Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Recalled to life
- 2 The question of reform: Turgot, Necker, and Vergennes
- 3 Vergennes as first minister: the comité des finances
- 4 The fall of the comité des finances
- 5 The politics of judicial reform
- 6 The politics of retrenchment, 1783–1785
- 7 The ministry, its divisions, and the parlement of Paris, 1785–1786
- 8 The Dutch imbroglio
- 9 Death and posterity
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - Recalled to life
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Recalled to life
- 2 The question of reform: Turgot, Necker, and Vergennes
- 3 Vergennes as first minister: the comité des finances
- 4 The fall of the comité des finances
- 5 The politics of judicial reform
- 6 The politics of retrenchment, 1783–1785
- 7 The ministry, its divisions, and the parlement of Paris, 1785–1786
- 8 The Dutch imbroglio
- 9 Death and posterity
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Some time in late June 1774, Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, ambassador of the court of Versailles to that of Sweden, was sitting in his study in Stockholm reading a letter. This commonplace scene, however, marked the apogee of his career to date. The communication on his desk was from the young Louis XVI, who had just ascended the throne following the death of his grandfather Louis XV the previous month. Setting a pattern for all the new king's future correspondence, it was short and to the point:
The due d'Aiguillon having resigned from his posts, the good that I hear spoken of you from all sides, as well as your diplomatic skill, has led me to choose you to replace him in the department of foreign affairs. Therefore come as soon as you can: in taking your leave you should present my compliments to the king of Sweden. It will give me great pleasure to see you.
Louis.
It was a surprising twist of fortune that had brought Vergennes to this pinnacle. Just four years earlier, he had been in virtual disgrace, abruptly recalled after thirteen years as ambassador to Constantinople after a disagreement with the then foreign minister, the due de Choiseul. Now, after an intervening three years of risky but successful diplomacy at Stockholm, he stood in the same position as the minister who had tried to end his career. The circumstances of Vergennes' early disgrace crystallised his political viewpoint at a critical juncture and had repercussions that went well beyond the moment of his rehabilitation.
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- Information
- Preserving the MonarchyThe Comte de Vergennes 1774–1787, pp. 5 - 41Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1995