Week 1 - Alaina Cagalingan

Usher's article "Colbert and Governmental Control of Industry in Seventeenth Century France" discusses how Colbert's administration proved to be a successful leadership that began France's rebranding as a nation. Colbert's era was associated with policies and reforms that were significantly original.  He had considered various plans of economic reorganization during his administration and and even accounted the nation's competition with England and Holland. In class, I learned that national aesthetic comes about through the participation of the three important factors: government, the industry, and the people.
In this article, France was rebranding their nation as one with a higher standard in the fine arts and high class products.  The government's goal was to surpass other neighboring nation's luxury and art and win against theirs in every aspect (material, craftsmanship, etc). And this had fueled many policies and industries just so to achieve this. For example, the government established institutions that were designed to hone skills of artists so that much "higher standard" products can be produced. And to maintain the quality of the products, Colbert reinstated the traditional system of industrial production with new formulations of standards and established a corps of inspectors--ultimately leading to an era of well perfected crafts and products from France. Here we see the interaction and roles of each factor that plays into the development of France's national aesthetic. That is: Colbert influences policies made by government to make the rebranding of the nation successful; industries were established and regulated by government; and people participating as artists and inspectors of the high quality product. The image below is a historical photo of one of the finest tapestry commemorating King Louis XIV who is known to have been one of the major catalysts to the nation's transition to fine arts.

Question: How much France's economic reorganization have influenced other neighboring countries and their economic plans?

Work Reference:
Abbott Payson Usher, "Colbert and Governmental Control of Industry in Seventeenth Century France."

Photo URL: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/images-applied-art/tapestry-gobelins-louis.jpg