Preserving the Monarchy The Comte de Vergennes 1774}}}1787 [Hardcover]

This 1995 book is a study of Vergennes' domestic policy role on the eve of the French Revolution.The Comte de Vergennes is best known as a great foreign ministers of modern French history. Munro Price's new study of this fascinating and secretive man concentrates on the lesser-known aspect of Vergennes' career as Louis XVI's first minister, and includes hitherto unpublished material from the Vergennes family archive. The book casts a new and original light on Vergennes' crucial (but ultimately abortive) role in trying to reform and consolidate royal authority in the final years of the ancien régime.The Comte de Vergennes is best known as a great foreign ministers of modern French history. Munro Price's new study of this fascinating and secretive man concentrates on the lesser-known aspect of Vergennes' career as Louis XVI's first minister, and includes hitherto unpublished material from the Vergennes family archive. The book casts a new and original light on Vergennes' crucial (but ultimately abortive) role in trying to reform and consolidate royal authority in the final years of the ancien régime.The Comte de Vergennes is best known as one of the great foreign ministers of modern French history, but for much of the 1780s he was also first minister in all but name. This is the first book to deal in depth with the critical part he played in French domestic policies on the eve of the Revolution. His financial reforms, fully examined here, were the last attempt to restructure the monarchy in accordance with its traditional principles. The failure of this undertaking accelerated the final collapse of the royal government. This study is based on important new archival material, as well as on established sources which are often reinterpreted here.Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Recalled to life; king, queen, and first minister: the Guines affair; 2. The question of reform: Turgot, Neckerl³.