The Diplomatic Service of Louis XVI: The Work of French Foreign Affairs Department in the 1780s

The article aims to examine the organization of work of the State Secretariat for Foreign Affairs of France in the last decades before the Revolution of 1789 when the department was headed by Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes. By this time, there had developed a practice of preferentially appointing as head of the foreign affairs department people who had the first-hand experience of diplomatic service at the helm of embassies. He managed to create an efficiently working ministry apparatus. The details of its work are known thanks to the primary source for the research presented in this article, namely a note drawn up by one of Vergennes’ subordinates, the head of the “northern” directorate of the State Secretariat Pierre-Michel Hennin. During the years of Vergennes’ ministry, the staff was increased and a topographic bureau was created, which was tasked with drawing up a general map of the clarified borders of the French kingdom. The directorates of the State Secretariat were headed by professional diplomats who had received a good education and had practical experience working in embassies. Within the department, a well-thought-out system of clerical work was established. The difficulty in the work of the department, not mentioned in Hennin’s note, was the impossibility of career growth for ordinary employees. They could count on a seniority salary increase, but not a promotion. Thus, by the end of the Ancien Régime, there were two types of professional careers in the State Secretariat for Foreign Affairs of the French king: diplomatic one for high and middle echelons and clerical for ordinary employees.

Keywords

Early Modern period, Modern state, diplomatic service, Ancien Régime, 18th century, France, Comte de Vergennes, Pierre-Michel Hennin

Received

07.06.2021

Publication date

11.10.2021

Number of characters

33283

Cite

GOST	Pimenova L. The Diplomatic Service of Louis XVI: The Work of French Foreign Affairs Department in the 1780s // Novaia i noveishaia istoriia – 2021. – Issue 5 C. 23-33 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://nni.jes.su/S013038640014872-7-1 (circulation date: 23.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S013038640014872-7
MLA	Pimenova, Ludmila "The Diplomatic Service of Louis XVI: The Work of French Foreign Affairs Department in the 1780s." Novaia i noveishaia istoriia 5 (2021):23-33. DOI: 10.31857/S013038640014872-7
APA	Pimenova L. (2021). The Diplomatic Service of Louis XVI: The Work of French Foreign Affairs Department in the 1780s. Novaia i noveishaia istoriia (5), pp.23-33 DOI: 10.31857/S013038640014872-7

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