (1477)

• these events set the stage for the 16th century emergence of the French nation-state under Francis I (1494-1515-1547)

France’s first Renaissance monarch• contemporary and ally of Suleiman the

Magnificent, and of England’s Henry VIII and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, his great rivals

• man of letters, expanded the royal library and opened it to scholars, he actually read the books!

• patron of Cellini and Leonardo de Vinci

• 1530s--began the exploration and settlement of New France

• 1515-46--fought a series of wars with Charles V in Italy, actually captured on the battlefield of Pavia (1525)

Francis 1 (1494-1515-1547)painted in 1515

Francis receiving the last breath of Leonardo, painted by Ingres in 1818

Wars of Religion; 1517-1648

Wars of Religion; 1517-1648

Wars of Religion; 1517-1648

Wars of Religion; 1517-1648

Wars of Religion; 1517-1648

Wars of Religion; 1517-1648

French Wars of Religion; 1559-1598

• 1559-accidental jousting death of King Henry II (Nostradamus) rise of the ultra-Catholic house of Guise

• Huguenot iconoclasm and Catholic bloody reprisals

• 1562-1570-first three wars

• 1572-73-St Bartholomew's Day Massacre and after, the “Fourth War”

• 1574-1580-wars five-seven. Formation of the Catholic League under the Guises

• 1585-1598-”War of the Three Henries”-King Henry III, Henry Duc de Guise & Henri du Navarre finally King Henry IV, the first of the Bourbons

• 1598- Edict of Nantes

Paris vaut bien une messe

France during the Thirty Years War; 1618-1648

• last of the “wars of religion,” it was also about the balance of power in Europe

• France was “encircled” by the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs

• 1624-beginning secretly, chief minister Richelieu aided the German Protestant princes against their Catholic Habsburg Emperor

• this continued the politique policy of Henri IV

• 1630s-Richelieu subsidized the Swedish Lutheran forces of Gustavus Adolphus to enter the war

• he functioned as the virtual ruler of France and was succeeded in this role by Cardinal Mazarin

Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu

Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu

(1585 – 1642)

French clergyman, noble, and statesman.

Le Roi SoleilThe Sun King1638-1643-1661-1715

seventy-two years, three months, eighteen days

Le Roi SoleilThe Sun King1638-1643-1661-1715

seventy-two years, three months, eighteen days

by HyacintheRigaud, 1701

The history of the Capetian monarchy had in fact been largely the story of its struggle against the aristocracy. Sometimes the royal power had won out, as under Francis I and Henry II, to go back no further, or under Henry IV and Richelieu. Sometimes the aristocracy had regained the advantage, through the wars of religion, the minority of Louis XIII or the Fronde. Under Louis XIV the conflict seemed to be over…

Georges Lefebvre, The Coming of the French Revolution, p. 16

The FrondeA civil war in France (1648- 1653) at the end of the Thirty Years War. Aristocratic leaders of armed bands challenged the royal authority during the minority of Louis XIV. Thus he was determined to develop an absolute monarchy and break the political power of the nobility forever.

Episode of the Fronde at the Faubourg Saint-Antoine by the Walls of the Bastille, c. 1648

Louis as Jupiter conqueringthe Frondeartist unknown

painted 1655-1667 (?)

"L'État, c'est moi" ("I am the State")frequently attributed to him, though considered an inaccuracy by historians

• 1638-born after twenty-three years of his parents’ childlessness, hence Louis Dieu-donné

• 1643-at his father’s death, he becomes king under his mother’s regency and the guidance of First Minister Cardinal Mazarin

• 1661-at Mazarin’s death Louis’ ministers inquired, “Sire, to whom shall we report?”

• the self-assured monarch replied, “To me”

• unlike both his parents, he intended to rule in his own right, not delegate the business of state to an all-powerful minister-in-chief

• his first step was to investigate and imprison his finance minister, Nicholas Fouquet, for enriching himself from the royal treasury

in 1661

Fouquet’s grandiose châteauVaux-le-Vicomte

Fouquet’s grandiose châteauVaux-le-Vicomte

built 1658-1661, 55 km southeast of Paris

Fouquet’s grandiose châteauVaux-le-Vicomte

built 1658-1661, 55 km southeast of Paris

Fouquet’s successor, Jean-Baptiste Colbert

• like Fouquet, one of Cardinal Mazarin’s protégés

• both honest and ambitious, he brought Fouquet’s corruption to Louis’ attention

• 1664-Superintendent of Buildings

in 1666

Fouquet’s successor, Jean-Baptiste Colbert

• like Fouquet, one of Cardinal Mazarin’s protégés

• both honest and ambitious, he brought Fouquet’s corruption to Louis’ attention

• 1664-Superintendent of Buildings

• 1665-Controller-General of Finances

in 1666

en grande tenue

Fouquet’s successor, Jean-Baptiste Colbert

• like Fouquet, one of Cardinal Mazarin’s protégés

• both honest and ambitious, he brought Fouquet’s corruption to Louis’ attention

• 1664-Superintendent of Buildings

• 1665-Controller-General of Finances

• 1669-Secretary of the Navy, also gained appointments as minister of commerce, of the colonies and of the palace. In short, he acquired power in every department except that of war

in 1685

His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing and bringing the economy back from the brink of bankruptcy. Historians note that, despite Colbert's efforts, France actually became increasingly impoverished because of the King's excessive spending on wars. Colbert worked to create a favorable balance of trade and increase France's colonial holdings. Historians of mercantilism consider Colbert a key figure.

Colbert's market reforms included the foundation of the Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs in 1665 to supplant the importation of Venetian glass (forbidden in 1672, as soon as French glass manufacture was on a sound basis) and to encourage the technical expertise of Flemish cloth manufacturing in France. He also founded royal tapestry works at Gobelins and supported those at Beauvais. Colbert worked to improve the economy via tariffs and the construction of internal improvements. In regard to foreign markets, Colbert aimed to ensure that the French East India Company could obtain coffee, cotton, dyewoods, fur, pepper, and sugar. In addition, Colbert founded a French merchant marine.

Wikipedia

“The art of taxation consists in plucking the goose in such a manner as to obtain the

largest amount of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing”--J-B Colbert

principles of Mercantilism

I.Bullionism-the true measure of national wealth is the amount of precious metal in the national treasury

II.Maintenance of a favorable balance of trade-the value of the nation’s exports must exceed the cost of its imports. Thus, gold accumulates.

I. inevitably, this requires protectionism, protective tariffs on imports and the promotion of domestic manufactures

III.Vigorous search for colonies, overseas empire-as both a source of raw materials and a market for manufactured exports

1. rules prohibiting the colonies from trading with other nations and from competing with the Mother Country by manufacturing goods themselves

divine right absolutism

• le roi, Jesus-Christ et l’Eglise, Dieu en ces trois noms (the king, Jesus Christ and the Church, God in these three names) he wrote in a characteristic letter

• a strong advocate of political absolutism and the divine right of kings

• 1657-St Vincent de Paul convinced him to move to Paris and devote himself entirely to preaching

• 1660-he was preaching regularly before the court in the Chapel Royal

• 1662-he preached his famous sermon “On the Duties of Kings” to Louis XIV in the Louvre

Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet1627-1704

We have already seen that all power is of God. The ruler, adds St. Paul, "is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain : for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." Rulers then act as the ministers of God and as his lieutenants on earth. it is through them that God exercises his empire...

It appears from all this that the person of the king is sacred, and that to attack him in any way is sacrilege. God has the kings anointed by his prophets with the holy unction in like manner as he has bishops and altars anointed.. .

There is something religious in the respect accorded to a prince. The service of God and the respect for kings are bound together. St. Peter unites these two duties when he says, "Fear God. Honour the king.". . .

The royal power is absolute. With the aim of making this truth hateful and insufferable, many writers have tried to confound absolute government with arbitrary government. But no two things could be more unlike, as we shall show when we come to speak of justice.

Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Politique tiree des propres paroles de l' Ecriture sainte

Bossuet’s political theories

Louis’ Minister of War

• 1666-Louvois succeeded his father, Michel le Tellier, as Minister of War

• 1667-68--almost immediately he was tested in the first of Louis’ four wars, the War of Devolution in the Netherlands

• over the next decades he would build the largest army in Europe, 400,000 men

• he created many of the modern features such as long enlistments, barracks, depots, drill, a professional career officer class, frontier Vauban fortresses

• IG Lieutenant Colonel Jean Martinet

• he died suddenly, some suggest of poisonFrançois Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois

(1641 – 1691)

How to fortify in the age of cannons?

•Marshall of France, foremost military engineer of his age

• famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them

• 1667-1714--the wars of Louis XIV saw the revolution in fortifications known as the Vauban system

Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban1633-1707

Vauban’s answer to the castle vs gunpowder

Vauban’s answer to the castle vs gunpowder

Vauban’s answer to the castle vs gunpowder

Vauban’s answer to the castle vs gunpowder

Vauban’s answer to the castle vs gunpowder

Vauban’s answer to the castle vs gunpowder

Vauban’s answer to the castle vs gunpowder

Vauban’s answer to the castle vs gunpowder

Vauban’s answer to the castle vs gunpowder

Vauban’s answer to the castle vs gunpowder

Louis XIV’s four wars

1.War of Devolution (1667-68) by his marriage to the Spanish princess, he claimed much of the Spanish Netherlands (modern Belgium)

1.Opponents: United Provinces (Dutch Netherlands), Spain, England, Sweden

2.Allies: none

3.Peace Treaty: Aix-la-Chapelle

2. Dutch War (1672-78)

1.Opponents: United Provinces, Spain, Holy Roman Empire, Denmark, Prussia, Lorraine

2.Allies: Sweden and England

3.Peace Treaty: Treaties of Nijmegen (1678-79)

warfare as siegecraft

warfare as siegecraft

trenches are used in siegecraft to encircle and approach the besieged

fortress cities

Louis XIV in a trench before a besieged city during the War of Devolution

by Charles le Brun, 1667

Note the trenches used to approach the walls

going to war in style

Louis XIV. and Maria Teresa in Arras 1667 during the War of DevolutionAdam Frans van der Meulen (1632-1690)

Louis XIV’s four wars (cont.)

3.War of the League of Augsburg (1688-1697) the “first world war” called King William’s War in British North America, the first of Gipson’s “Great War for the Empire”

1.Opponents: England, United Provinces, Spain,Holy Roman Empire, Sweden, Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, and Savoy (all united in the League of Augsburg)

2.Allies: none

3.Peace Treaty: Treaty of Ryswick (1697)--Spain recognizes Saint-Domingue (Haiti)

4.War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) also called Queen Anne’s War

1.Opponents: England, United Provinces, Holy Roman Empire, Sweden, Prussia, Denmark, Portugal, Savoy, and several small states (all members of the Grand Alliance)

2.Allies: Spain and Bavaria

3.Peace Treaty: Peace of Utrecht (1713-14) consisting of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), Treaty of Rastatt (1714) and the Treaty of Baden (1714)

world war

world war

world war1700

world war

1713-Provisions of the Treaty of Utrecht

French expansion; 1552-1798

the AustrianNetherlands

Great War for the Empire

Great War for the Empire

The Death of Wolfe by BenjaminWest, 1770

far flung riches

far flung riches

far flung riches

far flung riches

far flung riches

far flung riches

far flung riches

far flung riches

far flung riches

far flung riches

far flung riches

King George’s War; 1744-48-- War of the Austrian Succession; 1740-48

• 1739-The War of Jenkin’s Ear

• 1740-France responded to the wars begun by her rival Britain against her ally Spain, and her ally Prussia against the ancient Habsburg enemy

• the combatants expanded to include all the European continent except Portugal and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

• in North America both sides used their Indian allies in savage frontier warfare

• 1745-France used the Jacobite Pretender “Bonnie Prince Charlie” to raise an almost successful rebellion in Britain

• the other theaters included the West Indies, India, the Caribbean, Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean

Louisbourg; the Gibraltar of New France

Louisbourg; the Gibraltar of New France

• 1745-as the war progressed, Massachusetts took the lead in besieging this fortress

• 1995-your instructor spent nine days at the reenactment of this famous battle

Louisbourg; the Gibraltar of New France

• 1745-as the war progressed, Massachusetts took the lead in besieging this fortress

• 1995-your instructor spent nine days at the reenactment of this famous battle

• the fortress fell to combined provincial and British regular forces

• 1748-but in the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle Britain returned the fortress in return for Madras, India

Louisbourg; the Gibraltar of New France

• 1745-as the war progressed, Massachusetts took the lead in besieging this fortress

• 1995-your instructor spent nine days at the reenactment of this famous battle

• the fortress fell to combined provincial and British regular forces

• 1748-but in the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle Britain returned the fortress in return for Madras, India

• 1758-Louisbourg had to be taken a second time.

• 1760-this time it was demolished, not a stone left standing

• 1970s-Parks Canada restored it into the wonderful site we can visit today

French and Indian War; 1754-63--Seven Years War; 1756-63

• the climax of Gipson’s “Great War for the Empire” between Britain and France. It involved virtually every European state and their overseas possessions

• 4 July 1754-origins in the New World, Col. Washington’s failed mission to secure “the Forks of the Ohio” for British North America

• as a result of balance of power diplomacy Britain and France exchanged “partners” in the “stately quadrille” known as the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756

• Frederick the Great, the “star” of the previous war, now faced an encirclement which foreshadowed the twentieth century

• again, the war was fought worldwide, on land and sea

The Diplomatic Revolution of 1756

maps of the theater of the siege of Quebec

maps of the theater of the siege of Quebec

maps of the theater of the siege of Quebec

maps of the campaign; June-September, 1759

maps of the campaign; June-September, 1759

maps of the battle of September 13, 1759

maps of the battle of September 13, 1759

maps of the battle of September 13, 1759

maps of the battle of September 13, 1759

maps of the battle of September 13, 1759

maps of the battle of September 13, 1759

illustrations of the Battle of Quebec, 1759

illustrations of the Battle of Quebec, 1759

illustrations of the Battle of Quebec, 1759

illustrations of the Battle of Quebec, 1759

illustrations of the Battle of Quebec, 1759

Major General James Wolfe; 1727-13 September 1759

• 1743-age 15, began his career in the War of the Austrian Succession at Dettingen

• 1745-fought at Culloden to defeat the Jacobite rebels of “Bonnie Prince Charlie”

• famously refused to shoot a wounded Highlander when so ordered by “Butcher Cumberland”

• 1758-distinguished himself at Louisbourg

• 1759-Pitt chose him to lead the expedition against Quebec

• the night before the battle, he remarked on Grey’s Elegy, “The paths of glory lead but to the grave”

Who, at the Expence of his Life, purchas'd immortal Honour for his Country, and

planted,with his own Hand, the British Laurel, in the inhospitable Wilds of North America, By

the Reduction of Quebec, Septr. 13th. 1759."

Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Saint-Veran; 1712 – September 14, 1759

• like Wolfe, he entered the army at a young age and served in the Continental wars of the Polish and Austrian Succession

• 1756-sent by Louis XV to be in overall command of the defense of New France

• 1756-58-using his Indian allies skillfully, he inflicted humiliating defeats on the British and colonial forces

• 1759-against superior forces, he conducted the defense of Quebec until his mortal wounding on the Plains of Abraham

• 1760-the last French capitulation occurred at Montreal. New France becomes Canada

both are memorialized at Quebec’s Assembly building

both are memorialized at Quebec’s Assembly building

JE ME SOUVIENS

1763-the Peace of Paris

• Britain obtained all of New France (Canada) and other gains in India and

the West Indies

• but the cost was tremendous, the debt nearly doubled to £122 million

• 1764-Lord North’s government attempted to recover some of the costs of

defending North America with the Sugar and Stamp (1765) Acts

• France was defeated but unreconciled to its loss in the Great War

• in less than fifteen years, there would be a “re-match”

France and the American Revolution

France and the American Revolution

Washington and Lafayette at Mount Vernon, 1784by Thomas Prichard Rossiter and Louis Remy Mignot, 1859

The government crisis went back to the American war. The revolt of the English colonies may in fact be considered the principal direct cause of the French Revolution [emphasis added], both because in invoking the rights of man it stirred up great excitement in France, and because Louis XVI in supporting it got his finances into very bad condition. Necker carried on the war by loans. When peace was restored in 1783 the increase of taxes could not make up the deficit, so that his successor Calonne continued to borrow. When lenders showed themselves recalcitrant, in 1786, Calonne was obliged to notify the king that fiscal reform was absolutely necessary.

Lefebvre, p. 21

Boston’s Tea Party16 December 1773

the Rape of Bostonthe Boston Port Bill, 1774

19th of April, ’75“Here the embattled farmers stood,

and fired the shot heard round the world”

Bunker Hill17 June 1775

Roderigue Hortalez and Company

In early 1776 Beaumarchais was authorized by Louis XV to set up a fictitious Franco-Spanish front company to secretly fund the American

rebels

Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732 – 1799)

best known for the three Figaro plays

Minister to France; 1776-1785

•celebrated worldwide as a natural philosopher and sage, he was a brilliant choice as our minister to France

Minister to France; 1776-1785

•celebrated worldwide as a natural philosopher and sage, he was a brilliant choice as our minister to France

•he was feted in all the salons

Minister to France; 1776-1785

•celebrated worldwide as a natural philosopher and sage, he was a brilliant choice as our minister to France

•he was feted in all the salons

• 1778-after the victory at Saratoga, he accomplished his mission with the Treaties of Alliance and Amity & Commerce

• the trickle of secret military support became a flow: money, munitions, military advisors, ships, French troops, the French fleet

John Paul Jones; “father of the American Navy”

• 14 February 1778-when he sailed Ranger into Brest, nine days after Franklin’s treaty, the American flag received its first formal recognition, a nine-gun salute

•after an interminable delay, Franklin obtained for him the Bonhomme Richard-42

•23 Sept 1779-against HMS Serapis-50 and Countess of Scarborough-20 he would prevail

•when invited to surrender by the British captain, he replied with the immortal words, “I have not yet begun to fight!” Houdon’s second American sitter

(1781) after Franklin (1778)

The Crypt beneath the Naval Academy ChapelTeddy Roosevelt’s monument to navalism

brought home from Paris, 1906; interred her in 1913

Washington’s surrogate son

• December 1776-age 19, arranged in Paris to enter American service as a Major General

• 1777-wounded at Brandywine, he still manages to organize a successful retreat

• 1779-returning to France, he negotiates, with Franklin, a further 6,000 French regulars under General de Rochambeau

• 1781-back in Virginia, he pens Cornwallis at Yorktown until Washington and Rochambeau can invest the British there

• 1834-he is buried in Paris under soil from the battlefield of Bunker HillMarie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier,

Marquis de La Fayette (1757 – 1834)

Battle of the Virginia Capes; September 1781Admiral De Grasse defeats Admiral Graves

Washington and Rochambeauat Yorktown; October 1781

Cornwallis surrendersto the French and American commands

by John Trumbull

French Revenge but at a Fatal Cost

"Give me leave, my dear General to present you with a picture of the Basti"e, just as it looked a few days a-er I had ordered its demolition,- with the main key of the fortress of despotism. It is a tribute, which I owe, as a son to my adoptive father, as an Aide-de-Camp to my General, as a Missionary of liberty to its Patriarch."

- Marquis de Lafayette to George Washington, March 17, 1790

the key as it sits today at Mount Vernon