Jean-Baptiste Colbert's Life During The French Revolution

Jean-Baptiste Colbert was born in 1619 to a merchant family. This was a time of Cardinals like Richelieu and Mazarin having the most influence in the French government and also a time of governmental disorganization. There is not a significant amount of information about his life before his political beginnings. He was first introduced to politics through various administrative posts in the late 1640s. After Cardinal Mazarin was forced to leave Paris in 1651, Colbert became Mazarin’s agent. He provided Mazarin with information and looked after his personal affairs while he was away. When Mazarin returned to power in 1653, he made Colbert his personal assistant., Mazarin provided Colbert with a sum of money to help him along and eventually he helped make Colbert very wealthy, both in terms of money and knowledge. When Mazarin died in 1661, Colbert was a close personal friend and Mazarin personally recommended Colbert to Louis XIV. While Colbert did not always agree

Colbert based his economic ideas off of mercantilism and eventually his system became known as “Colbertism”. Colbert’s new system was based around the idea that in order to increase the wealth of a nation it must export more than it imports. The first step in Colbert’s plan was to create regulations and standards for industry production and enforce harsh punishments if these standards were not met. This ensures a level of quality out of France that increased France’s general wealth. Next, Colbert gave private industries special privileges within the economy in order to promote prosperity within France’s private sector. This system raised output, expanded trade and developed better communications throughout France. Developing this system is largely what Colbert is remembered for, it helped Louis XIV’s France become more powerful than almost any monarchy before it. (Sandras,