War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

Voltaire on Louis XIV[It is certain that he passionately wanted glory, rather than the conquests themselves. In the acquisition of Alsace and  half of Flanders, and of all of Franche-Comté, what he really liked was the name he made for himself].

War of Louis XIVWar 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.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

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.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

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.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

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.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

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 écus) - an undertaking Spain failed to fulfill.

War of Louis XIVWar 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.

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.

War of Louis XIVWar 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.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

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).

War of Louis XIVWar 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-Comté.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

Louis did not reduce his troop strength after the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, but increased it.

Louis was allied with the British against the Dutch.

By 1672, the French army numbered almost 120,000 men - 8,000 household troops, 86,000 infantry and 25,000 cavalry.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

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, Münster, Cologne and Hanover).

Louis saw the Dutch both as obstacles to French expansion into the Spanish Netherlands and as trading rivals.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

William of Orange organized an alliance against Louis XIV.

Lewis was viewed as a Christian Turk; The Peace of Nijmwegen in 1678-1679

ends hostilities briefly.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

Louis XIV makes a huge mistake by revoking the Edict of Nantes. By hounding the Huguenots out of public life ending of from office excluding them from jobs.

He ended up creating far more enemies by appearing to be the bully of Catholicism in Western Europe.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

Protestant churches are closed. Ministers exile. Ministers are used as slaves, and Protestant children are baptized by Catholic priests.

Once the Edict was revoked Protestant emigrated from France and join the resistance in neighboring countries.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

By 1689 alliances against France, including England’s Spain’s Sweden and the United provinces.

Post 1688 – Get it?The nine years war was a battle between

France and the alliance listed above.The Peace of Ryswick was a victory for

William of Orange and a defeat for Louis XIV.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

Charles II of Spain dies in 1700. This continues to encourage Louis XIV to make a claim to the Spanish inheritance.

Both Lewis and Leopold (Habsburg) and claims to the Spanish throne.

Lewis feared that should that Habsburgs gained control Spain, they would gain control of all of Europe.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

Meanwhile the rest of Europe feared the same of France.

Charles II had actually left his entire inheritance Phillip of Anjou, which immediately placed all Spanish possessions and Frances hands

Charles has his grandson Philip Madrid to be declared Philip the fifth of Spain.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

In September of 1701, the Grand Alliance of England Holland and Holy Roman Empire qualm against Louis XIV

Louis XIV increased animosity against the Grand Alliance by recognizing the fact that the son of James II of England was the real ruler of the English throne, not William of Orange.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

This is the so-called war of the Spanish Succession – 1701 – 1714.

This was the first time France had gone to war, prepared inadequately.

It proved to be a catastrophic mistake Louis XIV. By 1713 France had signed an armistice with England.

War of Louis XIVWar of Louis XIV

Ultimately, Louis XIV would not achieve his territorial goals.

France would have to wait for the conquest of Napoleon which you any similar successes