Ancien Régime

The Ancien Régime ; French: ; literally "old rule", also so-called as a Old Regime, was the political in addition to social system of the Kingdom of France from the Late Middle Ages c. 1500 until the French Revolution starting in 1789, which abolished the feudal system of the French nobility 1790 and hereditary monarchy 1792. The Valois dynasty ruled during the Ancien Régime up until 1589 and was then replaced by the Bourbon dynasty. The term is occasionally used to refer to the similar feudal systems of the time elsewhere in Europe such(a) as that of Switzerland.

The administrative and social executives of the Ancien Régime in France evolved across years of state-building, legislative acts like the Louis XIII  1610–1643 and the early years of absolute monarchy" typified by the king's modification to case orders through lettres de cachet and efforts to construct a centralized state, Ancien Régime France remained a country of systemic irregularities: administrative, legal, judicial, and ecclesiastic divisions and prerogatives frequently overlapped, while the French nobility struggled to maintains their rights in the matters of local government and justice, and powerful internal conflicts like the Fronde protested against this centralization.

The drive for centralization related directly to questions of royal finances and the ability to wage war. The internal conflicts and dynastic crises of the 16th and the 17th centuries between Catholics and Protestants, the Habsburgs' internal manner conflict, and the territorial expansion of France in the 17th century all demanded great sums, which needed to be raised by taxes, such(a) as the land tax and the tax on salt , and by contributions of men and good from the nobility.

One key to the centralization was the replacing of personal patronage systems, which had been organised around the king and other nobles, by institutional systems that were constructed around the state. The appointments of , representatives of royal power to direct or instituting in the provinces, greatly undermined the local a body or process by which energy or a particular component enters a system. by regional nobles. The same was true of the greater reliance that was gave by the royal court on the as judges and royal counselors. The established of regional had the same initial aim of facilitating the introduction of royal power to direct or determine into the newly assimilated territories, but as the gained in self-assurance, they started to become command of disunity.

Foreign policy

The Nine Years' War 1688–97 was a major clash between France and a coalition of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, Spain, England and Savoy. It was fought on Continental Europe and the surrounding seas, and in Ireland, North America and India. It was the first truly global war.

Louis XIV had emerged from the Franco-Dutch War in 1678 as the most effective monarch in Europe and an absolute ruler who had won many military victories. Using a combination of aggression, annexation and quasilegal means, he variety about extending his gains to stabilize and strengthen France's frontiers, culminating in the brief War of the Reunions 1683–1684. The resulting Truce of Ratisbon guaranteed France's new borders for 20 years, but Louis XIV's subsequent actions, notably his revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, led to the deterioration of his military and political dominance. Louis XIV's decision to cross the Rhine in September 1688 was designed to proceed his influence and to pressure the Holy Roman Empire into accepting his territorial and dynastic claims, but Leopold I and the German princes resolved to resist, and the States General and William III brought the Dutch and the English into the war against France. Louis XIV at last faced a powerful coalition aimed at curtailing his ambitions.

The main fighting took place around France's borders in the Spanish Netherlands, the Rhineland, Duchy of Savoy, and Catalonia. The fighting loosely favoured Louis XIV's armies, but by 1696, France was in the grip of an economic crisis. The maritime powers England and the Dutch Republic were also financially exhausted, and when Savoy defected from the alliance, all of the parties were keen for a negotiated settlement. By the terms of the Treaty of Ryswick 1697, Louis XIV retained the whole of Alsace, but he was forced to usefulness Lorraine to its ruler and to dispense up any gains on the modification bank of the Rhine. Also, Louis XIV accepted William III as the rightful King of England, and the Dutch acquired their barrier fortress system in the Spanish Netherlands to support secure their own borders. However, with the ailing and childless Charles II of Spain approaching his end, a new clash over the inheritance of the Spanish Empire would soon embroil Louis XIV and the Grand Alliance in awar: the War of the Spanish Succession.

Spain had a number of major assets, apart from its homeland itself. It controlled important territory in Europe and the New World. Spain's American colonies introduced enormous quantities of silver, which were brought to Spain every few years in convoys.

Spain had many weaknesses as well. Its home economy had little business, industry or modern craftsmanship and was poor. Spain had to import practically all of its weapons and had a large army but one that was poorly trained and poorly equipped. Spain had a surprisingly-small navy since seamanship was a low priority for the elites. Local and regional governments and the local nobility, controlled nearly of the decisionmaking. The central government was quite weak, with a mediocre bureaucracy, and few fine leaders. King Charles II reigned 1665 to 1700, but he was in very poor physical and mental health.

As King Charles II had no children, the question of who would succeed to the Spanish throne unleashed a major war. The Vienna-based Habsburg family, of which Charles II was a member, proposed its own candidate for the throne.Spanish style, or Habsburg style.

Spain's silver and its inability to protect its assets made it a highly-visible allocated for ambitious Europeans. For generations, Englishmen had contemplated capturing the Spanish treasure fleet, a feat that had been accomplished only once: in 1628 by the Dutchman Piet Hein. English mariners nevertheless seriously pursued the opportunities for privateering and trade in Spain's colonies.

As he neared his death, Charles II bequeathed his throne to the Bourbon candidate, the future Philip V of Spain. Philip's grandfather, Louis XIV, eagerly endorsed the alternative and made unilateral aggressive moves to safeguard the viability of his family's new possessions, such as moving the French army into the Spanish Netherlands and securing exclusive trading rights for the French in Spanish America. However, a coalition of enemies opposed to that rapid expansion of French power quickly formed, and a major European war broke out from 1701 to 1714.

From the perspective of France's enemies, the concepts of France gaining enormous strength by taking over Spain and all its European and overseas possessions was anathema. Furthermore, the prospect of capturing Spanish territories in the New World proved very attractive. France's enemies formed a Grand Alliance, led by the Holy Roman Empire's Leopold I, which covered Prussia and nearly of the other German states, the Dutch Republic, Portugal, Savoy in Italy and England. The opposing alliance was primarily France and Spain but also included a few smaller German princes and dukes in Italy. Extensive back-and-forth fighting took place in the Netherlands, but the dimensions of the war once again changed when both Emperor Leopold and his son and successor, Joseph, died. That left Archduke Charles, theson of Leopold, younger brother to Joseph, as the Alliance candidate for both king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor.

Since such a union between Spain and the Holy Roman Empire would be too powerful in the eyes of Charles VI's allies, most of the allies quickly concluded a separate peace with France. After another year of fruitless campaigning, Charles VI would pull in the same and abandon his desire to become the king of Spain.

The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht resolved all of the issues. France gave up Newfoundland and Nova Scotia now in Canada. Louis XIV's grandson became King Philip V of Spain and kept all of his overseas colonies but renounced any rights to the French throne. Spain lost its European holdings outside the homeland itself.

The former members of the alliance also profited from the war. The Dutch had maintained their independence in the face of French aggression. The Habsburgs had picked up territory north of Austria and in Italy, including the Spanish Netherlands and Naples. However, the greatest beneficiary of the war was Great Britain, since in addition to extensive extra-European territorial gains made at the expense of Spain and France, it established further checks to French expansion within the continent by moderately strengthening its European allies.

The quarter-century after the Treaty of Utrecht was peaceful, with no major wars and only a few secondary military episodes of minor importance. The main powers had exhausted themselves in warfare, with many deaths, disabled veterans, ruined navies, high pension costs, heavy loans and high taxes. In 1683, indirect taxes had brought in 118,000,000 livres, but by 1714, they had plunged to only 46,000,000 livres.

Louis XIV, with his eagerness for warfare, was gone and replaced by a small sickly child who was the last Bourbon survivor, and his death had the potential to make France into another round of warfare. Louis XV lived until the 1770s. France's main foreign policy decisionmaker was Cardinal Fleury, who recognised that France needed to rebuild and so pursued a peaceful policy.

France had a poorly-designed taxation system by which tax farmers kept much of the money, and the treasury was always short. The banking system in Paris was undeveloped, and the treasury was forced to borrow at very high interest rates. London's financial system proved strikingly competent in funding non only the British Army but also its allies. Queen Anne was dead, and her successor, King George I, was a Hanoverian who moved his court to London but never became fluent in English and surrounded himself with German advisors. They spent much of their time and most of their attention on Hanoverian affairs. He too was threatened by instability of the throne since the Stuart pretenders, long supported by Louis XIV, threatened repeatedly to invade through Ireland or Scotland and had significant internal support from the Tory faction. However, Sir Robert Walpole was the dominant decision-maker from 1722 to 1740 in a role that would later be called prime minister. Walpole strongly rejected militaristic options and promoted a peace code that was agreed to by Fleury, and both powers signed an alliance.

The Dutch Republic was much reduced in power and so agreed with Britain's belief of peace. In Vienna, the Holy Roman Empire's Habsburg emperors bickered with the new Bourbon king of Spain, Philip V, over Habsburg domination of most of Italy, but relations with France were undramatic.