France 1760s | How Did France Lose an Empire and Act Like It Didn't?

Welcome to Ten Minute Decade, the channel that covers world history ten years at a time in fast, clear, documentary-style episodes. In 1762 a Protestant cloth merchant in Toulouse was executed for a murder he almost certainly did not commit. One man decided he was not going to let it stand. That man was Voltaire — seventy-one years old, living in exile near Geneva, holding no office and commanding no army. What he did with nothing but a pen changed France forever. This episode covers France from 1760 to 1769 — a country that loses an empire abroad and finds its conscience at home. What You'll Learn in This Episode 1763 — The Treaty of Paris From the French Side Britain celebrates the greatest imperial victory in its history. France absorbs the loss of Canada, India, and global strategic position. The Duc de Choiseul begins rebuilding — and watching the American colonies with extremely focused attention. Choiseul's Strategy — Waiting for Britain's Mistake France lost because its navy was inadequate and its finances exhausted. Choiseul's solution is precise — rebuild both and wait. The mistake he is waiting for is already developing in Boston and Philadelphia. 1762 — The Calas Affair Jean Calas is broken on the wheel for a murder he did not commit. The evidence against him is his religion. Voltaire investigates and decides he is not going to let it stand. Voltaire's Campaign The Treatise on Tolerance of 1763 uses the Calas case to argue against religious persecution across Europe. Voltaire lobbies, corresponds, publishes, and pursues with the relentless energy of a man who has been doing this for forty years and is very good at it. 1765 — The Conviction Overturned The royal council clears Jean Calas. A private citizen in exile has defeated the French judicial establishment. The model of organized public opinion changing institutional decisions is established. The next generation will take it much further. The Encyclopedie Keeps Publishing Diderot produces seventeen volumes of text despite official condemnation. The cumulative effect is the slow erosion of the assumption that the existing order is natural or inevitable. The Chevalier d'Eon in London A French secret agent living alternately as man and woman creates diplomatic chaos in Britain throughout the decade and negotiates the most extraordinary diplomatic settlement of the century — France officially recognizes his right to live as a woman in exchange for his silence on state secrets. Saint-Domingue — France's Remaining Empire France has lost the strategic competition with Britain but Saint-Domingue is by the 1760s the most productive plantation colony in the world generating more sugar than all the British Caribbean islands combined. Chapters 00:00 — Cold Open 00:25 — The Treaty of Paris From the French Side 01:45 — Choiseul Rebuilds and Waits 02:45 — The Calas Affair 04:15 — Voltaire's Campaign 05:45 — The Conviction Overturned 06:30 — The Encyclopedie and the Enlightenment Winning 07:15 — The Chevalier d'Eon 08:30 — Saint-Domingue and France's Remaining Empire 09:15 — The Decade Closes and Conclusion ________________________________________ KEYWORDS France 1760s, Voltaire Calas Affair, Jean Calas Toulouse, Treatise on Tolerance, Chevalier d'Eon, Duc de Choiseul, Treaty of Paris France, Encyclopedie Diderot, Saint-Domingue sugar colony, French Enlightenment 1760s, French history documentary, Ten Minute Decade, decade summary France, 18th century France, France Seven Years War aftermath