Tough. Under Louis XIV, at the end France was at a disadvantage. I suppose you could say the same with Napoleon. I think you have to go with Napoleon. He only just failed at Waterloo. The sixth coalition only started winning battles when they declined to fight Napoleon and would only fight his marshals.
Plus a lot of Napoleon innovations survived him to a greater degree than Louis XIV.
I wouldn't so much say that Louis XIV left France at a disadvantage, certainly France came out of the War of the Spanish Succession in a poor financial state, as did the coalition allies in reality.
But the France of Louis XIV came out of the wars of Louis Quartozienne enlarged, with a colonial empire that stretched from North America to Asia, and although France had to share preponderance with the United Kingdom, neither had the upper hand at that time.
And yes, Napoleon left a considerable political legacy, Louis XIV less so because the monarchy collapsed, but the cultural influence that France has exerted is thanks to the reign of Louis XIV.
I would add that as a historian wrote, it was under Louis XIV that France reached the apogee of its power, because for the first time in its history and the only time, France will be the first power on land as well as on sea, even if it will not last long, feats that Napoleon will not succeed in reproducing because France under Napoleon will be only the first on land.
I thought it was you that taught me that the Treaties of Utrecht set up Britain to become dominant!
Being a contrary person, I feel a need to defend Napoleon on his naval reputation :)
He did have shocking bad luck to be opposed by the legendary Admiral Nelson who dealt France a few blows of import.
France was blessed by forests and convenient rivers but by Napoleon's turn came around the supply of masting trees was exhausted in both France and Britain. Both had to look elsewhere, to the North mostly. The Battle of Copenhagen was all about stopping France's access and breaking up the League of Armed Neutrality which might have reversed the situation to France obtaining nautical supplies and Britain not.
Britain looked to North America earlier. In the Charter of Massachusetts Bay Coy there were major penalties for cutting down masting trees. Good trees were even stamped with Royal insignia. A little matter of armed revolution did not stop that trade (but I don't have definitive evidence on this).
So I'm suggesting the loss of a couple of fleets to Nelson, the smashing of the League of Armed Neutrality, the exhaustion of suitable wood in domestic forests and the blockading of French fleets in port meant it was impossible for Napoleon. He could do miracles but not conjure nautical supplies. Napoleon still had a damn good try at it.
The Treaty of Ultrecht made the United Kingdom the world's leading maritime power, and with 300 years' hindsight, it was the beginning of Britain's future success. But by the time the treaty was signed, Louis XIV had left France in a position to turn the tide.
It's true that Napoleon inherited a catastrophic France, and what he managed to do was already prodigious.
Hope you had a good Christmas feast. Usually I have a picnic but it was raining. The solstice was a washout as well. However we were able to make a picnic area in a park conservatory and it was very pleasant amidst semi tropical flora. :)
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