Mercantilism was the idea that closing off your country's imports and keeping exports (basically meaning that you won't buy from other countries but other countries will buy from you) will increase your country's wealth because instead of buying those fancy clothes from Germany, Germany was buying from you. However, this proved to be a ridiculous idea. Countries get mad when they buy from you and you don't buy from them, so the idea of Mercantilism backfired.
The French state in the 17th century was the monster of mercantilism, and that wasn't the only thing the Sun King was doing to centralize power at the expense of the people. The Edict of Fontainebleau in 1685 revoked the religiously tolerant Edict of Nantes. King Louis XIV espoused the idea that religious tolerance was no longer required because there were no protestants left in France. The War of the Spanish Succession occurred between 1701 and 1714 and was mainly about the property to be gained through succession after the death of Charles II. This mainly led to everyone being exhausted after the war and the destruction of fields and sugarcane mills.
The causes and outcomes of the wars involving France in the latter half of the seventeenth century were petty and unsatisfactory. There were a lot of power struggles, people being exhausted after lots of pointless war, and nobles getting their heads chopped off. The unfettered leeching off of the French people allowed the centralized state to pursue every power-mad ambition. Mercantilism is pointless and there are way too many wars and revolts in French history.
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