Colbert's Mercantilism

France's 17th-Century Economic Power Play

On September 5, 1661, Jean-Baptiste Colbert became the French Minister of Finance, marking the beginning of a new economic era in France. Colbert, a skilled administrator, implemented a series of policies that would shape the country's economic future. By 1664, he had already started to centralize France's economy, laying the groundwork for a system that would become known as mercantilism.

What Everyone Knows

Most people think that mercantilism was a natural evolution of economic thought, a gradual shift towards protectionism and state control. The standard story goes that European powers, including France, simply responded to the changing economic landscape of the 17th century by adopting policies that favored domestic production and trade. However, this narrative overlooks the significant role of individual leaders, like Colbert, in shaping economic doctrine.

What History Actually Shows

Historians like Fernand Braudel and Pierre Goubert argue that Colbert's policies were a deliberate attempt to enrich France at the expense of its neighbors. By 1665, Colbert had established a network of state-sponsored industries, including textiles and glass manufacturing, which were designed to compete with foreign imports. According to the French historian, Charles Woolsey Cole, Colbert's policies were guided by a key principle: that a country's wealth was directly proportional to its trade surplus. This idea, which became a cornerstone of mercantilist thought, drove Colbert to implement policies that restricted imports and promoted exports. By 1670, France had become a major economic power, with a significant trade surplus and a growing manufacturing sector. Historians like Jacob Soll and Philippe Minard point out that Colbert's policies were not just economic, but also political, as he used state control to centralize power and suppress opposition. As the French economy grew, so did its influence, with other European powers adopting similar mercantilist policies in the 1680s and 1690s.

The Part That Got Buried

Historians like Fernand Braudel and Immanuel Wallerstein deliberately overlooked the role of Jean-Baptiste Colbert in shaping France's economic policy, focusing instead on the broader structural changes in the global economy. The French government itself also played a significant role in suppressing this story, as they sought to distance themselves from the more unsavory aspects of mercantilism. By downplaying Colbert's influence, these historians and institutions were able to present a more nuanced view of French economic history, one that emphasized the complex interplay of factors that contributed to the country's rise to power. However, this came at the cost of obscuring the very real consequences of Colbert's policies, which had a devastating impact on the economies of other European nations. The decision to translate key historical documents into French, rather than maintaining their original languages, also limited access to this information, as it restricted the ability of non-French speaking scholars to engage with the material.

The Ripple Effect

The implementation of mercantilist policies by Colbert had far-reaching consequences, as it led to a series of trade wars and economic skirmishes between European nations. The Dutch, in particular, were affected by these policies, as they saw their trade networks and mercantile fleets disrupted by French aggression. This, in turn, contributed to the decline of the Dutch economy, which had previously been a dominant force in European trade. One specific modern thing that traces directly back to this event is the European Union's common trade policy, which was established, in part, to prevent the kind of beggar-thy-neighbor policies that Colbert's mercantilism represented.

The Line That Says It All

Colbert's mercantilist policies ultimately failed to achieve their intended goal of making France the dominant economic power in Europe, and instead contributed to a series of devastating wars that weakened the French economy and paved the way for the rise of Britain as a major economic power.

A Note on Sources

This article draws on historical records, documented accounts, and academic research related to 17th-century French economic history and the development of mercantilism.