In the seventeenth century, the Netherlands consisted of a jumbled collection of provinces. The Spanish Habsburg monarchy, which had previously ruled over all of the Netherlands before the Dutch rebellion that was successful in the sixteenth century, had control over the southern provinces (modern Belgium), which were known as the Southern Provinces. The northern region was known as the United Provinces and was governed by the Dutch. When King Louis XIV made the decision to forge a more secure northern border at the expense of the Spanish, who had long been France's adversaries, the southern provinces first piqued French interest. In 1667, Louis began the process of creating what he thought to be a natural northern border for France along the Scheldt River.
Louis asserted that the Netherlands were Maria Theresa's by birthright and that her inheritance should outweigh that of Philip's children from his second marriage. Although the assertion was exceedingly tenuous, nearly no one was in a position to refute it. On May 24, 1667, Louis entered the Spanish Netherlands with one of the greatest European armies ever, numbering about 120,000 soldiers. Early victories over the unprepared Spanish were successful for him. By October, Louis' general Turenne had taken control of the whole region after seizing a sizable number of towns and forts. After achieving such straightforward triumphs in the north, Louis went eastward in 1668 and took control of the Habsburg province of Franche-Comte, which is located on the Swiss border.
Louis spent the last several months of 1667 engaging in negotiations with potential adversaries, intimidating or buying many of them into submission or at least acquiescence. The majority of German princes took his bribes and avoided his military might. In January, he signed a secret agreement with Leopold, Holy Roman Emperor, in which Louis agreed to abdicate his claims to the West Indies, Milan, and Tuscany as well as the Spanish crown upon the impending death of Charles II. The Spanish Netherlands, Franche-Comte, Naples, Sicily, and Spanish territories in Africa and the Philippines would be given to Louis in exchange.
The War of Devolution, which is another name for the invasion Louis launched in the summer of 1667, was but a taster of the conflict that would follow. It demonstrated his proficiency in handling international diplomacy, and it was the first significant military operation in which he personally took part. These accomplishments increased his faith in his country and his subordinates, and they gave France a small province that served as a buffer against potential Austrian or Swiss invasion into northern France. The May 1668 peace treaty turned out to be nothing more than a cease-fire, and Louis again invaded the Netherlands in 1672.
Louis understood that in order to quickly seize control of the Spanish Netherlands, he would need to disarm the Dutch, who were wary of France because of its close proximity. Louis dismantled the Triple Alliance of Sweden, England, and Holland in the interim between the two wars. Sweden was readily persuaded to switch sides because it had long-standing, profitable business ties with France. Surprisingly, England proved to be virtually as simple. Even though the two countries had long been at war, England's King Charles II was a Catholic governing a kingdom that was largely Protestant, and he frequently clashed with Parliament. In addition to being a fellow Catholic and fellow monarch with greater authority in his own nation than Charles did in England, Louis offered moral assistance.
In March 1672, Britain went on the offensive and declared war on Holland. Louis quickly responded with an army that had been significantly bolstered since the end of the previous conflict. Louis possessed what appeared to be an unstoppable force, helped by the great general Turenne, who had trained Louis' army, and the renowned fortification engineer Vauban. When French soldiers invaded Holland, towns fell with remarkably little effort. The nation appeared defenseless in the face of the assault, and Louis alone managed to preserve it by forgoing Turenne's recommendation to head straight for Amsterdam in favor of laying siege to a number of forts that he could have easily avoided. The Dutch were rescued by the delay in attacking Amsterdam.
He signed separate peace treaties with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire after agreeing to terms of peace in Nijmegen, Holland, in 1678. Even though he had to give up a lot of Dutch cities, he managed to gain a lot more in the Spanish Netherlands and had a line of fortresses encircling his northern border from Dunkirk to the Meuse River. The two wars with the Netherlands had brought France to the pinnacle of its supremacy, which it would not regain until the reign of Napoleon. Although the financial expense had caused some domestic unrest, Louis' accomplishment cemented his position as an absolute monarch. Additionally, it stoked his desire for greater glory and safer boundaries, both of which he pursued in subsequent conflicts.
References:
Hassall, Arthur, Louis XIV and the Zenith of
French Monarchy (Freeport, NY: Books for
Libraries, 1972 [1895]); Israel, Jonathan, The
Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness and Fall,
1477–1806 (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1995); Sonino, Paul, Louis XIV and the Origins of
the Dutch War (New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1988).
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