Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations and Tables
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- General Introduction
- Part I The Strategic and Fiscal Context
- Part II The Financing of Naval Expenditure
- Part III Paymaster Accountability and the Limitations of the State
- Part IV The Development and Management of the Naval Treasury
- Part V Fiscal Overextension and Operational Paralysis in the Era of the Spanish Succession
- Conclusion
- Appendix I Military-related spending in livres by exercice or financial year in the era of the Spanish Succession conflict, 1700–13
- Appendix II Military-related spending in livres by exercice or financial year in the era of the Nine Years’ War, 1689–99
- Appendix III Royal revenues in livres excluding the capitation and dixième taxes, 1683–1713
- Appendix IV Royal revenues in livres including the capitation and dixième taxes, 1683–1713
- Appendix V The average geographical distribution of Louis XIV's fleet in terms of rated warships and frégates légères, 1701–09
- Appendix VI Naval spending by area of expenditure, 1701–09
- Appendix VII The time frame in which the trésoriers were ordered to acquit naval costs, 1701–09
- Appendix VIII Summary of borrowing by trésorier Jacques de Vanolles during the exercice of 1703
- Appendix IX Detailed breakdown by source of revenue of the funding provided to the naval and galley treasuries, 1702–08
- Select Bibliography
- Index
2 - The Spanish Succession and the Shift in French Naval Strategy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 February 2024
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations and Tables
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- General Introduction
- Part I The Strategic and Fiscal Context
- Part II The Financing of Naval Expenditure
- Part III Paymaster Accountability and the Limitations of the State
- Part IV The Development and Management of the Naval Treasury
- Part V Fiscal Overextension and Operational Paralysis in the Era of the Spanish Succession
- Conclusion
- Appendix I Military-related spending in livres by exercice or financial year in the era of the Spanish Succession conflict, 1700–13
- Appendix II Military-related spending in livres by exercice or financial year in the era of the Nine Years’ War, 1689–99
- Appendix III Royal revenues in livres excluding the capitation and dixième taxes, 1683–1713
- Appendix IV Royal revenues in livres including the capitation and dixième taxes, 1683–1713
- Appendix V The average geographical distribution of Louis XIV's fleet in terms of rated warships and frégates légères, 1701–09
- Appendix VI Naval spending by area of expenditure, 1701–09
- Appendix VII The time frame in which the trésoriers were ordered to acquit naval costs, 1701–09
- Appendix VIII Summary of borrowing by trésorier Jacques de Vanolles during the exercice of 1703
- Appendix IX Detailed breakdown by source of revenue of the funding provided to the naval and galley treasuries, 1702–08
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The scope of Louis XIV's naval ambitions expanded significantly following the accession of Philip, duc d’Anjou and the king's grandson, to the Spanish throne in November 1700. With the Spanish empire stretching from the Spanish Netherlands, Milan, Naples, and Sicily to colonies in the Americas and east Asia, the Spanish inheritance vastly increased the French crown's territorial liabilities. In addition, years of under-investment in the Spanish navy had left it in a diminished state, and the French navy was therefore the only viable means by which Bourbon Spain could secure its possessions in Europe and its global trading and colonial network.
The reordering of the relationship between France and Spain therefore prompted an important shift in French naval policy. Under Jérôme Phélypeaux, Louis de Pontchartrain's son and successor as naval minister in September 1699, the focus on building up offensive naval firepower gave way to a type of defensive warfare that prioritised the protection of communication lines, particularly to Italy and the Americas, and sought to deny lucrative trade routes to the English and Dutch. When the Grand Alliance between England, the Netherlands, and the Holy Roman Emperor was reconstituted in 1701 to dispute Louis XIV's inheritance of the Spanish empire, the ensuing global conflict committed the French navy to multiple, simultaneous operations across the Mediterranean and in the Americas. Yet, as this chapter examines, the wide-ranging nature of these strategic commitments imposed a severe strain on the French navy from the outset of the war and contributed to its collapse.
In the western Mediterranean, the need to maintain the Habsburg position in Italy required a series of small-scale but strategically important naval operations throughout the war. When the French under René de Froulay, comte de Tessé, moved to secure their interests in the duchy of Milan in January to March 1701, twelve warships and three cargo vessels under the command of André, marquis de Nesmond, transported over 12,000 troops and their equipment and munitions from Toulon, Monaco, and Antibes to Finale and other neighbouring ports. French warships in the Adriatic were also essential in frustrating Imperial attempts to reinforce Austrian troops in the duchy of Milan, with the comte de Forbin successfully disrupting supply lines originating in Trieste and Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia) with a small naval squadron in 1702.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Maritime Power and the Power of Money in Louis XIV's FrancePrivate Finance, the Contractor State, and the French Navy, pp. 30 - 37Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2023