Dbq King Louis Xiv

King Louis XIV, also known as the “Sun King”, wielded a very large amount of power in France. Due to being an absolute monarch, King Louis said “I am the State”, meaning he had the highest authority in France and that he was France itself (Outside Information). However, Louis XIV had a desire to strengthen his authority and power, and flaunt his wealth to other countries. during his reign and took steps to strengthen his control over his people. This caused many negative effects on the people of France at the time, but it will also affect the people of France in the future, such as the start of the French Revolution. Louis XIV took complete control over taxation, revoked the Edict of Nantes, and expanded his military to increase his power and

While he removed Protestants from France and lowered the chances of him being questioned or challenged, he also got rid of valuable assets that brought money to France. In contrast, King Louis increased the size of the French military to pursue his aggressive foreign policy which caused him to be involved in many wars. Table of Approximate Size of the French Military (Doc. 3 - Snape shows the approximate size of the French military, gaining 370,000 troops in 20 years. Maintaining such a large military costs lots of money, which severely causes taxes to rise. Louis spent 30 out of 54 years at war, which took a great toll on French society economically. In the long term, the poor were burdened with high taxes, and the French debt was increased, This affected France in the long term because future monarchs such as King Louis would have to deal with the immense debt which was a starting factor in the French Revolution that would start 70 years later (Outside Information). However, King Louis XIV used the expansion of his military as a tool to grow his power. His power and image were spread abroad, and he gained more land and