The Wars of Louis XIV

1. The Wars of Louis XIV From the 1660's onwards, Louis XIV aimed at expanding French territory by force of arms. He thought in this way to acquire gloire (glory). Another war aim was giving France a defensible frontier - especially "the line of the Rhine" in the East. Louis XIV did not doubt his right to "reunite" with France the territory once held by Charlemagne. Michel Le Tellier, Marquis of Louvois and Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount Turenne had created a large and efficient army that became Louis's main instrument in overawing neighboring countries.�

2. The Wars of Louis XIV Louvois imposed a high level of discipline of the troops - his drill master was Jean Martinet:� - so strict an officer that to this day the word martinet is used to mean a rigid disciplinarian. Louvois also organized a commissariat department to supply the French army. Until his system of magazines and supply dumps was introduced, armies had to forage (often to loot) the surrounding area for food and supplies. Efficient supply enabled the French army to concentrate on military operations.

3. The Wars of Louis XIV Motivation and the world picture in Europe - 1660 � 1760 This is about the struggle bet. Absolutism and Constitutionalism As Louis, after the Fronde journeys further and further toward Absolutism, the English are moving, ostensibly, toward Constitutionalism, Further, there are the considerations of Spain, and Catholic nation, and their incursion into the Netherlands, which, by 1648 had been declared a free and independent, Calvinist state.

4. The Wars of Louis XIV BY 1688, what major shifts have taken place in Europe? England, with the invasion of William III has eradicated the tide of Catholicism under the rules of Charles II and James II Louis XIV had established a close relationship with both of these rulers, and could not simply abandon his desire at empire, and his loyalty to James II particularly Hence, we see a continuation of the conflict in Europe bet. The protestants and the Catholics, which means that the Thirty years. war is not exactly over.

5. The Wars of Louis XIV The treaty of the Pyrenees brought the hostility bet. France and Spain, two catholic nations who stood tot gain more by being allies than enemies. Louis arranges a marriage bet, himself and Maria Theresa, daughter of the Hapsburg King of Spain, Phillip IV Once Phillip dies, Louis, by virtue off his marriage to Maria, become the rightful heir to the Spanish controlled sections of the Netherlands, and invades in 1667

6. The Wars of Louis XIV We know of the Protestant Stronghold that the Netherlands was, and the interest that the English have had there. But, under the reigns of Charles II and James II, and their friendly relationship with Louis XIV< these areas were essentially under siege. That is where William of Orange, an Stadholder, will make his name for the Protest and cause Treaty of Aix-la Chapelle in 1668 concludes the first round of fighting, and by the Peace of Nijmegen in 1678-79, Holland had gained back all of its lost territory.

7. The Wars of Louis XIV What was Louis� agenda? He sought territory in the East, that had been �French Domain� since the times of Charlemagne. This would have to come at the expense of their traditional rival, the Habsburgs The Rhine River was to be his �natural boundary� France would be involved, in the next sixty year in a series of conflicts bet. The protestant forces of England, the Dutch, and Prussia. This was also part and parcel of the growing necessity of a balance of power in Europe, which Louis sought to overturn.

8. The Wars of Louis XIV Key events that we will be covering: The Nine years war: 1688 � 1697 The conflict saw the Battle bet. France and the United Forces of Britain, The Netherlands, and forces within the holy Roman Empire This ends with the treaty of Ryswick in 1697 Then, we will examine the War of the Spanish Succession � 1702 � 1714, which will seek to determine the succession of the Habsburg Throne.

9. The Wars of Louis XIV With the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht, we see the conclusion of the wars of Spanish succession, and the growing hegemony of Great Britain as the new World become a greater source of conflict Remember the growth of mercantile empires in the new World, and the gradual diminishing of Spanish Power in the Caribbean, and central and South America. Hence these European rivalries will be played out in the colonies as well.

10. The Wars of Louis XIV The Impact of the Utrecht signing would place Great Britain in an extremely advantageous position on the Western Hemisphere Specifically, their virtual monopoly on the Slave trade, the asciento gained from the Spanish, places Great Britain in the �drivers seat� as it were, and is often referred to as the basis of the economic capital that will help to find the Industrial economy decades later.

11. The Wars of Louis XIV He introduced the flintlock rifle, that fired far more efficiently than previous one�s tat had a cord burn to ignite the gunpowder The Bayonet was also introduced, and this one could be left on the rifle as it was fired Louis XIV saw England as weak, and believed he could easily control its monarchs by bribes. The Dutch he regarded as trading rivals, seditious republicans, and heretics. Nonetheless, his first military expedition was in the Spanish Netherlands.

12. The Wars of Louis XIV The War of Devolution (1667-68) When Louis XIV married Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV, she formally renounced her claims to succeed as ruler of any Spanish territory. Louis insisted that this renunciation was conditional on prompt payment by Spain of Maria Theresa's dowry (500,000 gold �cus) - an undertaking Spain failed to fulfill.

13. The Wars of Louis XIV In 1665, Philip IV died, and was succeeded by his son by his second marriage (to Mariana of Austria), the four-year-old Charles (Carlos) II. (Remember that Maria Theresa was the product of Phillip�s first marriage!) Louis XIV announced that because the dowry had not been paid, and because the local laws of Brabant gave the children of a first marriage priority in inheritance over those of a second, Maria Theresa was the true ruler of much of the Spanish Netherlands. By proxy, these lands were now Louis�!

14. The Wars of Louis XIV The ease and rapidity of Louis XIV's invasion so alarmed the English and the Dutch that they ended the trading war in which they were involved. In May 1668, they joined with Sweden to form the Triple Alliance against France. Equally alarmed by French aggression, Spain made peace with Portugal. Recognizing the growing forces against him, Louis made a secret treaty with the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I, in which Leopold agreed to French expansion into the Spanish Netherlands after the death of Charles II of Spain. (This death was expected to be soon, as Charles was such a sickly child).

15. The Wars of Louis XIV Armed with this secret treaty, Louis made the "generous" peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (May 1668) by which he kept many of his conquests in Flanders but withdrew from Franche-Comt�. The towns that Louis retained in the Spanish Netherlands - especially Lille - were expertly fortified by Vauban. These fortresses served both as defensive strong-points and as spring-boards for future invasion.

16. The Wars of Louis XIV The Dutch war 1672-78 Louis did not reduce his troop strength after the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, but increased it. By 1672, the French army numbered almost 120,000 men - 8,000 household troops, 86,000 infantry and 25,000 cavalry. Louis XIV's foreign minister, Arnauld de Pomponne, worked diplomatically to isolate the Netherlands. The French arranged alliances or benevolent neutrality with Charles II of England (the Treaty of Dover), the Swedes, and various German princes (including Bavaria, M�nster, Cologne and Hanover). Louis saw the Dutch both as obstacles to French expansion into the Spanish Netherlands and as trading rivals.

17. The Wars of Louis XIV The French army was initially extremely successful and soon overran the whole Province of Utrecht. The frightened Dutch Pensionary, John de Witt sued for peace, but Louis made such exorbitant demands that he provoked a violent reaction. The Dutch opened the sluices and flooded large portions of the Netherlands to hold up the French troops. The Dutch then removed De Witt from power (he was murdered soon afterwards) and placed the young William of Orange in power. French success created new allies for the Dutch. Turenne had to detach troops to send against Frederick William of Brandenburg-Prussia, who was soon forced to make peace (June 1673). 

18. The Wars of Louis XIV In August 1673 the French and English fleets fought another battle against the Dutch at Texel. The French ships never properly engaged and the English fleet bore the brunt of De Ruyter's fierce attack. The Dutch ships were eventually forced to withdraw because they had exhausted their supplies of ammunition. The English fleet limped home and Charles II concluded a separate peace in the Treaty of Westminster (February 1674).

19. The Wars of Louis XIV The Holy Roman Empire and Spain also allied with the Dutch in the Grand Alliance of The Hague (1674). The cost of war was producing discontent - high taxation led to revolts in Normandy and Brittany. Louis XIV made the Peace of Nijmegen (Nymegen)� - in 1678 he was confirmed by Spain in possession of Franche-Comt�, but surrendered Maastricht to the Dutch.

20. The Wars of Louis XIV In 1679, the Holy Roman Empire also made peace. France continued to occupy Lorraine, but the Danes and Prussians were obliged to return Stettin and their Baltic conquests to Sweden. The Dutch War left France with a deficit of 16 million livres, but Colbert died in 1683, and Louvois believed that continued war was the route to French greatness! The acquisition of Alsace and Franche-Comt� had whetted Louis XIV's appetite for expansion. He embarked on the policy of r�unions - French lawyers were commissioned to discover towns that were "dependencies" of his new acquisitions, and had arguably at some point in the past strictly been French. Louis then annexed them to France however spurious or antiquated the claim.

21. The Wars of Louis XIV The Peace of Nijmegen had split the grand alliance formed against Louis, and he used the threat of French military might to bully each of his opponents singly. While the Empire was preoccupied with the threat from Ottoman Turkey, Louis invaded the Spanish Netherlands (1683) and laid siege to Luxembourg (April 1684). In the Truce of Ratisbon (August 1684) Spain was forced to recognize French possession of Strasbourg, Luxembourg and Oudenarde. Genoa had allied itself with Spain, so Louis bombarded the city into submission and demanded that its Doge come to Versailles and apologize.

22. The Wars of Louis XIV 1684 saw Louis XIV at the height of his power. Many resented French intimidation, but the threat from the Turks in the East and disunity in the West gave Louis the upper hand. Between 1685 and 1688 matters changed. The successes of the Holy Alliance ended the danger of Ottoman invasion. The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes deeply alienated Protestant powers. The Glorious Revolution placed William of Orange (Louis's most determined enemy) on the throne of England in place of James II (Louis's compliant friend).

23. The Wars of Louis XIV In July 1686, the League of Augsburg was formed by the Holy Roman Empire, Bavaria, Saxony, the Palatinate, Sweden and Spain to oppose French aggression. The Imperial army defeated the Turks at the Battle of Moh�cs (August 1687). Louis invaded the Palatinate in October 1688 before the Emperor's armies had redeployed from the East. The French army devastated the area in one of the few real war crimes of this period's warfare. The Glorious Revolution surprised Louis XIV as did the Grand Alliance of Spain, the Empire, Savoy and many German states that William of Orange was able to forge.

24. The Wars of Louis XIV Louis XIV struck back at William of Orange by supplying James II with 6,000 troops in an attempt to regain his throne. James went to Ireland where the Catholic, anti-English population rallied to his support. However, William II, helped by the Protestant Ulstermen defeated James' army in The Battle of the Boyne.[*The anniversary of this victory is celebrated each year by Protestant Orangemen marches deeply resented by Ulster's Catholic inhabitants.]

25. The Wars of Louis XIV Louis XIV planned an invasion of England, but the French admiral, Anne-Hilarion de Cotentin, Count of Tourville was defeated in May 1692 by the Admiral Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford. The English intercepted the French fleet off Barfleur, pursued it for five days, and when it sought shelter in the bay of La Hogue (La Hougue) burnt at least 12 (possibly 15) of its ships at anchor. Both sides were running out of their taxpayers' resources and so concluded the Peace of Ryswick 1697 France had to restore much of its ill-gotten gains (including Trier, Breisach, Lorraine, Luxemburg and Catalonia) to recognize William III as King of England, and to accept a pension for Elisabeth Charlotte in lieu of her claims to the Palatinate.

26. The Wars of Louis XIV The War of the Spanish Succession, 1702-13 The death of Charles II of Spain had long been anticipated in view of his poor health. Charles had no children and all Europe was concerned as to who would succeed him. Louis XIV's wife, Maria Theresa (sister of Charles II and daughter of Philip IV) died in 1683, but left a son. She had formally renounced her claims to the throne on marriage. The rest of Europe was horrified at the idea of France (already too powerful) controlling Spain and its dominions.

27. The Wars of Louis XIV In 1700, Charles II bequeathed the entire inheritance to Philip, Duke of Anjou - younger grandson of Louis XIV; the will stated that if France did not accept this, the entire inheritance should go to Austria. Louis XIV accepted this arrangement to prevent encirclement by Hapsburg powers, and (the extremely odd) Philip acceded to the throne.

28. The Wars of Louis XIV Louis XIV had an army of almost a quarter of a million men, and he maneuvered it as though about to start a new offensive war. In June 1700, the normally fractious English House of Commons voted support for William II against the French. In December 1700, Leopold I began to raise an army on the Rhine. April 1713 - the Peace of Utrecht was agreed.

29. The Wars of Louis XIV Philip V retained Spain and its American colonies, but the Spanish Netherlands, Milan and the Kingdom of Naples became Austrian Hapsburg possessions. The Dutch were allowed to retain fortresses in the Spanish Netherlands to discourage French aggression. France ceded Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, the Hudson Bay territory, and the island of St. Kitts (in the Caribbean) to Britain, recognized Queen Anne (i.e. stopped supporting James Edward), and made certain trading concessions. The Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily. France did retain much of the territory it had seized in Flanders and along the Rhine (although Alsace and Lorraine remained a bone of contention between France and Germany long after).

30. The Wars of Louis XIV Louis XIV was king for 72 years - the longest reigning monarch in European history - in an age of absolutism. Theorists such as Jacques Bossuet and Jean Domat argued that the king was God's agent on earth and to be obeyed faithfully. The reign of Louis XIV has excited strong reactions amongst historians - some seeing it as disastrous, others as glorious. Voltaire, one of the great figures of the Enlightenment, recognized the suffering caused by Louis' warmongering and religious persecution and admired him nonetheless.

31. The Wars of Louis XIV "The superior ability of his early ministers and his early generals soon wearied him. He liked nobody to be in any way superior to him. Thus he chose his ministers, not for their knowledge, but for their ignorance; not for their capacity, but for their want of it. He liked to form them, as he said; liked to teach them even the most trifling things. It was the same with his generals. He took credit to himself for instructing them; wished it to be thought that from his cabinet he commanded and directed all his armies. Naturally fond of trifles, he unceasingly occupied himself with the most petty details of his troops, his household, his mansions. This vanity, this unmeasured and unreasonable love of admiration, was his ruin." Duke de Saint-Simon on Louis XIV