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RECAP AND REVIEW – LOUIS XIV’S FOREIGN POLICY
1 – FOREIGN POLICY AIMS
-- Important to know general aims across his entire reign AND
specific aims for each of his wars
-- General Aims
(a) Defence of borders
(b) Supremacy
(c) Weakening of Habsburg Power
(d) Glorie
(e) Mercantilist ideas
GENERAL AIM – 1 : DEFENCE OF BORDERS
-- Why were the French borders a problem?
-- Which powers did France border?
-- Which of these powers could pose a threat?
-- What did Louis wish to ensure that his borders were safe?
-- Why would Louis look for a valid excuse for intervention?
-- What would be the danger if he intervened without a valid reason?
GENERAL AIM – 2 : SUPREMACY
-- Why would Louis want dominance in Europe?
-- What would be the dangers in seeking supremacy?
-- What is meant by “balance of power”?
GENERAL AIM – 3 : WEAKENING OF HABSBURG POWER
-- Which family had dominated Europe for over a century?
-- Why did French rulers have personal animosity for this family?
-- Which areas did this family control?
-- Why did this present a problem for France?
-- If France wanted to be the dominant power, and achieve supremacy in Europe, what
would she have to do?
GENERAL AIM – 4 : GLORIE
-- What is meant by Glorie?
-- Why was it so important to Louis?
-- How do we know that it was important to Louis?
-- Why would this impact on his foreign policy?
GENERAL AIM – 5 : MERCANTILIST IDEAS
-- What was Mercantilism?
-- Why were the main ideas behind Mercantilism?
-- Why would this have an impact on foreign policy?
-- Which country in particular would France need to destroy in the
interest of mercantilist ideas?
SUCCESS AND FAILURE
-- Important to see Louis’ foreign policy as divided into two phases:
(a) THE SUCCESSFUL YEARS, TO 1685
(b) THE LESS SUCCESSFUL YEARS, FROM 1685-1715
2 – LOUIS’ ATTITUDE TO FOREIGN POLICY
-- Louis was determined to control foreign policy. He ensured that
the important councils, especially the Conseil d’en haut (Council
of State), was totally under his control. This Council would
decide on foreign policy objectives. Louis made sure that he
decided on its composition, forbade it to meet without him, and
he kept the size small to help prevent leaks.
-- Louis was totally convinced that he had been appointed by God
and that he understood the complexities of foreign policy. He felt
that foreign policy decisions were a matter for the
King.
2 – LOUIS’ ATTITUDE TO FOREIGN POLICY…. cont
-- Historians have debated Louis’ policy – some compare him with
Hitler – ambitious, uncaring, too willing to risk war; others – like
Ragnhild Hatton – claim his policy was in France’s interest,
Louis achieved tangible results and his enemies were just as
willing to risk war. Accusation that he sought universal
domination myth circulated by enemies.
·
-- Louis has been accused of pursuing la glorie at expense of
country and people. Louis certainly obsessed by military glory
and in early reign seemed more concerned with desire to show
off and achieve cheap triumphs, rather than care about welfare of
his subjects.
2 – LOUIS’ ATTITUDE TO FOREIGN POLICY…. cont
-- Historians have debated Louis’ policy – some compare him with
Hitler – ambitious, uncaring, too willing to risk war; others – like
Ragnhild Hatton – claim his policy was in France’s interest,
Louis achieved tangible results and his enemies were just as
willing to risk war. Accusation that he sought universal
domination myth circulated by enemies.
·
-- Louis has been accused of pursuing la glorie at expense of
country and people. Louis certainly obsessed by military glory
and in early reign seemed more concerned with desire to show
off and achieve cheap triumphs, rather than care about welfare of
his subjects.
3 – LOUIS’ PREPARATION FOR WAR
-- In 1661 France was exhausted after over a century of struggle with
the Habsburgs, which had come to an end in 1659 under the
Treaty of the Pyrenees.
-- It was not only France that was left devastated by war. The whole
of Europe had suffered and Spain, which had been the dominant
power, was now a declining nation, leaving a power vacuum in
Europe, that Louis was keen to fill.
-- In 1661 France was ready to fill the vacuum. There were problems
to overcome first : the country was in debt, the navy was
virtually non-existent, the army was in need of updating and the
diplomatic service was in a poor state.
3 – LOUIS’ PREPARATION FOR WAR
-- Louis was determined to eclipse Spain and the Habsburgs and
make France the dominant European power. He was determined
to do this with lightning speed.
-- Colbert restored the nations’ finances; Le Tellier and his son,
Louvois, transformed the army and introduced reforms that
turned it into a professional organisation, led by commanders
who achieved their positions on merit.
4 – SPECIFIC AIMS AND RESULTS FOR EACH WAR
-- The wars fought by Louis XIV
(a) THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1666-1667
(b) THE DUTCH WARS, 1672-79
(c) THE WAR OF THE REUNIONS, 1681-84
(d) THE NINE YEARS WAR, 1688-97
(e) THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION, 1701-14
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
CAUSES OF THE WAR
-
When Louis assumed control of France in 1661, he wanted to
establish France as the dominant power in Europe
-
The traditional enemy – the Habsburg family – had been the
main rival for France for over 100 years and the Habsburgs had
been the dominant family. At their height they had controlled an
empire that included the Low Countries (Belgium and Holland),
much of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, the New World
and parts of North Africa.
-
The Habsburgs had driven the French out of Italy and had
threatened French territory
-
However by 1661 the Habsburgs were no longer as powerful –
their empire had been divided – one half going to the Spanish
branch and the other half to the Austrian branch
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
CAUSES OF THE WAR… cont
-- The Spanish branch of the family controlled Spain and the Spanish
Netherlands (Belgium), but had lost Holland in the Sixteenth
Century
-- Holland had become a separate independent state – known as The
United Provinces or the Dutch Republic. It was a republic and
Protestant and made its money through trade.
-- Louis faced the danger of Habsburg encirclement as the
Habsburgs controlled Spain to the South and the Spanish
Netherlands to the North – and the Austrian branch controlled
the Holy Roman Empire (Germany) to the East.
-- One of Louis’ aims was to destroy the power of the Habsburgs and
to safe-guard his borders against any Habsburg threat.
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
CAUSES OF THE WAR… cont
-- Louis was keen to secure his borders – to protect France from
invasion
--The main danger still came from the Habsburgs
-- Louis knew that the Habsburg control over the Spanish
Netherlands was weak and that he could use that to strengthen
his borders in the North
-- However, Louis was keen not to look like an aggressor as this
would frighten other European countries and they might come to
Spain’s help – Louis was keen to avoid this
-- Louis needed an excuse to seize towns on the border that would
ensure other countries did not help Spain
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
CAUSES OF THE WAR… cont
-- In 1665 the King of Spain, Philip IV died
-- He was succeeded by his weak son Charles
(Carlos II)
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
CAUSES OF THE WAR… cont
-- Louis XIV’s wife – Marie-Theresa – was the daughter of Philip
IV of Spain and the half-sister of the new Spanish King, Charles
II
-- This gave Louis an idea about how to get control of key places in
the Spanish Netherlands to secure his borders
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
CAUSES OF THE WAR… cont
-- Louis knew that he had no legal reason to challenge Charles II’s
right to the Spanish throne
-- However, Louis’ lawyers found an argument about inheritance in
the Spanish Netherlands : custom in parts of the Spanish
Netherlands held that the children of a man’s first marriage,
even daughters, had rights of inheritance superior to children of
a second marriage.
-- Marie Theresa was the daughter of Philip IV by his first marriage,
whilst Charles II was a son by a second marriage
-- Legally, therefore, Louis argued Marie Theresa was entitled to the
Spanish Netherlands
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
CAUSES OF THE WAR… cont
-- This gave Louis a reasonable justification to lay claim to the area
as dynastic claims were essential to all rulers and they would
understand such a claim and would not see Louis’ pursuit of
such a claim as aggression
-- Louis thought he had found a clever way to pursue his ambition
of securing his border and weakening the Habsburgs without
looking bad.
-- Louis did not claim all of the Spanish Netherlands, but just parts
of it. Louis produced a document developing this case and
circulated it in Europe. He hoped that this would convince
people he was merely pursuing a legal claim and was being
reasonable.
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
CAUSES OF THE WAR… cont
-- Louis did not think he could lose : if his claim was accepted, he
would extend his territory, weaken the Habsburgs, defend his
northern frontier and have successfully advanced his dynastic
claims and enhanced his glorie.
-- If his claim was rejected, the Spanish would have precipitated a
war and Louis would merely be pursuing a legal claim against
an unreasonable Spain.
-- The Spanish rejected the claim, arguing it was a weak claim as
the rules only applied to property. Louis responded by invading.
Louis insisted the war was not a French invasion but an attempt
of his queen to claim her rightful inheritance.
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
CAUSES OF THE WAR… cont
-- French forces crossed the border in May 1667 against minimal
opposition.
-- Louis had embarked on his first war
RECAP ON CAUSES
-- To safeguard borders
-- To weaken Habsburgs
-- To advance dynastic claims
-- To increase French power and Louis’ glorie
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
RESULTS OF THE WAR
-- The war did not go quite as Louis had expected. He thought the
Spanish would be isolated, that his forces would quickly overrun the area and that he would make all the gains he desired.
-- The French achieved notable victories under their commander,
Turenne : they captured Tournai, Douai, Courtrai and Lille.
Louis and Marie Theresa visited the conquered areas.
-- Louis had been right about Spain – they offered little opposition
-- However, other countries soon feared that Louis was becoming
too powerful and was threatening the balance of power in
Europe – the last thing they wanted was Europe dominated by
France and threatening their interests.
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
RESULTS OF THE WAR.. cont
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
RESULTS OF THE WAR… cont
-- Those countries that Louis had considered friends, now turned
against him : the United Provinces, England, and Sweden.
-- To stop Louis from threatening the balance of power, they formed
an alliance against him, called the Triple Alliance (1668)
-- They accepted that Louis had a legal claim to certain territory and
agreed that he could keep his conquered territories but that any
further expansion would lead them to help Spain against Louis.
-- Louis knew that this alliance would be a threat but wanted to
negotiate from a position of strength and so in May 1688 sent
the commander, Conde, to seize Franche-Comte, an area on
France’s eastern frontier controlled by Spain.
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
RESULTS OF THE WAR.. cont
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
RESULTS OF THE WAR… cont
-- Louis made peace against his wish due to the Alliance against
him
-- Under the terms of the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, France was
allowed to keep a series of border towns such as Charleroi,
Tournai, Courtrai, Douai, and Lille.
-- However, Louis had to return France-Comte to Spain.
-- Louis had secured his northern borders, secured his dynastic
claims, weakened the Habsburgs, made France more powerful
and advanced his own glorie.
-- Vauban quickly fortified new towns in Netherlands -- ironically
most of these were not in areas covered by laws on devolution.
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
RESULTS OF THE WAR… cont
-- However, he had not secured as much as he had wished, had been
forced to return land, had not destroyed Habsburg power and
had seen an alliance build up against him.
-- Yet Louis' war had been relatively uncostly and he was supremely
confident, but he was furious with the Dutch since he had
protected them in the past and in return they had sided against
him. Louis was determined to teach them a lesson.
THE WAR OF DEVOLUTION, 1661-1667
RESULTS OF THE WAR… cont
-- Shennan claims that the peace was “a temporary settlement but at
least it strengthened France’s ability to protect Paris, which lay
so close to this vulnerable frontier.”
-- However, Shennan believes that the war brought another benefit :
“Aided by his chief adviser on foreign affairs, Hughes de
Lionne, … Louis succeeded in persuading the Emperor to agree
to a partition of the Spanish Empire in the event of the death of
Charles II without heirs. The long-term significance of this
agreement was that the Emperor, who was himself a strong
candidate for the succession, appeared to accept that the
Bourbons too retained a justifiable claim to the Spanish throne.
This was certainly Louis’s interpretation and it provided a
precedent for two further partition treaties later in the reign.”
THE DUTCH WARS, 1672-79
CAUSES OF THE WAR
-- The United Provinces became independent of Spanish control in the
(16th – it emerged as independent, republican, Protestant, and wealthy.
-- The Dutch soon became prosperous through the development of
overseas trade and soon the Dutch had built the largest commercial
fleet and were trading all over the world.
-- The France had supported the Dutch in their fight for independence and
Louis assumed the alliance would continue and the Dutch would
remain his ally.
-- Louis assumed that they would remain neutral during the War of
Devolution. However, the Dutch feared that if Louis took control of
the Spanish Netherlands, he would then be in a position to threaten
them. They were determined to stop Louis from dominating Europe.
THE DUTCH WARS, 1672-79
CAUSES OF THE WAR….cont
-- Far from remaining neutral in the war, the Dutch angered him by
blocking him and then joining England and Sweden in an
alliance against him.
-- Louis was furious and felt that the Dutch had betrayed him and
shown ‘ingratitude, bad faith, and insupportable vanity.’
-- The Dutch made the situation worse by openly offending Louis.
They struck a medal showing Joshua stopping the sun – this was
a direct insult to Louis who entitled himself as the Sun King and
was meant to convey the message that the Dutch (Joshua) had
stopped the Sun (Louis XIV). For a king who believed in glorie
and personal status, this was an unforgivable insult.
THE DUTCH WARS, 1672-79
CAUSES OF THE WAR….cont
-- Shennan points out that Louis had other reasons for disliking the Dutch :
“Louis disliked their republicanism, their Calvinist religion and their
trading ethos, all of which contrasted sharply with the principles of
divine-right monarchy in France.”
-- There were also trade reasons : Colbert, Louis’ finance minister, was
keen to expand French trade, but believed in mercantilism – there was
only so much trade in the world, to get more you had to take it from
others. The Dutch dominated trade – France could only prosper at the
expense of the Dutch – destroy the Dutch and you gained their trade
routes.
-- Louis was also influenced by the hawks on his Council – men like
Lionne, French secretary of state for foreign affairs from 1663 to 1671
who laid the diplomatic groundwork that enabled Louis to initiate wars
of conquest.
THE DUTCH WARS, 1672-79
CAUSES OF THE WAR… cont
-- There was another very important reason : Louis still wanted the
Spanish Netherlands : he still wanted to secure his borders, weaken the
Habsburgs, advance French prestige and his own glorie – destroying
the Dutch would weaken any alliance against him. Fracois Bluche
called the Dutch War the "inevitable conflict", basing his argument on
the irremovable opposition of the Dutch to French expansion in the
Spanish Netherlands.
-- Louis also did not want to appear as an aggressor : if he could look as if
the Dutch had provoked him into war, he could divert blame onto
them, then take the Spanish Netherlands and not appear to be the
aggressor, threatening European balance of power.
THE DUTCH WARS, 1672-79
CAUSES OF THE WAR… cont
RECAP – CAUSES OF WAR
-- Louis felt Dutch had betrayed him and would be a threat to any attempt
to seize rest of Spanish Netherlands
-- Louis felt that they had insulted him
-- Louis hated the nature of the Dutch state
-- There were economic reasons for destroying the Dutch
-- Louis was being persuaded by hawkish members of his council like
Lionne
-- It was a convenient excuse to avoid being seen as an aggressor and yet
still get the Spanish Netherlands
THE DUTCH WARS, 1672-79
RESULTS OF THE WAR
-- Again Louis thought that it would be a quick decisive war. He
made every effort not to appear as an aggressor and to isolate the
Dutch.
-- He used the the wealth of France to destroy the Triple Alliance
that had led him to abandon the War of Devolution : he paid
Sweden to leave the Triple Alliance and he signed a treaty with
the English – the Treaty of Dover which promised money to
Charles II of England.
-- The only power that could now threaten him was the Empire.
Louis concluded a treaty with Emperor Leopold I in 1671 under
which he promised to respect previous treaties in return for
Imperial neutrality in any war between France and the Dutch.
THE DUTCH WARS, 1672-79
RESULTS OF THE WAR… cont
-- Louis’ main aim was always to capture the Spanish Netherlands,
but he wanted to avoid being seen as the aggressor.
-- Louis decided to attack the Dutch by going around the Spanish
Netherlands and through Liege. In this way he could avoid being
seen as the aggressor, but he expected that such a move would
worry the Spanish who would declare war on Louis. The Spanish
would then be the aggressors and no country would come to their
aid as Spain’s allies had defensive alliances, under which they
would only help Spain if someone declared war on her.
-- If Louis’ plan succeeded, the Dutch would be neutralised and
Spain isolated without allies, leaving the Spanish Netherlands a
sitting target.
THE DUTCH WARS, 1672-79
RESULTS OF THE WAR… cont
-- Once again the French achieved military success. The French
advanced quickly under the command of Turenne, Conde and
Luxembourg. Major cities fell in days and Conde crossed the
Rhine on 12 June. Louis entered Utrecht on 30 June and
Nijmegen surrendered on 9 July.
-- The Dutch decided to negotiate with Louis. In late June, the Dutch
offered generous peace terms, which included granting France
Dutch-held lands in Brabant and Flanders, the fortress of
Maastricht, and a large indemnity, but Louis haughtily declined.
-- This rejection of peace was disastrous for Louis as he could no
longer present himself in a favourable light – he now appeared as
an aggressor.
THE DUTCH WARS, 1672-79
RESULTS OF THE WAR… cont
-- The Dutch fought back. They united under William of Orange and
opened the sluces to flood the approaches to Amsterdam. The
French could not win without capturing Amsterdam.
-- Now that he appeared as an aggressor, Louis found countries
turning against him and the war soon expended as the Emperor
and the Elector of Brandenburg entered the war against Louis in
1673.
-- The Spanish entered the war in late 1673 and the war soon spread
to the Spanish Netherlands. By 1674 a formidable alliance, now
including England, had built up against Louis and he abandoned
Dutch territory. However, the French continued to gain military
victories in the Spanish Netherlands.
THE DUTCH WARS, 1672-79
RESULTS OF THE WAR… cont
-- The fighting began well for the French in 1675. In Flanders, the French
managed to isolate the Spanish and Dutch from German aid, secured
the neutrality of Liege and took several cities. French success put
Louis in a strong position for the remainder of the war, but 1675 saw
Turenne being killed in action and Conde retiring on health grounds.
Louis had lost two of his ablest commanders.
-- During 1676 and 1677 Louis achieved more successes, capturing cities
and compelling William to abandon the siege of Maastricht (1676) and
defeating William at St Omer (1677).
-- However, by 1678 Louis wanted to end the wear as quickly as possible.
He captured Ghent and Ypres to shock the Dutch into peace talks. He
presented peace terms to the Dutch in April, and they signed the Treaty
of Nijmegen with Louis on 10 August.
THE DUTCH WARS, 1672-79
RESULTS OF THE WAR… cont
-- Louis’ original goal might have been frustrated, and he was
unsuccessful in debasing the Dutch; however, the Treaty of
Nijmegen gave him Franche-Comte, a number of new towns on
his north-east frontier, and Freiburg across the Rhine. Yet he
returned Maastricht which protected the entry to the Dutch
Republic and agreed to rescind Colbert’s harsh tariff laws of
1667 against the Dutch.
-- Louis was disappointed with the result of his war and sacked his
foreign minister, blaming him for not getting better terms.
-- One of the outcomes of the war was to create an anti-French
alliance and to see the coming to power of William of Orange, a
man committed to Louis' demise.
THE DUTCH WARS, 1672-79
RESULTS OF THE WAR… cont
-- Shennan gives this summary : “The Peace of Nijmegen was for
Louis XIV a successful outcome of the Dutch War, although not
the triumph which he envisaged when it began. He learned that
the Spanish Netherlands could not be overrun against Dutch
wishes and that a war prosecuted with such lack of moderation
was likely to provoke the most stubborn opposition from his
enemies.”
-- By 1679 Louis was reviled in the United Provinces, but if he had
now acted with restrain he could probably have turned the
situation around.
France - inherited by Louis XIV
captured by 1659 - Dunkerque was taken from Spain
by Cromwell 1658, sold to France by Charles II in
1662.
captured by 1680
captured by 1680, given back 1713
1713 boundary of France
remaining under Spanish control
Spain recognised the independence of the northern
Low Countries as the Dutch Republic in 1648
THE DUTCH WARS, 1672-79
RESULTS OF THE WAR… RECAP
-- He had failed to destroy the Dutch : instead they were now his enemy
and William of Orange emerged as his main antagonist – William
became King of England in 1689 and this was to prove a disaster for
Louis.
-- He did secure new cities on the borders, which protected France
-- He had showed that his armies were superior to those of the Habsburgs
and that France wasx now the dominant power
-- He had been forced to give back Maastricht which meant it would be
hard to invade the Dutch in the future
-- He abandoned the tariffs against the Dutch, but this actually helped
France as the tariffs had led to counter-tariffs against France by the
Dutch which had seriously harmed the French economy.
-- He was now viewed with suspicion by most of Europe.
THE WAR OF THE REUNIONS, 1681-1684
CAUSES OF THE WAR
-- Louis had always been obsessed with protecting his borders and
with protecting his capital Paris, as it was close to the borders
with neighbouring countries.
-- Ragnhild Hutton contends that a determined defensive strategy
was an important element of Louis XIV’s foreign policy, but his
aggressive attack on the Dutch has obscured the defensive nature
of Louis’ policies. People now saw Louis as an aggressor rather
than as someone determined to defend his territory and capital.
-- Shennan points out that “… the French capital, Paris, was
vulnerable to attack from the Spanish Netherlands. There were
other entrances to the kingdom, too, which the king had been
anxious to close to his enemies.”
THE WAR OF THE REUNIONS, 1681-1684
CAUSES OF THE WAR….cont
-- Ever since Louis had assumed control in 1661, he had set out to
secure French integrity and her borders.
-- In 1662 he bought Dunkirk from England to secure the integrity of
his country.
-- The threat of an invasion from the Spanish Netherlands was
removed as a result of the Dutch Wars, as Louis had used the war
to employ his engineer, Vauban, to build a system of fortresses to
secure the border. By 1678 these were operational.
-- Yet Louis was still concerned about his Eastern border with the
Empire. Shennan points out : “France’s weakness on the eastern
frontier was eased by the acquisition of Franche-Comte in the
same settlement, but the situation in that region remained
confused and potentially dangerous.”
THE WAR OF THE REUNIONS, 1681-1684
CAUSES OF THE WAR….cont
-- There were still weak points on the Eastern frontier.
-- France had controlled three key Imperial cities for over 100 years :
Metz, Toul and Verdun. As long as France controlled these, her border
with the Empire was fairly secure from attack. However, the duchy of
Lorraine, part of the Empire, also bordered France and could be used
as a back-door into France. Louis wanted to keep the Imperial cities
and close the entry through Lorraine.
-- Then there was Alsace and the free city of Strasbourg, which was the
route between France and the Rhine and the Danube. Alsace was
technically French territory, there was ambiguity over some of the key
towns in the province.
-- This weak frontier had allowed Imperial troops to enter Alsace by way
of Strasbourg during the Dutch War. Louis was determined to prevent
this happening again. He needed to secure this border.
THE WAR OF THE REUNIONS, 1681-1684
CAUSES OF THE WAR….cont
-- Louis needed to secure this border without risking war with his
neighbours. So he came up with a quasi-legal method to advance his
claims to key cities which would secure his border.
-- This war, therefore, was to break out as result of Louis’ seizures of
towns, fortresses, and land designed to create defensible frontiers.
-- Louis established French courts to hear his claims on disputed territory,
and not surprisingly these Chambers of Reunions sided with him. He
then claimed that he had a legal claim, backed by Courts, to these
cities. He was determined to press his legal claims, but to support such
claims by force if necessary.
-- Not surprisingly his neighbours rejected the legal claims and saw him as
an aggressor threatening their territory.
THE WAR OF THE REUNIONS, 1681-1684
RESULTS OF THE WAR
-- Once again the French had military successes : they captured
Strasbourg (1682) and Luxembourg (1684)
-- The Spanish had declared war in 1683 but had received no help
from the Emperor who was busy dealing with a threat from the
Turks. The help given by the Dutch had no real impact in
stopping the French.
-- By 1684 Louis had been victorious.
-- On 15 August 1684 the warring parties signed the Truce of
Ratisbon, by which Louis returned his conquests since August
1683, with the exception of Luxembourg, in return for a 20-year
guarantee of his other gains, including Luxembourg and
Strasbourg.
THE WAR OF THE REUNIONS, 1681-1684
RESULTS OF THE WAR….cont
-- Shennan concludes : “Ratisbon marked a high point among Louis
XIV’s foreign policy achievements. The Emperor, the princes of
the Empire, and Spain signed a twenty-year truce accepting for
that period France’s continued occupation of Lorraine, her
acquisition of Strasbourg and the reunion lands including
Luxembourg. It appeared that the vulnerable eastern and northeastern frontiers had been firmly secured.”
THE WAR OF THE REUNIONS, 1681-1684
RESULTS OF THE WAR….cont
-- Louis claimed he was protecting his frontiers. Many historians
dismiss this as a cover for his naked aggression, but Lynn states
“such a criticism does not recognise that the Sun King felt real
anxiety” and Shennan says “The defensive needs of the kingdom
… were a major preoccupation behind Louis XIV’s foreign
policy…”
THE WAR OF THE REUNIONS, 1681-1684
RESULTS OF THE WAR….cont
-- Nonetheless, as Shennan points out : “…the aggressive and opportunistic
implementation of Louis’s policy understandably persuaded those threatened
by it that the king’s intention was expansionist and his ambitions unlimited.
There had been acts of gratuitous violence too, which underlined the
arrogance and ruthlessness of French conduct: the scorched earth policy
during the Dutch War and the destruction by naval barrage of the free city of
Genoa (1684) for having the effrontery to assist Spain. Louis subsequently
refused to make peace with the city until its civic leaders had visited Versailles
to demonstrate their abject submission before the Sun-king. Louis himself
must bear the responsibility for such actions, though he was following the
promptings of his secretaries of state for war and the navy, Louvois and
Colbert’s son, the Marquis de Seignelay, who succeeded his father in 1683.
The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in the year after Ratisbon, with its
accompanying brutality, reinforced the belief of Louis’s enemies that the
king’s ambitions threatened them all. The prospect of a united front against
France began to loom.”
THE WAR OF THE REUNIONS, 1681-1684
RESULTS OF THE WAR….cont
-- Louis is said to have reached the height of his power in 1684. People copied
French styles and rushed to visit France.
-- Why was Louis so successful between 1661 and 1684? Undoubtedly due to
several France's strengths and her enemies' weaknesses. French resources may
at times have been strained, but in 1684 showed no sign of collapse. Indeed
by 1688 army had expanded to 300,000. Louis also was good at bribing
people.
-- Louis' enemies were motley bunch. Louis was careful not to antagonise Dutch
merchants, who preferred trade to war as long as Louis did not go too far.
Louis learnt from his mistakes so that in mid-1680s William of Orange failed
to galvanise Dutch against Louis because Louis careful to respect Dutch
susceptibilities. The Emperor was preoccupied with Turks till 1688 and
German princes would easily change sides for payment.
THE WAR OF THE REUNIONS, 1681-1684
RESULTS OF THE WAR….cont
-- Yet Louis' successes not as secure as they seemed, for even Louis realised that
now the Emperor was freed from the Turkish menace, he could challenge
France.
-- To sum up, France's position in 1684 was immensely strong. The combination of
natural resources, luck and skill had paid dividends. However Louis had
aroused hostility. The cynicism of the reunions, the seizure of areas such as
Strasburg and Luxembourg and the devastations caused by French armies
built up widespread resentment.
THE NINE YEARS WAR, 1688-97
CAUSES OF THE WAR
-- This war is also known as the War of the League of Augsburg or
the War of the Grand Alliance and is regarded by many
historians as Louis’ greatest blunder.
-- The Treaty of Ratisbon that had ended the War of the Reunions
had included an agreement of a 20-year truce.
-- Louis was now at the height of his power and felt that he could
now dominate and bully Europe. He now became a clear
aggressor.
-- In 1685 Louis declared war on his Protestant subjects by issuing
the Edict of Nantes. As a result many fled abroad, some to Italy.
Louis wanted to stop this. 1686 he insisted the Duke of Savoy
forcibly convert his own Protestant community, and then
imposed French troops on him to do the job.
THE NINE YEARS WAR, 1688-97
CAUSES OF THE WAR….cont
-- Once again Louis’ actions worried his neighbours. Several
German states, the Emperor, Sweden and Spain, formed the
League of Augsburg (1686) in an effort to unite against further
French aggression.
-- However Louis was also worried : he believed that once the
Emperor had dealt with the Turks, he would break the Treaty of
Ratisbon and threaten the areas gained by France, thereby
weakening France’s eastern border again. Louis was convinced
that it was only a matter of time before the Emperor would attack
France. He was determined to prevent this.
THE NINE YEARS WAR, 1688-97
CAUSES OF THE WAR….cont
-- His fears increased in 1687 when he asked the Emperor to
sanction his gains, but the Emperor refused as he had now
defeated the Turks. As Shennan argues : “The Imperial armies
were by this time a formidable force and the Emperor’s power
and prestige were persuading lesser German princes, like the
rulers of Bavaria and Brandenburg, to move out of Louis XIV’s
orbit and into Leopold’s”.
-- The 20 year truce was clearly not going to last and Louis knew
that the Emperor was building an alliance against him. Louis was
determined to protect his borders and stop the Habsburgs from
threatening France again.
THE NINE YEARS WAR, 1688-97
CAUSES OF THE WAR….cont
-- There was also the threat from William of Orange, who also had
his eye on the English throne and who could emerge as a serious
threat. Events seemed to be turning against Louis, who felt that
he had to act to defend France.
-- To defend his eastern border, Louis set his eyes on two Rhineland
cities : Cologne and Phillipsburg. If he could seize control of
these, it would strengthen his border against any Habsburg
threat.
THE NINE YEARS WAR, 1688-97
CAUSES OF THE WAR….cont
-- Louis feared that the important bishopric of Cologne, which
sheltered part of his frontier, would go to an individual hostile to
France once the current archbishop, Max Henry, died.
-- Shennan points out that “Control of Cologne would provide a
barrier in northern Germany and a base from which to threaten
the Dutch Republic.”
-- Crisis struck in June 1688 when Max Henry died. Louis put
forward his own candidate, but the Pope, with whom Louis was
still on bad terms, appointed the brother of the Elector of
Bavaria, who enjoyed the support of William of Orange and the
Emperor Leopold.
THE NINE YEARS WAR, 1688-97
CAUSES OF THE WAR….cont
-- Louis’ plan was for a short war to compel the Germans to concede
the necessary assurances.
-- He planned to seize the Rhine fortress of Phillippsburg. His
province of Alsace had suffered from Allied incursions during
the Dutch War, and he wanted to close off the Rhine frontier to
preserve it in the future. Of the Rhine crossings that threatened
Alsace, Phillippsburg was the last that remained outside his
control. By seizing it, Louis would make a display of force that
would protect Alsace and cower the Germans into accepting his
terms.
-- The Marquis de Louvois assured the Sun King that this would
require only three or four months.
THE NINE YEARS WAR, 1688-97
CAUSES OF THE WAR….cont
-- In September 1688 Louis issued his ‘Memoire des raisons,’
explaining his ‘righteous’ rationale for taking up arms once
more. He claimed it was dynastic reasons for his sister-in-law
was herself a sister of the late Elector Palatine with a possible
claim to part of her brother’s electorate, although Shennan
dismisses this and states that the “true reason … was the king’s
growing conviction that Alsace in particular would be vulnerable
to imperial assault when the expected defeat of the Turks was
accomplished.”
THE NINE YEARS WAR, 1688-97
RESULTS OF THE WAR
-- Again events went well for Louis at first : the French captured Cologne,
Phillippsburg, Heidelberg and Koblenz.
-- Again success led to an anti-French alliance : German princes, the Emperor,
the Dutch, the English.
-- It soon became clear that this quick war was now a major conflict.
-- Louis was not prepared for a major conflict. Instead he opted to create a
defensive barrier behind which the French could shelter and gear up for
war. Louis ordered his troops to devastate the resources of the Palatinate
and other areas in order that no attacking army could subsist in the desert
that this would create. Yet, according to Shennan, this policy only served
to deeply shock contemporary opinion “which had not yet accepted the
idea of total war… His devastation of the Palatinate merely tightened the
noose by pulling his enemies closer together. They believed that the time
had finally come to put an end by joint action to Louis’s policy of
piecemeal aggression.”
THE NINE YEARS WAR, 1688-97
RESULTS OF THE WAR …. cont
-- The war saw several successes, but also set backs : The Grand Alliance of
Vienna was formed and included the Emperor, many German princes,
England, the Dutch Republic, Spain and Savoy, and in 1689 William of
Orange became King of England.
-- In 1690-92 the French achieved success in Flanders under Luxembourg.
Louis’ army continued to do well but there was no major and decisive
battle. In 1693 Louis joined his army for an attempt on Liege, but Louis
became ill and the plan was scrapped. Yet Luxembourg defeated William
at Neerwinden and captured Charleroi.
THE NINE YEARS WAR, 1688-97
RESULTS OF THE WAR …. cont
-- The war continued to see successes and setbacks for France.
-- However, the cost of the war was having a serious effect on the French
economy. The war proved so costly that a chastised Louis sought peace at
almost any price. France was hard hit by a trade recession and disastrous
harvests. Expenditure on the army was cut from 70m livres a year to 50m.
New ships could not be afforded for the navy.
-- France was faced with a formidable continental coalition. By 1690 she was
facing the Dutch, the Empire, Brandenburg, Spain, England, Bavaria and
Savoy.
-- Although Louis gained military victories, they were not decisive and the
perilous state of France necessitated peace. The winters of 1693 and 1694 had
been severe. The peasants were ruined by taxation. Louis was at his wit's end
as to how to finance further campaigns.
THE NINE YEARS WAR, 1688-97
RESULTS OF THE WAR …. cont
-- Shennan suggests various reasons for Louis’ desire for peace. He suggests that
Louis had come to appreciate the changed military situation, that he realised
the effect that the war was having upon the country’s population and
economy, “both ravaged by three successive bad harvests from 1691 and by
the savage winter of 1693-4.” However, there “was another reason for Louis’s
flexibility … and that was the long-standing problem of the Spanish
Succession was reaching a decisive stage.” It was clear that Charles II of
Spain was near death and would die childless and to make matters worse, the
original partition treaty signed by Louis and Leopold in 1668 had been
repudiated by the Emperor during the Dutch War. Charles’ death would create
a highly volatile state of affairs with conflict between the Bourbons and
Habsburgs over the Spanish empire.
THE NINE YEARS WAR, 1688-97
RESULTS OF THE WAR …. cont
-- Louis was so concerned that Habsburgs lands might be reunited under a
single ruler that he offered the Emperor a deal during the Nine Years War.
In return for the Emperor’s recognition of Louis’ control over the eastern
frontier of France and the permanent annexation of Lorraine, Louis would
renounce all Bourbon claims to the Spanish Succession, provided
Habsburg lands would not be united under one ruler. The rejection of this
plan convinced Louis that he needed to protect his frontier and reassert his
family’s claim to the Spanish inheritance.
-- The problem for Louis was that Spain was allied with the Emperor: Charles’
wife was the sister-in-law of the Emperor and there was strong support for
a Habsburg succession in Spain. If Charles died whilst the European
powers were united against France, there would be little prospect of the
Bourbons being successful in any claim.
THE NINE YEARS WAR, 1688-97
RESULTS OF THE WAR …. cont
-- On 20 September representatives of France, the United Provinces, England,
and Spain signed the Treaty of Ryswick, and the emperor accepted the
treaty on 30 October. Louis accepted the terms in order to present a more
moderate image, especially to Spain.
-- Louis had to hand back Luxembourg and certain other of the Reunions, yet
he kept Strasbourg and had a treaty guaranteeing his borders: above all he
regained peace.
THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION, 1701-14
CAUSES OF THE WAR
-- Louis was determined to have peace and to try to secure as much
land from the Spanish Empire as possible once Charles II of
Spain died. He wanted to avoid war.
-- There were 3 claimants to Charles’ throne as he had no children :
there was the son of Louis and Marie Theresa, who was
descended from Spanish princesses and Spanish custom allowed
succession through women where there was no son; then there
was the Archduke Charles of Austria, second son of the Emperor
and a grandson of Philip III of Spain.
-- If either was chosen it could lead to war, but there was a third
candidate : Joseph Ferdinand, the son of elector Maximilian
Emanuel of Bavaria, held a weaker but convenient claim.
THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION, 1701-14
CAUSES OF THE WAR….cont
-- To try to avoid a major European war, a partition treaty accepted by Louis XIV,
Leopold I, and William III would award Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, and
the colonies to the elector prince, while the Dauphin would receive Naples,
Sicily, and fortresses in Tuscany, with the Archduke getting Milan. Because
the Dauphin was in line for the French throne, his gains would merge with
France on his accession.
-- It looked as if the crisis was over and war avoided. The death of Joseph
Ferdinand early in 1699 however scuttled this settlement, and once more
Louis sought a peaceful accommodation. He and William agreed to reward
Archduke Charles all the inheritance earmarked for the electoral prince, while
the Dauphin would receive a far more modest share composed of the earlier
concessions meant for him plus Milan. Shennan points out : “A Habsburg
presence in the Spanish Netherlands was unwelcome to Louis though the
treaty stipulated that the Archduke’s portion could not be held by the Emperor
or his heir, the King of the Romans.”
THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION, 1701-14
CAUSES OF THE WAR….cont
-- This attempt at peace also failed : the Emperor Leopold refused to accept any
proposal that limited the claims of his son, Archduke Charles.
-- To make matters worse, King Charles II of Spain was furious that others were
planning to divide his empire after his death and was determined to prevent
this. He decided in 1700 to throw in his lot with the French, whom he
believed would be able to keep his empire intact. Yet he also did not want his
empire to be absorbed into the French Crown.
-- He decided to offer everything to Philip of Anjou, the second son of the
Dauphin. He thought that this man was very unlikely to ever be King of
France and so Spain would remain independent of the French Crown. The will
stipulated that if Philip of Anjou declined the inheritance, it would be offered
to his younger brother, the Duke of Berry. However, if both French princes
turned down the bequest, the rider would proceed to Vienna and promise
everything to Archduke Charles.
THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION, 1701-14
CAUSES OF THE WAR….cont
-- Louis met with his ministers to weigh the options. To accept the partition treaty
of 1699 would win peace with William, but Charles would still demand
everything, requiring Louis to fight a war with the Emperor. In this case, the
Emperor would have Spain as an ally, and the only spoils the Bourbons could
hope for would be in Italy. However, if Louis accepted the will, he would
have Spain as an ally and the entire inheritance could be secured for the
Bourbon family, although no lands would go directly to France in the future.
Not surprisingly, Louis opted to support the legitimate claims of his grandson.
-- Although this meant war with Austria, Louis’ actions led to the alienation of
England and the Dutch. He issued letters stating Philip’s right to ascend the
French throne, even though Philip was way down in the list. He then
infuriated William III by occupying the precious barrier fortresses with French
troops to secure them for Philip.
THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION, 1701-14
CAUSES OF THE WAR….cont
-- Louis then alienated England by securing the asiento, the right to supply slaves
to the Spanish colonies, for French traders, when English commercial interests
wanted it. Louis also insisted on recognising the son of James II as the rightful
king of England when the father died. William III responded by forming a
new coalition to oppose him.
THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION, 1701-14
RESULTS OF THE WAR
-- Between 1701 and 1708 Louis met with mixed results, but by 1708 he was
ready for peace.
-- In 1709 peace preliminaries were conducted with Louis offering great sacrifices
: key fortresses like Ypres, Tournai, Lille and Strasbourg. He was also
resigned to his grandson losing Spain. Shennan says : “His dream of a united
Bourbon bloc in Western Europe was shattered and his policy of building and
maintaining security on France’s most vulnerable frontiers, accomplished over
several generations, lay in ruins. If peace had been signed in 1709 Louis
XIV’s foreign policy would have ended in disaster and his reputation would
have been permanently tarnished. At this critical moment he was inadvertently
rescued by the intransigence of the Grand Alliance.”
THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION, 1701-14
RESULTS OF THE WAR…. cont
-- The Allies were unable to gain victory in Spain and insisted that Louis unite
with them against his grandson if Philip refused to accept the terms (clause 4).
What is more, clause 37 required Louis to hand over several frontier
fortresses. However, if the truce broke down, war would resume but the Allies
would have bases from which to attack France. As Shennan points out : “The
Allied demand was for nothing less than unconditional surrender on the part
of the Bourbons, with the additional implication that Louis should take up
arms against his own grandson … Louis could neither accept such an affront
to his family’s honour nor sacrifice his country’s security by making such
momentous concessions.” So negotiations failed and war resumed.
-- Louis appealed to his nation for support. He sent letters to his provincial
governors insisting that the excessive demands of his enemies were blocking
peace and threatening France’s security.
THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION, 1701-14
RESULTS OF THE WAR…. cont
-- The Treaty of Utrecht (1713-14) was more favourable than the preliminary
terms of 1709. Shennan concludes : “The crucial inner ring of fortresses on
the Netherlands frontier … which Louis had been resigned to losing in 1709,
remained French and so did Strasbourg and Alsace. The security of the
frontiers had not been destroyed, and though the Austrian Habsburgs
controlled the Southern Netherlands and much of Italy, Louis’s grandson
remained king of Spain and the Indies. In those areas which most concerned
him, the king had escaped from the war with far more success than he
deserved. In the area of international trade which interested him only
periodically … Louis fared badly. England’s colonial grip tightened on North
America and the West Indies and her navy controlled the Mediterranean. She
acquired the asiento which had fleetingly gone to France in 1701. Louis’s
perspective was, undoubtedly, predominantly continental and military. He
could not envisage the global struggles with England that lay ahead.”
France - inherited by Louis XIV
captured by 1659 - Dunkerque was taken from Spain
by Cromwell 1658, sold to France by Charles II in
1662.
captured by 1680
captured by 1680, given back 1713
1713 boundary of France
remaining under Spanish control
Spain recognised the independence of the northern
Low Countries as the Dutch Republic in 1648
WHAT DID LOUIS ACHIEVE?
•Clearly from Louis' point of view his reign saw creditable achievements. A
Bourbon was established on the throne of Spain. The Catholic religion was
practiced in Strasbourg and tolerated in Protestant Germany. While France had
been the sick man of Europe between 1559 and 1661, frequently exploited and
invaded, there had been no question of that during Louis' personal rule. Louis had
certainly made France more secure by the acquisition of territory and the
construction of fortresses -- he left a strong hand to his successors.
•However by the end of his reign he had been forced to return many acquisitions.
Louis' tactical insensitivity provoked the alliances against him, that first checked
and then defeated France. This alliance matched and ultimately surpassed French
military and naval resources. The stalemate of the 1690s reflected the fact that the
balance of power was shifting to France's disadvantage. In the war of the Spanish
succession it became clear that France's enemies had maintained their
improvement while France continued to deteriorate. Although France recovered
credibility between 1709 and 1713, the cost was horrendous. Furthermore, nothing
could conceal the impact of those defeats or the concessions which Louis had to
make in 1713.