The Wars of the League of Augsburg launched a global conflict involving a coalition of European powers against France. The wars produced little territorial change and failed to resolve major issues that were revisited in subsequent wars.
The Wars of the League of Augsburg is also known as the Nine Years’ War and, in North America, King William’s War. It involved a coalition of European powers—the League of Augsburg
Several issues brought the major powers into conflict, including the French desire for territory and influence within the Holy Roman Empire, Leopold I’s goal of maintaining control in the empire and securing territory from the Spanish Succession, and William III wanting to protect the Netherlands and prevent French hegemony in western Europe.
This war was the first in a series of global conflicts between the European powers who attacked each other’s colonies in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and North America in addition to action in the British Isles and western Europe. The Treaties of Nijmegen (1678-1679)
Such aggressive actions caused Leopold I and German princes to form the League of Augsburg in 1686 to uphold the territorial arrangements of the Peace of Westphalia (1648) and Treaties of Nijmegen and to provide a quota of troops. Although religious factors were not as important as they were in the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), Louis XIV’s
The military action began in September, 1688, when the French army attacked Philippsburg in the Palatinate of the empire to try to make the Peace of Ratisbon a treaty and force the emperor to accept it within three months and to influence the election of the archbishop of Cologne. Louis XIV sought to retain influence within the empire. The movement of the French army away from the Netherlands allowed William of Orange to launch his invasion of England, which initiated the Glorious Revolution. William sought to gain the English throne to use England’s military resources against the French. James II was overthrown by William, who was his son-in-law, and by Mary II
James II
William III formally declared war on Louis XIV in May, 1689, and the Grand (Triple) Alliance
France had scored a major naval victory over an Anglo-Dutch fleet at Beachy Head (July, 1690)
In northern Italy, the French invasion of Savoy caused the duke of Savoy-Piedmont, Victor Amadeus II
In fighting outside Europe, the Dutch captured Pondicherry in India in September, 1693. Along the African coast, France regained Gorée and the River Senegal. Military action in the Caribbean was inconclusive, as the French repulsed English attempts to capture French possessions. In North America, the French and English raided each other’s colonies and were supported by their American Indian allies, thus establishing a pattern for subsequent Anglo-French conflicts.
In 1695, Louis XIV began to negotiate with the allies separately, hoping to break up the Grand Alliance. Several factors led to the Treaty of Ryswick,
In September of 1697, the English, Dutch, and other powers came to terms with the French; Leopold I and Louis XIV concluded their agreement in October, 1697. The major provisions involved French evacuation of Catalonia; French retention of forts seized from Spain, including Luxembourg; French abandonment of territory seized east of the Moselle River; French retention of Alsace, including Strasbourg; and France yielding in the disputes over Cologne and the Palatinate. Lorraine was restored to its duke, and Louis XIV recognized William III as king of England but refused to expel James II from France as William III demanded.
The Dutch gained an extensive commercial treaty with France. In North America, conquests were restored to the original “owners,” and the question of control of Hudson Bay in Canada was referred to a group of commissioners.
The extensive peace terms produced no great advantages for any country, although recognition of William III allowed England to emerge as a major power, as did Leopold I’s Austria. Tensions elsewhere in Europe erupted into major wars within a few years: the Great Northern War (1700-1721)
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citation-type="booksimple" xlink:type="simple">Baxter, Stephen B. William III and the Defense of European Liberty, 1650-1702. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966. Baxter covers the lifelong struggle of William of Orange against French aggression, highlights William’s plans for the invasion of England, and examines William’s military actions in the war. -
citation-type="booksimple" xlink:type="simple">Black, Jeremy. European Warfare, 1660-1815. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1994. The author, who has published extensively on military and diplomatic history, places this struggle within a broader chronological context and describes weaponry, tactics, and strategy. -
citation-type="booksimple" xlink:type="simple">Childs, John. The Nine Years’ War and the British Army, 1688-1697: The Operations in the Low Countries. New York: Manchester University Press, 1991. In addition to discussing the political and diplomatic context of the war, Childs provides a detailed account of British and allied war efforts in the Netherlands. -
citation-type="booksimple" xlink:type="simple">Rose, Craig. England in the 1690’: Revolution, Religion, and War. Oxford, England: Blackwell, 1999. Rose describes how the war transformed England by uniting rival Whigs and Tories against a common enemy, accustoming the country to new levels of taxation and returning the country to the larger arena of European affairs. -
citation-type="booksimple" xlink:type="simple">Spielman, John P. Leopold I of Austria. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1977. This biography of one of the main protagonists in the war examines Leopold’s policy and military actions in western Europe and his protracted struggles in eastern Europe. -
citation-type="booksimple" xlink:type="simple">Symcox, Geoffrey. Victor Amadeus II: Absolutism in the Savoyard State, 1675-1730. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983. Symcox focuses on the implications of the war for southern Europe and Savoy’s struggles against the French, an often neglected aspect of other studies. -
citation-type="booksimple" xlink:type="simple">Troost, Wouter. William III, the Stadholder-King: A Political Biography. Translated by J. C. Grayson. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2004. A comprehensive biography by a Dutch historian that includes information about the war and the formation of the Grand Alliance. -
citation-type="booksimple" xlink:type="simple">Wolf, John B. Louis XIV. New York: W. W. Norton, 1968. This excellent biography analyzes Louis XIV’s foreign and military policy prior to and during the war.
European Powers Vie for Control of Gorée
Revolt of the Catalans
Peace of Westphalia
Treaty of the Pyrenees
British Conquest of New Netherland
War of Devolution
Triple Alliance Forms
French-Dutch War
Treaties of Nijmegen
Louis XIV Revokes the Edict of Nantes
Reign of William and Mary
The Glorious Revolution
Bank of England Is Chartered
Treaty of Ryswick
Charles II (of Spain); James II; Leopold I; Louis XIV; Mary II; William III.