Introduction

Summary

The aggressive foreign policy pursued by Louis XIV in the first half of his ‘personal rule’, and the ensuing suspicion this engendered, which in turn provoked the two greatest conflicts of his reign – the Nine Years War and the War of the Spanish Succession – required the French king to maintain a large standing army during peacetime and to put even larger forces into the field on what appeared to be an ever-increasing number of geographical fronts during open hostilities. The over-arching presence of war throughout Louis's reign had significant effects upon the French army and its relationship with the wider society, especially the social elites. Part I of this book has considered the changes which affected the Le Tellier dynasty and the civilian administration of the army, while part II examined the regimental officer corps to explain the way Louis XIV and his advisers reshaped the standing army to make it a more reliable and responsive force for the waging of war and the deterrence of foreign threats.