[See page image]
Page 30
Richelieu Richter THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG 3o
industry Richelieu was the forerunner and model of Colbert. He outlined his project in his "Political Testament." He wanted to develop the national industry to such a, point that the French might become an export nation for cloth, velvet, taffetas, and silks. His numerous occupations, his continual conflicts against enemies within and without, the importance of the foreign politics of France, prevented Richelieu from realizing all these projects. But at least he attempted much for French commerce. He was an advocate of great commercial companies, such as those of England and Holland. " In order to become master of the sea," he said, "it is necessary for us, like our neighbors, to form great companies, to compel the merchants to enter into them, to give them great privileges." In conformity with this idea Richelieu created and favored various trading companies, notably those of Morbihan, of the West Indies (1628), of the American Isles (1635), and of Africa. They were not successful during his life, and failed after his death. Nevertheless Richelieu was the founder of the French colonial empire. He created Canada by sending out Champlain.
In 1624 Richelieu came into power with a wellformed design "of raising the name of the king among foreign nations to the point at which it ought to be." It was shortly after the beginning of the Thirty-Years' War (q.v.). He found the emperor in conflict with the king of Denmark and some of the German Protestant princes, but he could not at once profit by the op-
6. Foreign portunity to revive the policy of Henry Policy. IV. to debase the house of Austria because of the troubles at home with the great nobles, and especially with the Huguenots. Nevertheless, he attentively followed events in Germany and sustained with French subsidies the enemies of the emperor-Mansfeld, the king of Denmark, Gustavus Adolphus, and the Swedes after Liltzen. On two different occasions he went to war to protect the interests of France. When he came to power the Valteline, that is to say, the upper valley of the Adda, had revolted against the Grisons, and was occupied by papal troops in alliance with Spain. It was important not to let the Spaniards, who were masters of the Milanais, seize the communications between the upper Adda and the Tyrol, which belonged to Austria. Richelieu threw an army into the region, which drove out the papal troops and Spaniards from the Valteline, and put the country again under the domination of the Grisons (1626). Some years later he intervened in upper Italy in the matter of the succession to the duchy of Mantua. The duke of Savoy, the Spaniards, and Emperor Ferdinand sought to prevent the legitimate claimant, the duke of Nevers, who was a French prince, from entering into his heritage. Louis XIII., accompanied by Richelieu, forced the Alps through the Pass of Susa (1629). The territories of the duke of Savoy were occupied by a French army and the Spaniards beaten. At the same time the famous Jesuit diplomat, Pyre Joseph, was sent by Richelieu to the diet of Regensburg, and succeeded in altering the policy of the emperor. The duke of Nevers ac-
quired the duchy of Mantua and France retained the important fortress of Pignerol on the eastern side of the Alps (Treaty of Cherasco, 1631).
At the moment of intervening in Germany after the death of Gustavus Adolphus in 1632, Richelieu concluded alliances with the states of . Germany threatened by the fanaticism and ambition of the house of Austria. To the German
y. Foreign princes in alliance against the emperor Alliances. he promised men and money, condi tional upon the acquirement of Alsace by France and imperial confirmation of French pos session of the "Three Bishoprics," which France had possessed since 1552, but which the empire had never confirmed. In 1635 he concluded a treaty with the Dutch Republic for the partition of the Spanish Netherlands; with the Swiss and the dukes of Parma and Mantua, for the partition of the Mila nais, which Spain possessed. The alliance formed with Gustavus Adolphus was renewed with Oxen stierna, the Swedish chancellor. Finally Richelieu took into the pay of France the most famous general of the Protestants after the death of Gustavus, the brilliant Bernard of Saxe-Weimar. In pur suing these negotiations Richelieu revived the policy originated by Francis I., actually begun by Henry II., long interrupted by the wars of religion, re vived by Henry IV., and abandoned by Marie de Medici. The general characteristics of this policy consist (1) in the alliance of France, though a Roman Catholic power, with the Protestant powers, as Holland, Sweden, England, and with the German Protestant princes and cities. Though a cardinal of the Roman Church, a zealous Roman Catholic, and victor over the Huguenots in France, Richelieu had no scruples in making common cause with Protestant powers when the interests of the State demanded it. He did not confuse spiritual and tem poral interests. (2) In the protection accorded by France to the petty states of Germany and Italy, oppressed by Austria and Spain. It was not for conquest that France intervened in Germany, except in so far as she might realize her "natural frontiers," that is to say, the Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenees. The realization of these purposes, in so far as they were realized, is a part of the his tory of the Thirty-Years' War, and the consumma tion of them came after Richelieu's death.No better characterization of Richelieu has ever been made than that of Montesquieu: "He made his master the first man in Europe and the second man in France." Richelieu kept the promise made to Louis XIII. when he became minister.
8. Charao- He left the king master within, power- terization. ful and feared without. The Huguenot party was ruined, the nobles and pro vincial governors obedient, the parlements reduced to silence. Abroad the two branches of the house of Hapsburg had been reduced, and the' French armies occupied Artois, Alsace, and Roussillon. In spite of his immense services to the king and to the State, Richelieu was hated by his contemporaries, and has been judged too severely by posterity. It is true that he was harsh and hypocritical, but though he may be criticized for the means and methods he used, the verdict of history is clear as to the value