louis xv comes of age. fleury and walpole. the jacobite uprisings. the bubbles
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Louis XV comes of age. Fleury and Walpole. The Jacobite uprisings. The Bubbles. A time of Tartans and Stock Tips. Our objectives are. Judge for yourself—did England or France handle the Bubble collapse appropriately? - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Louis XV comes of age.
Fleury and Walpole.
The Jacobite uprisings.
The Bubbles.
A time of Tartans
and Stock Tips. . .
Our objectives are
• Judge for yourself—did England or France handle the Bubble collapse appropriately?
• What were the policies of Fluery and Walpole regarding French-English relations?
• Identify the cause and persons behind the 1715 and 1745 revolts—
• You will learn why the Scots were punished for their role in the revolts?
• Compare the Bubbles of the early 1700s with those that have occurred in recent times…
Louis XIV died in 1715. He was an old man for the time. Who inherited the
French throne?
Yes, Louis XV, his great grandson.
The child king Louis XV did not
rule—the government was
controlled by Cardinal Fleury and the Duke of Orleans, a cousin of the young king.
Orleans was a pleasure loving
man, who did his best to look out for
his young nephew’s interests—not always the case with some
regencies.
Cardinal Fluery was an old man for the time. He was 73 when he took
office and 90 when he left!
Fleury loved France, and he also wanted to keep peace.
As Louis XV came of age, he turned out to be
a spoiled, handsome,
pleasure loving man. He would not be the king his grandfather, Louis XIV was.
In England, Queen Anne died, and the throne was inherited by a
cousin in Germany—a member of the Geulph family, who lived in
Hanover.
George I, the new king, never
learned English!
He also had to deal with
uprisings from those who
supported the Catholic
descendents of James II.
In 1715, the son of James II landed in Scotland. He was called the
Pretender.
He gathered followers from the highland tribes of Scotland. This
revolt was called the “revolt of ’15 (1715) and it died out.
Thirty years later, the Pretender’s son, known as
“Bonnie Prince Charlie” also landed in Scotland.
This time, his supporters got
to within 80 miles of London!
Bonnie Prince Charlie fled, but this
time the Jacobite uprisings were
suppressed. The Highland clans were
broken up.
The romantic legend of Bonnie Prince Charlie continues to this
day. . .
As a constitutional monarch, King George I had a capable Prime
Minister, Walpole.
Walpole was a fascinating
man, who had a motto which
was “Let sleeping dogs lie.” What do you think he
meant by this?
Walpole strengthened the cabinet, or the executive, or
the government.
Together, Fleury and
Walpole tried to
keep peace between
their countries
and others.
They both had serious economic challenges during
their time in power.
They are known as the bubbles! They wiped out substantial
amounts of wealth and nearly ruined governments.
They involved over-speculation on future wealth that did not
appear.
You, students of the 21st century should know that a
similar thing occurred with the Internet over speculation.
Trillions of dollars were lost in the
internet and high tech
areas. It was thought that those areas would be far
more profitable than they are.
Bubble #1: The Mississippi Bubble
A Scottish financier
named John Law traveled to France. He helped set up a French
national bank, which was a good
thing.
He also organized the Mississippi Company, which was a company that had a monopoly on trade in many French-controlled areas, including the Mississippi River
Valley in North America.
This company then assumed the entire French government
debt.
It was expected that all the profits would pay off the debt, and also make the investors
money…
Law also planned to completely reform the French financial
system. This was actually a good idea—but it was quickly thrown
out when the Mississippi Company bubble burst.
To buy a share in this company would mean eventual great wealth
—as the profit potential was immense!
Thousands bought shares and then sold them quickly for an
immense profit!
But, soon, the company failed to meet its profit expectations. Investors began to unload their
shares.
The stock price plummeted. Thousands
were ruined.
The French government had to step in and take back their
debt, which had now grown to an immense amount.
In France, The
aristocrats refused to bail out the government—they felt the debt
belonged to the king.
The debt continued to grow—and over years, it will be one of
the long term causes of the French Revolution.
Bubble #2: The South Seas Bubble
• Walpole had warned about this scheme.
• Thousands lost their savings as had happened in France,
• BUT—big difference, the debt was considered a national debt—the nation stood behind this giant speculation scheme and absorbed the damage it did.
Fleury and Walpole were severely tested by the BUBBLES. But the
bubbles did result in a better understanding of how financial
machinery works.
Elements of the BUBBLES still occur in our modern world….
Enron was a company that overvalued its stock to make it
more attractive to investors. What is this called?
Cooking the Books.
To cook the books means that accountants use false numbers to create a impression
that the company is yielding a high rate of return.
You, too, can go to prison for over-valuing your company.
Back to politics…and the Great War of the 18th Century. . .
Our objectives were:
• Judge for yourself—did England or France handle the Bubble collapse appropriately?
• You learned the policies of Fluery and Walpole in keeping peace between the two countries
• Identify the cause and persons behind the 1715 and 1745 revolts—
• You also learned how the Stuarts and the Scots were punished for their revolts.
• Compare the Bubbles of the early 1700s with those that have occurred in recent times…