Colbert, Mercantilism, and the French Quest for Asian Trade

Download or read book Colbert, Mercantilism, and the French Quest for Asian Trade written by Glenn Joseph Ames and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This examination of French trade with Asia analyzes France's attempt to establish a mercantile empire in the East by breaking into the lucrative market of the Indian Ocean. Between 1664 and 1674, France advanced a vigorous strategy of commerce and colonization. It founded the powerful East India Company and constructed a large royal fleet as the principal instrument for entrenching French power in Asia. Drawing on archival sources, Ames offers a new interpretation of France's mercantilism in the context of the rise of the world market economy of the early modern period. This study sheds new light on the reign of Louis XIV, the mercantilist theories of Colbert, the origins of the Dutch War, and the Asian trading empires of the French, Dutch, English, and Portuguese during the late seventeenth century.