The Seven Years' War. The Great French Disaster

La Fayette, We Are Here!

French history podcast, by a Frenchman. Learn all about France’s history: Charlemagne, The Hundred Years’ War, Jeanne d’Arc, New France, Louis XIV, the Révolution, Napoléon and much more! Artwork by Lucia Ceta.

This particular conflict goes by multiple names and definitions. While it is globally recognized as the Seven Years' War, it is more commonly referred to in America as the French and Indian War, and in Canada as the War of Conquest. These wars are all interconnected and are part of a vast global struggle between the two superpowers of the mid-eighteenth century: France and Great Britain.

Considered by many as the first true world war, it continues to reverberate even today. Join us as we embark on a historical journey, with Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour, the Marquis de Montcalm, and general Wolfe as our guides, to examine ”the Great French Disaster.”

Timecodes:
Introduction
04:18 – The Origins of Conflict
13:21 – From Frontier Struggle to Global War
22:12 – Downward Spiral
28:51 – The Great Disaster
37:46 – Conclusion

Music:Marche pour la cérémonie des Turcs, composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, arranged and performed by Jérôme Arfouche.

Artwork: The death of the Marquis de Montcalm, by Juste Chevillet, National Gallery of Canada

Recommended link: ”The Life and Times of Frederick the Great” podcast by Alec Avdakov

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The Seven Years’ War. The Great French Disaster

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The Seven Years’ War. The Great French Disaster

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Nouvelle-France, the French in North America

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François I, King of the Renaissance

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This particular conflict goes by multiple names and definitions. While it is globally recognized as the Seven Years’ War, it is more commonly referred to in America as the French and Indian War, and in Canada as the War of Conquest. These wars are all interconnected and are part of a vast global struggle between the two superpowers of the mid-eighteenth century: France and Great Britain.

Timecodes:
Introduction
04:18 – The Origins of Conflict
13:21 – From Frontier Struggle to Global War
22:12 – Downward Spiral
28:51 – The Great Disaster
37:46 – Conclusion

Music: Marche pour la cérémonie des Turcs, composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, arranged and performed by Jérôme Arfouche.

Artwork: The death of the Marquis de Montcalm, by Juste Chevillet, National Gallery of Canada

Recommended link: “The Life and Times of Frederick the Great” podcast by Alec Avdakov

Support the show

Reach out, support the show and give me feedback!

Richelieu and Louis XIII, France’s Dynamic Duo?

King Louis XIII and the Cardinal de Richelieu. These two men are quite important and deserve to be better known. The Cardinal is probably the most known of the two, because of his policies, wars and his long lasting impact on French institutions and Europe's destiny.

Louis XIII is often perceived as the weaker of the two, the king who merely signed his minister's recommendation. But history is never quite that straightforward, that easy. It is under these men that France will become an absolute monarchy and will begin her rise as Europe's dominant power. Louis XIII's son, Louis XIV will complete his father's work and become Europe's most powerful monarch.

Join me as I discuss the Just king and the famed red eminence, France's dynamic duo!

Timecodes:
Introduction
04:13 - Bloodied France
09:47 - The Red Eminence
13:48 - The Phoenix Rises
19:56 - The Great Partnership
26:28 - A Reinforced Kingdom
33:40 - France and the World
38:31 - Conclusion

Music: Marche pour la cérémonie des Turcs, composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, arranged and performed by Jérôme Arfouche.

Artwork: Louis XIII in coronation costume and Portrait of Cardinal Richelieu. Both by Philippe de Champaigne.

Support the show

Reach out, support the show and give me feedback!

benjbcorbetOct 3, 2023

Nouvelle-France, the French in North America

The Nouvelle France (New France) is the French colonization of North America. And by this I mean North America, not just Canada. Over a couple of centuries, the French established settlements all over North America, especially along the St-Lawrence and Mississippi River but also in Nova Scotia, Florida, Louisiana and more.

New France basically existed from the first adventures of Jacques Cartier in 1534 to the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763 and the signature of the treaty of Paris, that saw France lose most of its American possessions. It is a remarkable, violent, tragic and perennial story. Embark with me on this grand adventure!

Timecodes:
Introduction
06:03 - Adventure and Discovery in America
13:27 - The First French Settlers
21:09 - Expansion Along the Rivers
26:53 - War and Peace
35:25 - New France Peaks
44:07 - New France Dies
53:26 - The Following Years
57:42 - Conclusion

Music: Marche pour la cérémonie des Turcs, composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, arranged and performed by Jérôme Arfouche.

Artwork: L'expédition de Cavelier de la Salle pour la Louisiane, 1684, by Théodore Gudin (1844). (Grand Palais, Château de Versailles).