International relations in Europe in the 17th century

If in the 16th century Spain played the first role in the international relations of Europe, then in the 17th century we can talk about the real hegemony of France. France emerged from the period of great civil unrest in the second half of the 16th century as a strong and established absolute monarchy. The numerous and hardworking peasantry of France and the rich bourgeoisie provided the treasury with enormous funds in the form of taxes. These funds allowed the French king and his nobility to pursue an energetic foreign policy and put France first in Europe. The experience of the long and ruinous wars of the 16th century, which ended in the civil war in France, was not in vain. Any desire of the new state to expand was met with resistance from other similar states; any claim to conquest, and even more so to world domination (on the scale of the 16th century) evoked hostile coalitions. Politicians and diplomats of the 17th century, summarizing this experience, formulated a number of provisions that had the character of international principles. True, these principles were very often violated. Nevertheless, it was precisely these systematic violations, given the extreme instability of international relations of that time, that caused the need for some kind of norm. In particular, the ideas of “natural boundaries” and “political balance” had such a “normative” character.

Politicians – contemporaries of Henry IV and, first of all, his chief assistant Sully – constantly emphasized that you can only capture what can be preserved. The power of the state has its limits: having crossed them, it provokes against itself the united forces of enemies and envious people. Sully in his famous memoirs “Principles of State Economy” wrote: “Every king of France should rather think about acquiring friends and allies firmly connected with him by common interests – and this is the most reliable connection – than attract unquenchable hatred and enmity with projects that exceed his own strength.” “You strive,” says the remarkable French diplomat Etienne Pasquier in his dialogue between the philosopher and the sovereign, “to give good borders to your state; It is necessary that you first set proper boundaries for your hopes and desires.”