The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), which ended the war of the Austrian Succession, brought no gains to France in spite of her victories at Fontenoy and Raucoux; and the king was blamed for the diplomatic failure. The interval between this war and the Seven Years' War (1756) saw that great reversal of alliances which is sometimes called the "Diplomatic Revolution"; whereby France repudiated the alliance of Frederick the Great and joined hands with her old enemy Austria. The intrigues of Madame de Pompadour played in this change an important though not a decisive part. It was the cause of immense disasters to France; for after a promising beginning, both by land and sea, France suffered reverses which lost her both India and Canada and deprived her of the leading position which she had so long held in Europe. Her humiliation was declared by the peace of Paris (1763). The article on the history of France (q.v.) shows how there arose during the last years of Louis XV.'s reign a strong reaction against the monarchy and its methods. Military success had given it its strength; and its prestige was ruined by military failure. In the parlements, provincial and Parisian; in religion and in literature, a note of opposition is struck which was never to die until the monarchy was overthrown. France annexed Corsica in 1768, but this was felt to be the work of the minister Chauvelin, and reflected no credit on the king. He died in 1774 of smallpox. If the reign of his predecessor shows us almost the ideal of personal monarchy we may see in that of Louis XV. all the vices and errors exemplified which lie in wait for absolute hereditary rule which has survived the period of its usefulness. For the king's life generally see the memoirs of Saint-Simon, d'Argenson, Villars and Barbier, and for the details of his private life E. Boutaric, _Correspondance secrète de Louis XV._; Madame de Pompadour's _Correspondance_ published by P. Malassi; Dietric, _Les Maîtresses de Louis XV._; and Fleury, _Louis XV. intimes et les petites maîtresses_ (1909). For the system of secret diplomacy and organized espionage, known as the _Secret du roi_, carried on under the auspices of Louis XV., see Albert duc de Broglie, _Le Secret du roi. Correspondance secrète de Louis XV. avec ses agents diplomatiques 1752-1774_ (Paris, 1878); and for a general account of the reign, H. Carré, _La France sous Louis XV._ (Paris, 1891). For other works, general and special, see G. Monod, _Bibliographie de la France_, and the bibliography in the _Histoire générale_ of Lavisse and Rambaud, vol. vii., and the _Cambridge Modern History_, vol. vi. (A. J. G.*)