What was mercantilism, and what was its effect on European economies during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries?
What will be an ideal response?
Mercantilism is the economic principle that regulates an economy in a country's best interests. It relies on colonialism and production of goods to benefit the state's economy, with revenue flowing to the crown. It fosters the necessity of competition with other countries for goods and resources. In the case of France, Louis XIV was particularly keen on knocking the Dutch out of competition. Mercantilism required a strong, centralized government to encourage native production and consumption of goods, and required achieving a balance of trade by exporting more than was being imported. The state was empowered to promote the growth of trade at any cost, and to knock out the competition, it frequently engaged in war. As a consequence, many of the wars seen throughout Europe in this time period were often less about religion and direct military clashes than an underlying economic reason.
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