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WAR OF THE GRAND ALLIANCE
1689 - 1697
The War of the Grand Alliance was also called the War of the
League of Augsburg.
WHO FOUGHT THE
WAR OF THE GRAND ALLIANCE?
French
Louis XIV took on
the Grand Alliance, which was England, the Netherlands, the Holy
Roman Empire, and other European powers.
Why would Louis do that?
Because ...
The Spanish throne was nearly ready for
a new occupant and it was predicable that the French Bourbons
and the German
Habsburgs would fight over it. Louis wanted to have all his
ducks in a row when it came to it. Thus he tried to tie as many
people as possible to his cause before the big blow.
Holy Roman emperor
Leopold I had
eyes in his head and knew what Louis was up to. Leopold counteracted
by forming the
League of Augsburg.
The date? July 9, 1686. Among others, the members of the League of
Augsburg were Bavaria, Saxony, the Palatinate, Sweden, and Spain.
In 1689, a new pact was formed, the
Grand Alliance. New members of the
coalition were England and the Netherlands. Brandenburg, Hanover, Saxony,
Bavaria, and Spain signed up as well.
WHERE WAS THE WAR OF
THE GRAND ALLIANCE FOUGHT?
Primary battlegrounds were
the Low Countries, Italy, and Spain. But the war reached also the
Americas, India, and Africa.
The North American part of this war is
called King William's War, or First French and Indian War.
Here is more about the French
and Indian Wars.
Naturally, Louis XIV welcomed any event
that would potentially distract his enemies. So he supported the
Jacobite Rebellion in Ireland
against English William III.
WHAT ENDED THE WAR OF
THE GRAND ALLIANCE?
The
Treaty of Rijswijk
in 1697 ended the war.
However, core issue of the War of the
Grand Alliance, i.e. the problem of the Spanish heir, was back on
the table a few years later as the
War of the Spanish
Succession.
THE BATTLES OF
THE WAR OF
THE GRAND ALLIANCE
Battle of Fleurus
July 1,
1690 - French
victory
Battle of Beachy Head
1690 - French victory
Battle of Staffarda
1690 - French victory
Battle of Mons
April 1691 - French victory
Siege of Namur
May - July
1692 - The French took the city
Naval battle of La Hougue (also
spelled Battle of La Hogue)
May 1692 -
Victory for the Grand Alliance
Battle of Steinkirk (also spelled
Battle of Steenkerke)
August 3, 1692 - French victory
Battle of Marsaglia
1693 - French victory
Battle of Neerwinden
July 29, 1693 - French victory
Siege of Namur
1695
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