Contribution of King Louis XIV of France: Foreign Policy

Louis XIV, like his predecessors, dreamed of making France the best country in Europe. Therefore, he was in favor of changing the boundaries of France in Europe. He was an advocate of the 'Doctrine of natural boundaries' of European countries. In short, he wanted to extend the boundaries of France to the Alps and the Pyrenees in the south, the sea in the west and the Rhine River in the north-east. This simply meant that he would have to fight with foreign powers. For this, he first organized two departments -

(A) Military Department-Louis XIV wanted to establish a centralized strong army. Therefore, he appointed a capable and efficient person 'Louvois' as his war minister. According to his instructions, Louvois made proper arrangements for strict discipline, practice and efficient war education in the French army. The right of promotion in the army was kept merit. There were capable generals like Conde and Touraine in his army. The Minister of War was responsible to Louis XIV in every situation.

(B) Foreign Department-Louis the fourteenth appointed efficient, skilful and diplomatic 'Lionne' as the Minister of Foreign Department for the meaningfulness of efficient foreign policy. Fortification was done by building forts on the eastern and northern borders of France. The foreign minister was responsible to the ruler in every situation. The decision of war and treaty was taken by the ruler himself.

1. War of Devolution with Spain

Cause :

The main reason for the war was the ambition and imperialist policy of Louis XIV. Louis wanted to make the Spanish Netherlands (Belgium) and French Comte a part of his empire for the successful execution of this policy. To fulfill this objective, Louis XIV took the basis of the rule of succession called feudal or local devolution prevalent in the Spanish Netherlands. According to this rule, only the child of the first woman had the maximum right on the ancestral property.

According to the 'Treaty of the Pyrenees' in 1659 AD, Louis IV had married Maria Theresa, the daughter of the Spanish King Philip IV. Maria Theresa was the daughter of King Philip's first wife. Therefore, according to the law of succession, the authority of Maria Theresa over the Spanish Netherlands was proved.

This war was waged by France on the basis of the law of succession of Devolution. Hence it is known as 'War of Devolution'.

Events of war

As soon as the war was declared against Spain in 1667 AD, Louis XIV's army took advantage of the weakness and decadence of Spain and took possession of French Comte. After this the French army entered the Spanish Netherlands.

At this time, the success of France so easily raised the ears of England, Holland and Sweden. England and Holland put an end to their mutual rivalry and together with Sweden formed a triumvirate in 1668 AD. This step undoubtedly forced Louis XIV to 'Treaty of Ella Chapel'.

Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle

According to this treaty, cities like Tournai, Charlesai and Lille, which were on the border of France, had to be handed over to Spain. France returned most of the Spanish Netherlands won in the war. According to Heyes, 'This treaty kept the thirst of Louis XIV unsatisfied.'

2. War with the Dutch (1672–1678)

Cause of war:

• Forced in the War of Devolution, Louis XIV had to sign the Treaty of Ella-Chapelle. Louis XIV considered Holland as the reason for this. So he wanted to avenge his insult from Holland.
• Louis also understood very well that Holland is the biggest obstacle for the expansion of France's empire and business progress. In fact, the expansion of France's empire to the north-east threatened the security of Holland. Therefore Holland was also suspicious of France.
• Dutch Calvinists were intolerable for Louis because of his staunch Catholicism. The biggest thing was that Holland had given shelter to the Huguenots who had fled from France.

Pre-War Diplomacy:

• Louis first signed the Treaty of Dover in 1670 by giving money to the ruler of England, Charles II, to defeat him in the Dutch war. With this treaty, he obtained the neutrality of England.
• Sweden was also joined by giving money. In this way, by breaking the triumvirate, Louis created a favorable situation for himself.
• On the contrary, civil war was going on between monarchists and republicans in Holland at this time. Taking advantage of this internal problem of Holland, he declared war against Holland in 1672 AD.

War Events:

• This war of France with Holland continued from 1672 AD to 1678 AD. The French army was represented by generals named Code and Tusse. The French army soon occupied Lorraine, De Witt, who led the Dutch, opened treaty negotiations with Louis XIV as soon as the French army entered Amsterdam.
• The Dutch killed De Witt on this and the Dutch were now led by Prince William of Laren. William immediately opened the gates of the sea dam. As a result, the French army could not capture Amsterdam. William immediately took the initiative in building a faction against Louis.
• Here the European countries were apprehensive of the success of France. Having Austria, Denmark, Brandenburg, England and Spain on his side, William formed an alliance against Louis. Sweden did not leave Louis' side. In 1678, both the sides signed the 'Treaty of Nimvejin'.

Treaty of Nimvesin:

With the treaty of Nimvesin, France got the French Comte of Spain and many cities of Belgium. French dominance was established over Lorraine. This was an important effort of Louis to expand the border towards the Rhine river.

Result :

This treaty increased the prestige of France in Europe, but it had an adverse effect on the economy of France. France went on becoming financially bankrupt day by day.

3. War of the League of Augsburg (1688–1697)

Cause of war:

In order to keep the territories that Louis had received from the Treaties of Ela chapel and Nimvesin, Louis IV made special courts there to keep them under his control. These courts were called 'Chambers of Reunion'. As directed by the courts, Louis clarified French authority in Strasbourg, Alsace and 20 other cities in Germany.

Terrified by these terrible actions of Louis XIV, in 1786 AD, Spain, Austria, some German states, Holland and Sweden etc. jointly established the 'League of Augsburg'. All this was unbearable for Louis.

War Events:

This war lasted from 1688 AD to 1697 AD. The fields of this war were Palatine, India, America and Cologne. A fierce struggle started between the British and the French settled in America and India. By 1697 AD, both the sides were tired of fighting. Therefore, in 1697 'Treaty of Riswick' was done between the two sides.

Treaty of ryswick

The clauses of the treaty of Ryswick which took place on September 20, 1697 were as follows:

• The Dutch got the right to fortify the border of the Spanish Netherlands.
• Louis gave up his claim on all the territories except Strasbourg which he had received through the 'Chambers of Reunion'.
• Louis XIV made a trade treaty with the Dutch.
• Louis relinquished his claims to the kingdom of the Paratinet.
• France recognized William III as the ruler of England.
• France gave up its claim on the province of Lorraine.

In this way, it is clear from the clauses of the treaty that there was no special loss to France by this treaty. His military power was still well organized and huge. France's authority over Alsace remained intact, but it must be acknowledged that "the War of the League and the Treaty of Ryswick, for the first time the states of Europe succeeded in controlling Louis's ambition and imperialist policy.

War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1713)

Cause

• Will the Bourbon dynasty or the Hapsburg dynasty of Austria have the right over the vast empire of Spain? This problem led to the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1713).
• Balance of power and colonial trade were two such questions which were related to the European importance of the question of succession of Spain. If the claim of Emperor Leopold I of Austria on Spain was accepted, Leopold I's empire would have been like Charles V's empire. This would have made the power of the Hapsburg dynasty unlimited. On the other hand, if the supremacy of France was accepted in the Spanish Empire, then the power of France would have taken a tremendous form in Europe.

Diplomacy

• Louis XIV tried to solve the question of succession by diplomacy without fighting. He and William III made a treaty of partition in 1698 AD.
• According to this treaty, the American colonies of Spain and the ruler of the Spanish Netherlands, Webernaria, were decided to meet Joseph. The rest of the empire was to be divided between Louis' son the Dauphin and Leopold's son, Archduke Charles. Charles II was excluded from this treaty.
• Louis XIV, William III and Leopold I made a treaty in 1700 AD. In this treaty it was arranged that the Spanish Belgian and American colonies would belong to Archduke Charles. The Dauphin would have authority over Naples, Milan and Sicily.
• When Charles came to know about this, he got angry and declared Philip of Anzo, the grandson of Louis, ie Dauphin's second son, the authority of the entire Spanish Empire. This announcement was a boon for Louis the Fourteenth, so he started calling his son the heir to the Spanish Empire, keeping the former treaty in check.

Thus, as soon as Europe was divided into two camps, a fierce war started on both sides in 1702 AD on the question of Spanish succession.

Events

• The main areas in the War of the Spanish Succession were Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Central Europe. This war of succession started from Italy.
• After 1704 AD, the war took a terrible form. Now it spread to Italy, Austria, Netherlands, Spain, India and American colonies.
• When Austria accepted the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, the War of the Spanish Succession came to an end.

Treaty of Utrecht:

• Philip V (Philip of Anzo), the grandson of Louis XIV, was recognized as the ruler of Spain and the western islands.
• This condition was accepted that there should be no combination of France and Spain in any way.
• Naples, Sardinia, Milan and Belgium were given to Austria as compensation.
• England received Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Gibraltar and Minorca located in the Mediterranean Sea of Hudson Bay. He got the monopoly of slave trade with the Spanish colonies.

The Treaty of Utrecht has a very important place in the history of Europe. It is true that according to this inconvenience, nationalism and people's aspirations were strangled by giving Belgium to Austria, Nice to Savoy and many American colonies of Spain and France to England, but it must be accepted that the balance of power in this treaty Every effort has been made to make The expansion of service's kingdom, with the integration of Italy and the establishment of the independent state of Prussia, the integration of Germany became easier. The expansion of Austria's empire became possible. The dominance of France began to end in Europe. Undoubtedly, this treaty was a sign of the era of commercial and colonial rivalry instead of political rivalry.