The Sinews of War, the Sun King, and the Financial Burdens and Perils of Being a Superpower

Description

This was a research paper given to the Early Modern research seminar (staff, graduate students and public) of the University of Goettingen's History Department, at the invitation of Professors Marian Fuessel and Sven Externbrink. The paper takes Paul Kennedy's famous 30-year-old thesis about the rise and fall of great powers, and provides a particular angle on understanding exactly how strategic and imperial overstretch can do catastrophic financial and, in turn, strategic damage to a major power - in this case Louis XIV's France. In the paper, the accent is placed upon the huge burdens and wealth transfer problems caused by moving colossal state resources abroad.

Period	16 Jan 2018
Held at	Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany, Lower Saxony
Degree of Recognition	International