Editing Peace of Ryswick (section)

==Background==
[[File:Charles II of Spain anonymous portrait.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.75|[[Charles II of Spain|Charles II]] (1665–1700); his inheritance overshadowed negotiations.]]
The [[Nine Years' War]] was financially crippling for its participants, partly because armies increased in size from an average of 25,000 in 1648 to over 100,000 by 1697. This was unsustainable for pre-industrial economies; the war absorbed 80% of English state revenue in the period, while the huge manpower commitments badly affected the economy.{{sfn|Childs|1991|p=1}}

The 1690s also marked the coldest point of the so-called [[Little Ice Age]], a period of cold and wet weather affecting Europe in the second half of the 17th century. Harvests failed throughout Europe in 1695, 1696, 1698 and 1699; in Scotland and parts of Northern Europe, an estimated 5–15% of the population starved to death.{{sfn|White|2011|pp=542–543}}

Although fighting largely ended in Europe after 1695, the subsidiary conflict known as [[King William's War]] continued in the Americas. A French fleet arrived in the [[Caribbean]] in early 1697, threatening the [[Spanish treasure fleet]], and English possessions in the [[West Indies]].{{sfn|Morgan|1931|p=243}} England occupied the French colony of [[Acadia]], while the French repulsed attacks on [[Quebec]], captured [[York Factory]], and caused substantial damage to the [[Thirteen Colonies|New England]] economy.{{sfn|Grenier|2015}}