<P> Louis XIV's glory was irrevocably linked to two great projects, military conquest and the building of Versailles--both of which required enormous sums of money . To finance these projects, Louis created several additional tax systems, including the "capitation" (begun in 1695) which taxed every person including nobles and the clergy, though exemption could be bought for a large one - time sum, and the "dixième" (1710--1717, restarted in 1733), which was a true tax on income and on property value and was meant to support the military . </P> <P> Louis XIV's minister of finances, Jean - Baptiste Colbert, started a mercantile system which used protectionism and state - sponsored manufacturing to promote the production of luxury goods over the rest of the economy . The state established new industries (the royal tapestry works at Beauvais, French quarries for marble), took over established industries (the Gobelins tapestry works), protected inventors, invited workmen from foreign countries (Venetian glass and Flemish cloth manufacturing), and prohibited French workmen from emigrating . To maintain the character of French goods in foreign markets, Colbert had the quality and measure of each article fixed by law, and severely punished breaches of the regulations . This massive investment in (and preoccupation with) luxury goods and court life (fashion, decoration, cuisine, urban improvements, etc .), and the mediatization (through such gazettes as the Mercure galant) of these products, elevated France to a role of arbiter of European taste . </P> <P> Unable to abolish the duties on the passage of goods from province to province, Colbert did what he could to induce the provinces to equalize them . His régime improved roads and canals . To encourage companies like the important French East India Company (founded in 1664), Colbert granted special privileges to trade with the Levant, Senegal, Guinea and other places, for the importing of coffee, cotton, dyewoods, fur, pepper, and sugar, but none of these ventures proved successful . Colbert achieved a lasting legacy in his establishment of the French royal navy; he reconstructed the works and arsenal of Toulon, founded the port and arsenal of Rochefort, and the naval schools of Rochefort, Dieppe and Saint - Malo . He fortified, with some assistance from Vauban, many ports including those of Calais, Dunkirk, Brest and Le Havre . </P> <P> Colbert's economic policies were a key element in Louis XIV's creation of a centralized and fortified state and in the promotion of government glory, including the construction they had many economic failures: they were overly restrictive on workers, they discouraged inventiveness, and had to be supported by unreasonably high tariffs . </P>

Who control economic and social power before 18 century in france