Louis XIV liked to be called the Sun King (_Roi Soleil_) and Great
Monarch (_Grand Monarque_). His own France was easily the first Great
Power in Europe. She was rich and populous. The French army was the
most famous in the world. French became the language of diplomacy.
Whenever two nations speaking different languages wrote to each other
about affairs of state or made treaties they did so in French, as they
do still. But all this was not enough for Louis. He wanted to be a
conqueror in Europe and beyond the seas. His people did not need
oversea trade and empire in the same way as the Dutch and British, did
not desire it half so much, and were not nearly so well fitted for it
when they had it. France was a kingdom of the land. But, no matter,
Louis must make conquests wherever he could.
Hoping to get England under his thumb he befriended James II, the last
Stuart king, whom the English drove out in 1688. James, less bad but
less clever than his vile brother Charles, had a party called
Jacobites, who wanted French help to set him on the throne again, but
no French interference afterwards.
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