History 240
The
Wars of Louis XIV
Objectives
Identify the sources of French power.
Assess Louis XIVs war aims.
Identify the consequences of these wars for France and
the rest of Europe.
Sources of French Power
France was the most powerful state in Europe
because:
Population of 18-19
million larger than any other and 3 times that of Spain and England.
Rich in agricultural
resources.
Colbert managed economy
to ensure expansion of industrial and commercial enterprises and most efficient
system of taxation.
Large standing army.
Peacetime 72,000-200,000; wartime 500,000. Tightly controlled by bureaucracy.
Sources of French Power
Policy of naval
expansion: merchant marine, colonization, and commercial aggression.
Best organized and
extensive diplomatic service. Foreign princes on his payroll.
Louis XIVs interests
and the states were the same. Determined to defend the honour of France and to
seek military glory.
Louis XIVs War Aims
Safer frontiers for France.
France to be the strongest power in Europe.
Economic expansion.
Defence of existing treaties against Spain and Austria.
Pursuit of the Spanish Empire.
Employment for discontented nobles.
Was Louis XIV an Aspiring Imperial Conqueror?
British tried to convince
everyone that Louis XIV was threatening to take over Europe.
British historians have
tried to dress up Louis XIV like Napoleon, Wilhelm II or Hitler.
Traditional role for the
British to reestablish the balance of power.
Do the facts bare this
out?
The Wars of Louis XIV
The War of Devolution
1667-8
The Franco-Dutch War
1672-9
The Nine Years War
1688-97
The War of the Spanish
Succession 1702-14
The War of Devolution 1667-68
Breaking out of the
Burgundian Circle.
Death of Philip IV of
Spain opportunity to claim Burgundian territory in the name of Louis XIVs
wife.
Isolated Spain by
treaties with England and Holland.
French forces easily
defeated Spanish forces in the Netherlands.
England and Holland
signed Triple Alliance with Sweden to stop Louis taking all of the Netherlands.
The War of Devolution 1667-68
Louis wished to avoid
war with England and Holland.
Treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle 1668 gave Louis an enclave in Spanish Netherlands.
He could have held out
for more acted reasonably almost generously.
Biding his time until
anti-French alliance dissolved.
Secret partition treaty
with Austria over Spanish Empire anticipating the death of Charles II, a
weakling and an imbecile expected to die soon.
The Franco-Dutch War 1672-79
Punish the Dutch for
joining the Triple Alliance and cripple them economically.
Bought the neutrality of
potential Dutch allies: England, Bavaria, Sweden, Austria.
Attacked Southern
Netherlands through Germany; Amsterdam saved by opening the dykes.
Dutch military failure
brought to power the Francophobe William III.
Speed of French advance
alarmed Austria and German Princes the did not want the Dutch destroyed.
The Franco-Dutch War 1672-79
Anti-French alliance:
Austria, Spain, Lorraine and Prussia; Sweden at war with Denmark and Prussia.
After a brief war in
Spain, Italy, Mediterranean, West Indies and Far East, Louis agreed to
negotiate.
Treaty of Nijmegen:
France exchanges territory with Spain in the Netherlands and Lorraine for
territory across the Rhine. French boundaries more defensible.
High point in French
foreign policy Louis XIV got what he wanted and Europe was disunited.
Nine Years War 1688-97
In peacetime, Louis
XIVs troops invade border territories: 1684 destroyed most of Genoa; 1684-8
tried to exert control over Palatine and Cologne.
Leopold I of Austria
enjoyed success against the Turks and formed an anti-French alliance with
Spain, Sweden and German Princes.
A French war against
Austria on the Rhine would assist the Turks: Louis invaded Palatine in 1688.
War in the Palatine left
him powerless to prevent William III invasion of England and claiming the
throne, thereby controlling England and Holland.
Course of the Nine Years War 1688-97
French land James II in
Ireland, but was defeated by William III.
Louis took new
territories in the Sp. Netherlands.
Louis conquered Nice and
Savoy but gave it back when Duke of Savoy changed sides.
French forces captured
Barcelona in Spain.
France fought English in
America and Dutch in India.
Louis was winning, but
forced to make peace in 1697: treasury exhausted and French people suffering
from over taxation and bad harvests.
Peace of Ryswick 1697
Louis returned all
conquests except Strasbourg and renounced claim to Palatine.
Louis recognized William
III as King of England and allowed Dutch to fortify barrier fortresses in the
Spanish Netherlands.
Generosity was
strategic: focused upon Spanish inheritance upon death of Charles II.
War of the Spanish Succession 1702-14
Louis XIV had agreed to
partition the Spanish Empire to avoid it all going to Austria: negotiated
treaties with England and Holland.
Charles II of Spain
wanted the Empire to remain intact: in his will he named Philip of Anjou,
Louiss grandson, as sole heir.
On Charless death in
1700, Louis XIV renounced the treaties and accepted the terms of the will; he
also recognized the son of James II as King of England.
William III built a
strong anti-French Coalition.
Theatres of War: Italy
French capture Milan and provoke Austrians.
Duke of Savoy switched sides and drove French out of
Italy by 1707.
Theatres of War: Germany
French and Bavarians
threaten to attack Vienna.
English and allied
forces under John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, (1650-1722) defeat French and
Bavarians at Blenheim 1704.
French troops remain on defensive
for rest of war.
Theatres of War: Spanish Netherlands
French forces make early
gains.
Marlborough drives
French back across the border. Could have marched on Paris but were suffering
from exhaustion.
Theatres of War: Spain
Allies fail to oust Philip
V.
Castillian people and
French army powerfully supported him.
Leopold of Austrias son
Charles proclaimed King by Philips enemies.
British break
Portuguese-French alliance and capture Gibraltar and Minorca, but cannot defeat
PhilipV.
Peace Negotiations
Louis XIV willing to end
war in 1709 bankrupt and savage winter.
He offered reasonable,
almost humiliating terms:
Philip V to give up
Spain for Naples and Sicily;
Louis surrender Alsace
and Franche Comtι status quo at 1648.
Dutch to have border fortresses
in Spanish Netherlands
Louis recognize the
Hanoverian Succession in Great Britain.
Allies refused
demanded Louis send an army to Spain against his grandson.
The End of the War
New British Government favoured peace.
Leopold of Austria died and was succeeded by Charles,
Philip Vs rival for the throne of Spain.
Prospect of Austrian and Spanish Crowns uniting again
was worse that having Louis XIVs grandson King of Spain.
Treaties of Utrecht 1713-14
Philip kept Spain and
Spanish America but renounced Crown of France.
Charles of Austria
received Milan, Naples, Sardinia and Spanish Netherlands.
Savoy received Sicily
and return of French conquests in Nice and Savoy.
France kept Strasbourg,
Alsace, Franche Comtι but gave up possessions east of the Rhine.
Britain received
Gibraltar, Minorca, and secured Hudsons Bay, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.
Dutch received rights to
garrison fortresses.
Louis XIVs Military Legacy
A more secure border on
north-east and a relative on the throne of Spain.
France became the most
powerful state in Europe.
On surface seemed
powerful, but underneath his position was weak.
Successes and failures.
Last years: military
failure, royal finances, commercial stagnation and poor harvests. Heirs died.
Was Louis XIV an Aspiring Imperial Conqueror?
His foreign policy was
pragmatic: less focused on glory than practical objectives - defensible
borders.
His territorial demands
were never large: no comparison with Napoleon or Frederick the Great.
Did not enter war for
six years after taking control of government; left the fighting to his
generals.
Moderate the more one
loves glory, the more one ought to be sure to achieve it safely.
He avoided risks; preferred
to win without battle: exhaustion wars of attrition like chess.
Threat to Belgium not
of European dominion.
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