A perspective of French Politics

As a man with a very objective point of view, I’ve been able to witness all the political changes in France during this era. Indeed, I have lived a long life, over 100 years, so I can comment on this subject. Anyway, during King Henry IV’s reign many civil wars were ongoing and there was generally a lot of drama. However, after a short, successful war with Savoy in 1601, the country was at peace. When he died in 1610, Marie de’ Medici ruled for the child king Louis XIII. She appointed Cardinal Richelieu to the council of ministers and he played a tremendous role. Richelieu’s policy was that all people were in total subordination to the French monarchy. Next came Louis XIV who had the longest reign in European history, over 70 years. It was during this era that France reached the peak of its absolutist development. The King commanded all the powers of the state, including judicial, military and political. Louis personally supervised a centralized bureaucracy, a state-directed economy, and a professional army. Everything was controlled by a single person. Indeed, Louis saw himself as God’s representative and thus felt entitled to do whatever he pleased.