Editing Prince Eugene of Savoy (section)

==== Blenheim ====
[[File:The Duke of Marlborough greeting Prince Eugene of Savoy after their victory at Blenheim.jpg|thumb|300px|''The Duke of Marlborough greeting Prince Eugene of Savoy mounted after their victory at Blenheim'' by [[Robert Alexander Hillingford]].]]

Dissension between Villars and the Elector of Bavaria had prevented an assault on Vienna in 1703, but in the Courts of [[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]] and [[Madrid]], ministers confidently anticipated the city's fall.{{sfn | Chandler | 1989 | p=124}} The Imperial ambassador in London, [[John Wenceslau Wratislaw von Mitrowitz|Count Wratislaw]], had pressed for Anglo-Dutch assistance on the Danube as early as February 1703, but the crisis in southern Europe seemed remote from the [[Court of St. James's]] where colonial and commercial considerations were more to the fore of men's minds.{{sfn | Chandler | 1989 | p=125}} Only a handful of statesmen in England or the Dutch Republic realized the true implications of Austria's peril; foremost among these was the English Captain-General, the [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough|Duke of Marlborough]].{{sfn | Chandler | 1989 | p=126}}

By early 1704 Marlborough had resolved to march south and rescue the situation in southern Germany and on the Danube, personally requesting the presence of Eugene on campaign so as to have "a supporter of his zeal and experience".{{sfn | Churchill | 1933 | p=731}} The Allied commanders met for the first time at the small village of [[Mundelsheim]] on 10 June, and immediately formed a close rapport—the two men becoming, in the words of [[Thomas Lediard]], 'Twin constellations in glory'.<ref>Lediard: ''The Life of John, Duke of Marlborough'', I, p. 199</ref> This professional and personal bond ensured mutual support on the battlefield, enabling many successes during the Spanish Succession war. The first of these victories, and the most celebrated, came on 13 August 1704 at the [[Battle of Blenheim]]. Eugene commanded the right wing of the Allied army, holding the Elector of Bavaria's and [[Ferdinand de Marsin|Marshal Marsin]]'s superior forces, while Marlborough broke through the [[Camille d'Hostun, duc de Tallard|Marshal Tallard]]'s center, inflicting over 30,000 casualties. The battle proved decisive: Vienna was saved and Bavaria was knocked out of the war. Both Allied commanders were full of praise for each other's performance. Eugene's holding operation, and his pressure for action leading up to the battle, proved crucial for the Allied success.{{sfn | McKay | Baker | von Savoyen | 1977 | p=87}}

In Europe Blenheim is regarded as much a victory for Eugene as it is for Marlborough, a sentiment echoed by Sir [[Winston Churchill]] (Marlborough's descendant and biographer), who pays tribute to "the glory of Prince Eugene, whose fire and spirit had exhorted the wonderful exertions of his troops."{{sfn | Churchill | 1933 | p=865}} France now faced the real danger of invasion, but Leopold I in Vienna was still under severe strain: [[Francis II Rákóczi|Rákóczi]]'s [[Rákóczi's War of Independence|revolt]] was a major threat; and Guido Starhemberg and Victor Amadeus (who had once again switched loyalties and rejoined the Grand Alliance in 1703) had been unable to halt the French under Vendôme in northern Italy. Only Amadeus' capital, [[Turin]], held on.