Early Modern Europe

During the early modern period, fundamental changes in society happened. Arrangements of city-states merged into modern centralized governments. The Sun King Louis XIV of France (1638–1715) lived by L'État, c'est moi (I am the state). ^* Only a few years later, King Frederick II of Prussia (1712–1786) lived by his motto, Ich bin der erste Diener meines Staates (I am the first servant of my state). ^* From the sixteenth century onward, the ideas of mercantilism became popular. Governments actively encouraged exports through subsidies while at the same time trying to curb imports through taxes and tariffs. ^†