The period following the American War of Independence was, for the France of Louis XVI, the high water mark of its diplomatic prestige. With France's arch-rival, Britain, humbled by the loss of her main north American colonies and deprived of any significant continental alliances, Louis felt confident that France could at last re-assume its natural role as the economic, political and military leader of Europe. That this did not happen, and if anything France's international prestige sunk even lower, was a bitter pill for its rulers, and one that was to have important ramifications beyond...
The period following the American War of Independence was, for the France of Louis XVI, the high water mark of its diplomatic prestige. With France's...