Western Civilization II / Unit 7 WC2 0604 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The American War: The Victory That Bankrupted France
Captions available
The idea
France's one won war of the century, the American, brought no economic benefit and pushed the state to bankruptcy. From the early seventeen eighties Louis XVI's finance ministers proposed overhauls; city governments and nobles shouted them down. By seventeen eighty-seven only taxing the nobility could work.
In practice
Louis XIV's great-great-great-grandson inheriting Louis XIV's bill.
Where people slip
Unit 04's revolt became this unit's revolution.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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