Editing Louis XIV (section)

===Relations with the Dutch===
[[File:Louis XIV crosses the Rhine at Lobith - Lodewijk XIV trekt bij het Tolhuis bij Lobith de Rijn over, 12 juni 1672 (Adam Frans van der Meulen).jpg|thumb|right|250px|The [[Battle of Tolhuis]], Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV crosses the [[Lower Rhine]] at Lobith on 12 June 1672; [[Rijksmuseum|Rijksmuseum Amsterdam]]]]
During the [[Eighty Years' War]] with [[Habsburg Spain|Spain]], France supported the [[Dutch Republic]] as part of a general policy of opposing Habsburg power. [[Johan de Witt]], Dutch [[Grand Pensionary]] from 1653 to 1672, viewed this as crucial for Dutch security and a counterweight against his domestic [[Prince of Orange|Orangist]] opponents. Louis provided support in the 1665-1667 [[Second Anglo-Dutch War]] but used the opportunity to launch the [[War of Devolution]] in 1667. This captured [[Franche-Comté]] and much of the [[Spanish Netherlands]]; French expansion in this area was a direct threat to Dutch economic interests.{{Sfn|Israel|1990|pp=197–199}}

The Dutch opened talks with [[Charles&nbsp;II of England]] on a common diplomatic front against France, leading to the [[Triple Alliance (1668)|Triple Alliance]], between England, the Dutch and [[Swedish Empire|Sweden]]. The threat of an escalation and a secret treaty to divide Spanish possessions with [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Leopold]], the other major claimant to the throne of Spain, led Louis to relinquish many of his gains in the 1668 [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668)|Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle]].{{Sfn|Hutton|1986|pp=299–300}}

Louis placed little reliance on his agreement with [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold]] and as it was now clear French and Dutch aims were in direct conflict, he decided to first defeat the [[Dutch Republic|Republic]], then seize the Spanish Netherlands. This required breaking up the Triple Alliance; he paid Sweden to remain neutral and signed the 1670 [[Secret Treaty of Dover]] with Charles, an Anglo-French alliance against the Dutch Republic. In May 1672, France invaded the [[Dutch Republic|Republic]], supported by [[Prince-Bishopric of Münster|Münster]] and the [[Electorate of Cologne]].{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|pp=109-110}}
[[File:Louis XIV, King of France, after Lefebvre - Les collections du château de Versailles.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV, 1670, by [[Claude Lefèbvre]]]]
Rapid French advance led to a coup that toppled De Witt and brought [[William III of England|William&nbsp;III]] to power. [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold]] viewed French expansion into the Rhineland as an increasing threat, especially after they seized the strategic [[Duchy of Lorraine]] in 1670. The prospect of Dutch defeat led Leopold to an alliance with [[Brandenburg-Prussia]] on 23 June, followed by another with the Republic on 25th.{{Sfn|McKay|1997|p=206}} Although Brandenburg was forced out of the war by the June 1673 [[Treaty of Vossem (1673)|Treaty of Vossem]], in August an anti-French alliance was formed by the Dutch, [[Spanish Empire|Spain]], Emperor Leopold and the [[Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine|Duke of Lorraine]].{{Sfn|Young|2004|p=133}}

The French alliance was deeply unpopular in England, and only more so after the [[Third Anglo-Dutch War|disappointing battles]] against [[Michiel de Ruyter]]'s fleet. Charles{{Nbsp}}II of England made peace with the Dutch in the February 1674 [[Treaty of Westminster (1674)|Treaty of Westminster]]. However, French armies held significant advantages over their opponents; an undivided command, talented generals like [[Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne|Turenne]], [[Louis, Grand Condé|Condé]] and [[François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg|Luxembourg]] and vastly superior logistics. Reforms introduced by [[François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois|Louvois]], the [[Secretary of War]], helped maintain large field armies that could be mobilised much more quickly, allowing them to mount offensives in early spring before their opponents were ready.{{Sfn|Black|2011|pp=97-99}}

The French were nevertheless forced to retreat from most of the Dutch Republic, which deeply shocked Louis; he retreated to [[Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye|St Germain]] for a time, where no one, except a few intimates, was allowed to disturb him.{{Sfn|Panhuysen|2009|pp=396–398}} French military advantages allowed them however to hold their ground in Alsace and the Spanish Netherlands while retaking Franche-Comté. By 1678, mutual exhaustion led to the [[Treaty of Nijmegen]], which was generally settled in France's favour and allowed Louis to intervene in the [[Scanian War]]. Despite the military defeat, his ally Sweden regained much of what it had lost under the 1679 treaties of [[Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679)|Saint-Germain-en-Laye]], [[Treaty of Fontainebleau (1679)|Fontainebleau]] and [[Peace of Lund|Lund]] imposed on [[Denmark–Norway]] and Brandenburg.{{Sfn|Frost|2000|p=213}} Yet Louis's two primary goals, the destruction of the Dutch Republic and the conquest of the Spanish Netherlands, had failed.{{Sfn|Panhuysen|2009|pp=451}}

Louis was at the height of his power, but at the cost of uniting his opponents; this increased as he continued his expansion. In 1679, he dismissed his foreign minister [[Simon Arnauld, marquis de Pomponne]], because he was seen as having compromised too much with the allies. Louis maintained the strength of his army, but in his next series of territorial claims avoided using military force alone. Rather, he combined it with legal pretexts in his efforts to augment the boundaries of his kingdom. Contemporary treaties were intentionally phrased ambiguously. Louis established the [[Chambers of Reunion]] to determine the full extent of his rights and obligations under those treaties.

{{Coin image box 1 double
|header        = Silver coin of Louis XIV, dated 1674
|image         = File:Louis XIV Coin.jpg
|caption_left  = Obverse. The Latin inscription is <small>''LVDOVICVS XIIII D[EI] GRA[TIA]''</small> ("Louis XIV, by the grace of God").
|caption_right = Reverse. The Latin inscription is <small>''FRAN[CIÆ] ET NAVARRÆ REX 1674''</small> ("King of France and of Navarre, 1674").
|width         = 250
|position      = right
|margin        = 0
}}

Cities and territories, such as [[Luxembourg]] and [[Casale Monferrato|Casale]], were prized for their strategic positions on the frontier and access to important waterways. Louis also sought [[Strasbourg]]<!-- Please do not uncomment unless consensus has been reached! ({{Langx|de|Strassburg|links=no}})-->, an important strategic crossing on the left bank of the Rhine and theretofore a Free Imperial City of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], annexing it and other territories in 1681. Although a part of Alsace, Strasbourg was not part of Habsburg-ruled Alsace and was thus not ceded to France in the Peace of Westphalia.

Following these annexations, Spain declared war, precipitating the [[War of the Reunions]]. However, the Spanish were rapidly defeated because the Emperor (distracted by the [[Great Turkish War]]) abandoned them, and the Dutch only supported them minimally. By the [[Truce of Ratisbon]], in 1684, Spain was forced to acquiesce in the French occupation of most of the conquered territories, for 20 years.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lynn|1999|pp=161–171}}.</ref>

Louis's policy of the ''Réunions'' may have raised France to its greatest size and power during his reign, but it alienated much of Europe. This poor public opinion was compounded by French actions off the Barbary Coast and at Genoa. First, Louis had [[Algiers]] and [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]], two Barbary pirate strongholds, bombarded to obtain a favourable treaty and the liberation of Christian slaves. Next, in 1684, a [[bombardment of Genoa|punitive mission]] was launched against [[Genoa]] in retaliation for its support for Spain in previous wars. Although the Genoese submitted, and the [[Doge of Genoa|Doge]] led an official mission of apology to Versailles, France gained a reputation for brutality and arrogance. European apprehension at growing French might and the realisation of the extent of the [[dragonnades]]' effect (discussed below) led many states to abandon their alliances with France.{{Sfn|Merriman|2019|p=319}} Accordingly, by the late 1680s, France became increasingly isolated in Europe.