"If you give me a list of the most honest people, if I want to, I will be able to find something from them and hang them."
-Li Shiliu
In the social structure of medieval Europe, the "state" was not a political entity. The monarch divided the territory into nobles and churches, and the nobles divided their territory again, and the country was divided into pieces. Feudal lords at all levels enjoy nearly complete judicial and administrative power, and the state is only a nominal political representative. However, this situation has changed due to the independent development of the city and the rise of the citizen class. The industrial and commercial activities of the citizen class require overcoming the obstacles caused by local fragmentation and establishing a unified country. This has become the motivation for the centralized development of power in European countries in the pre-capitalist period.
in the 16th century, almost all the governments of European kingdoms began to consciously implement a policy of developing national resources and encouraging domestic and foreign trade to enhance national strength. This policy has promoted the great development of European industry and commerce compared with the middle century, and the strength of the bourgeoisie has grown rapidly. With the support of the emerging bourgeoisie, the king expanded his finances, expanded his army, levied taxes on aristocratic lords, confiscated the property of the church, and established the authority of the country. Then, the king took action as a representative of the country, restricted the power of the nobles, gradually deprived the lords of the administrative power, taxation power and judicial power in their fiefs, and established the king's supreme authority in legislation, justice and administration. The monarchy thus entered the historical stage of Europe.
In the East, Shang Yang's political reform eventually led to the collapse of China's feudal system, and gradually established absolute monarchy. So, who is the western "Shang Yang"? There is no doubt that it should be cardinal Li Shiliu of France. Although many Italian city-states had established autocratic monarchy before, it was France that pushed the autocratic monarchy in Europe to the peak of history.
In p>1624, a thin clergyman became the prime minister of King Louis XIII of France. Once this seemingly weak man mastered the real power, he showed his true colors as a political strongman. He was Cardinal Li Shiliu, who received both praise and praise in French history.
After Li Shiliu came to power, he immediately began to deal with the "rebellion" of Huguenots. At that time, the opposition between Huguenots and Catholics in France was still very serious. In Catholic-controlled areas, Catholics forbid Huguenots to worship, destroy their churches and even kill Huguenots. In Huguenot-controlled areas, they used the same means to crack down on Catholics. Huguenots also rely on their military strength to establish an independent kingdom in their own control areas, and regard La Roscher as a city with full sovereignty, allowing any ships that are enemies of the French to sail into the harbor. In 1627, Li Shiliu mercilessly picked up a big stick and smashed it into the fortress of Huguenots. After 13 months of confrontation, La Roscher fell in despair.
At this time, half of France demanded the complete eradication of Huguenots, but Li Shiliu's policy was extremely lenient, even beyond the expectations of Huguenots. He adopted an impartial attitude between Catholicism and Huguenots, not only did he not carry out a massacre, but he allowed Huguenots to go home and ensured the safety of all Huguenots' lives and property. In 1629, Li Shiliu issued the Decree of Grace, which deprived the Huguenots of all political and military privileges, and stipulated that the Huguenots still enjoyed complete freedom of belief, and opened all posts in Lu Haijun to people including Huguenots.
Li Shiliu's policy surprised the whole of Europe, and benefited France a lot, so the sectarian opposition in China was constantly eased.
after a hundred years' war between Britain and France, France began to gradually implement absolute monarchy. At that time, some big noble in France tried to restore their former glory. They supported soldiers, built castles and even made their own laws to collect tolls. Li Shiliu, as a nobleman, has no tolerance for these behaviors. In 1626, he issued an imperial decree ordering the destruction of all castles in big noble and forbidding aristocratic duels. Some nobles laughed at his policies and openly provoked them. Some even went to his window to fight with him. Li Shiliu's answer was to send them to the gallows.
The French nobles held a grudge against Li Shiliu and tried to win over the Queen Mother to attack him. But in the court struggle, they were no match for Li Shiliu at all. Later, he simply rebelled and was beaten out of the water by Li Shiliu's army. Li Shiliu sentenced rebel leaders and dozens of nobles to death for treason.
Li Shiliu strengthened centralization of state power while attacking local governments' provocation to the central authority by military means. He changed the imperial envoys who had been temporarily sent to the local area since the 16th century into customized ones, and called them governors. These governors are directly appointed and removed by the king. They usually come from humble origins, but their power is higher than that of local governors, and they supervise local administrative, judicial, financial and military work. He also strengthened the bureaucratic machine by expanding the bureaucracy. The expansion of the bureaucracy mainly depends on the system of buying officials, and a large number of bourgeois elements enter the power centers at all levels and become the ruling party by buying official positions. This system also made the bureaucracy at all levels in France develop continuously and improve day by day. In order to facilitate local control, Li Shiliu also set up post stations all over the country and established a publishing inspection system.
From Li Shiliu's policies, we can vaguely see the shadow of China's "Shang Yang's political reform". Just like Shang Yang, Li Shiliu also dealt a merciless blow to the feudal nobles, implemented a "county system" for the localities, and realized the autocratic rule of the king over the localities by establishing a huge bureaucratic team. Of course, Shang Yang started this game 2 years earlier than Li Shiliu. Shang Yang's policy was "emphasizing agriculture and restraining commerce", while Li Shiliu was just the opposite. He pursued the mercantilist policy, because it was not only the trend of European countries at that time, but also he used the power of the emerging bourgeoisie to crack down on feudal nobles.
Li Shiliu promoted the unification and prosperity of France at the expense of dictatorship and absolute monarchy. But we can't just see one side of the coin and not the other. Although absolute monarchy made France brilliant for a while, it was this system that made it fall behind its neighbors in the future and eventually led to the outbreak of the French Revolution.
First, troubled times
Henry IV tried his best to prevent civil strife from recurring and maintain foreign peace, and pursued a prudent domestic and foreign policy. At the same time, his foreign policy is realistic and he does not forget to expand the territory of France. The Treaty of Paris in 16 enabled him to recover the French territory occupied by the Duke of Savoie, including Blaise. The Lyon Treaty signed in I61 gave France specific heat, Volromet and Gex. Henry supported the Duke of Savoy, Venice, the Protestant princes of the Netherlands, Germany and China against the Habsburg dynasty, but at the same time tried to avoid a formal break with the Spanish king and the German emperor in order to maintain a "political balance" in favor of France. However, in the later period of his administration, Henry openly prepared for war in an attempt to organize a powerful European Union against the Habsburg dynasty. Just as France was preparing for the so-called "mistress war", a Catholic fanatic stabbed Henry IV to death, plunging France into a civil strife again.
2. Being in power
During the political turmoil in France, Diplexi de Richelieu took power. Li Shiliu was born in a less wealthy local aristocratic family. His grandfather was a lawyer in Paris. He originally intended to be a military officer, but the environment made him the bishop of one of the poorest and smallest parishes in Boyadie. His military knowledge played a great role in his future career. In addition, this person also has other extraordinary knowledge and a strong heart for fame. In 1614, as a representative of monks, he entered the third-level conference and began his career. After some hard work, he finally got his wish and became a hot prime minister.
According to the description, this prime minister, who has both the knowledge of a scholar and the courage and enterprise of a soldier, is determined to establish an absolute monarchy in France that will make Europe respect. To this end, he held a meeting of dignitaries, carried out state reform with the contents of tax, budget and redemption of king's debts, canceled or weakened the annual salary of princes and dignitaries, and used the saved money to establish a modern administrative organization, a powerful fleet and merchant fleet, and a powerful army. The reform of state affairs was blocked by the dignitaries, and they plotted a plot to assassinate Li Shiliu. In order to make the nobles establish that they are the primary servants of the country, they should obey the country and obey the concept of the country, killing one as an example and sending the conspirators to the guillotine one by one.
Britain was afraid that Li Shiliu would dominate the sea with a powerful fleet, which would seriously damage the colonial interests of the United States, so it actively supported the rebels in France. Li Shiliu smashed the conspiracy and riots in Rouen, drove the British out of Leidao where they landed, and surrounded the city where the Huguenots were located. After more than a year of fighting, the city was dismembered and other rebel cities were recovered. The King signed the "Alaez Grace Decree", thus ending the religious war. According to the edict, Protestants no longer had an army and dismantled all fortifications. The king granted them freedom of worship and restored Catholicism in all Protestant provinces.
Third, the "natural border" policy
The Cardinal has great ambitions both at home and abroad. He believes that France has a maritime mission. He established the French navy, which was divided into two fleets: the Middle East Fleet and the Western Fleet. He helped set up the first batch of colonial commercial companies and tried his best to crowd out the Netherlands, which had already occupied the first place in maritime trade and colonial trade. Although he didn't fully achieve his goal, his mercantilist policy, after all, enabled the French bourgeoisie to organize trading companies, helped French colonists settle in Senegal, the Caribbean, Guyana and Madagascar, and expanded their colonies in Canada. For the benefit of France, Li Shiliu also tried his best to use diplomatic means to open up raw materials and sales markets for French businessmen in Turkey, Iran and Russia.
Prime Minister Li Shiliu's foreign policy is basically Henry IV's "realism" policy, seeking the "natural border" of France, carrying out the diplomatic principle of weakening the Habsburg royal family, and seeking the Rhine River as the eastern frontier of France. In a pamphlet entitled "What is the most reliable means for Herzog von Lothringen's territory and Baal to merge into France", it was written: "The Holy Roman Emperor has no rights over the territory west of the Rhine. Because this river has been the border of France for 5 years. The emperor's rights are based on usurpation. " Li Shiliu's propaganda is to delimit all the places occupied by France during its prosperity and military achievements into the territory of France.
In order to deal with the Austrian family and realize the natural border of France, Li Shiliu preempted Italy, supported the French Duke to inherit the Roman territory, and opposed the Roman emperor and the Spanish king. To this end, France sent troops for the second expedition, occupied some fortresses in Italy, and successfully used the Pope to oppose the emperor, so that the emperor recognized the right of the French duke to inherit the Roman territory, thus winning diplomatic victory.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the international situation facing Spain was very complicated. The United States, which was separated from the territory of the Netherlands, continued to wage war with Spain for its independence. Although Britain stopped helping the Dutch, the Spanish army still suffered defeat, forcing the Spanish government to conclude a 12-year armistice agreement with the Netherlands, thus recognizing the Netherlands as a warring party.
After the "Armada" was destroyed, British ships often attacked Spain and its coast in American colonies. Spain tried to sign a peace treaty with Britain, but all failed because of excessive demands. Spain did not give up the illusion of conquering Britain. In 161, it sent a navy of 5 warships to attack the British coast and occupy the coastal strongholds of the island. Unexpectedly, the fleet was blown away by the storm and lost its combat effectiveness. After James became king in England, the new king pursued a policy of reconciliation with Spain.
The relationship between Spain and France has always been tense. In France, Henry IV was going to organize an alliance against the Habsburg dynasty. However, after Henry IV was assassinated, the new king had a very good attitude towards Spain and even married the Habsburg dynasty in Spain.
In this complicated international situation, Spain still pursues the aggressive policy of the Habsburg dynasty, unable to restrain its ambition of the world empire, and participated in the 3-year war. Other countries in Europe that did not want the Habsburg dynasty to dominate politically rose up against the Habsburg dynasty in Austria and Spain.
French Prime Minister Richelieu successfully established an alliance between France and Italy to oppose Spain, actively assisted Protestant princes in Holland and Germany, and openly fought Spain in 1635. France took advantage of the weakness of Spanish troops scattered all over western Europe, and began to carry out various attacks along the entire border of the Pyrenees Peninsula, Flanders and Italy. After occupying Lucion, it infiltrated into the northern provinces of Spain. After the military conflict between Spain and the Netherlands broke out again, Spain went to war with France and the Netherlands on different distant battlefields.
The 3-year war in Europe was the dream of Peidinand II, and it was the last attempt to unify Germany under his absolute and unrestricted power. If Germany is conquered, a powerful country will grow around France, which Li Shiliu cannot allow. Li Shiliu supported Protestant governors to oppose Catholicism and negotiated with the Danish king. Frightened by the influence of the Habsburg royal family in northern Germany and in the coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, the Danish king willingly accepted the allowance from Britain and the Netherlands and launched a war with the empire. After the defeat of Denmark, Li Shiliu used all diplomatic skills to urge Sweden to put its strength into the war against the Habsburg royal family. In 1631, Li Shiliu entered into an alliance with Sweden, and Sweden and France agreed to be responsible for "restoring the freedom of Germany", that is, mobilizing vassals against the German emperor. France promised to provide the king of Sweden with 1 million Levell grants every year. To this end, the king of Sweden promised to send 3, infantry and 6 cavalry to Germany to engage in activities against the emperor. In this way, Sweden became a mercenary of France, and Germany was politically divided with the intervention of France and Sweden. France was also an ardent supporter of the 3-year War, and directly intervened in the affairs of Germany. For the so-called "freedom" of Germany, France constantly destroyed West Germany, dragged Germany into a long-term war, and finally ruined Germany's political unity, forcing Germany to sign the Peace Treaty of Westphalia.
IV. The Peace Treaty of Westphalia
This treaty is the victory of France's foreign policy of Richelieu, and its function is to ruin the holy Roman Empire and determine the national boundaries of European countries for a long time. Articles 71 to 8 of this peace treaty stipulate:
First of all, the dioceses of Metz, Turkey and Verdun, and the above cities and their dioceses, especially the diocese of Mainwick, used to belong to the emperor's main territory, sovereignty and all other rights, and will belong to the French monarch in the future, and will always belong to him;
Second, the emperor and empire will give up the direct title right and sovereignty of Piggy Luo Nai, and everything that belongs to him, or may belong to him or the holy Roman emperor in the future, and hand it over to the king who believes in Christ most and his successor;
Third, the emperor, on behalf of himself, represents the entire most distinguished Austrian royal family and empire, and will put what has belonged to him so far, or to the empire, or to the Austrian family, in brissac City, in the upper and lower Earls' Domains of Al Sasia and Songgao, and in 1 cities of Al Sasia, as well as in the Institute.