Editing Louis XIV (section)

==Nine Years' War==
{{Main|Nine Years' War}}

===Causes and conduct of the war===
[[File:Batalla de Fleurus (1690).jpg|thumb|[[Battle of Fleurus (1690)|Battle of Fleurus]], 1690]]
[[File:Nocret, attributed to - Louis XIV of France - Versailles, MV2066.jpg|thumb|Louis in 1690]]

The [[Nine Years' War]], which lasted from 1688 to 1697, initiated a period of decline in Louis's political and diplomatic fortunes. It arose from two events in the [[Rhineland]]. First, in 1685, the [[Elector Palatine]] [[Charles II, Elector Palatine|Charles&nbsp;II]] died. All that remained of his immediate family was Louis's sister-in-law, [[Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate|Elizabeth Charlotte]]. German law ostensibly barred her from succeeding to her brother's lands and electoral dignity, but it was unclear enough for arguments in favour of Elizabeth Charlotte to have a chance of success. Conversely, the princess was demonstrably entitled to a division of the family's personal property. Louis pressed her claims to land and chattels, hoping the latter, at least, would be given to her.{{Sfn|Durant|Durant|1963|p=691}} Then, in 1688, [[Maximilian Henry of Bavaria]], [[Archbishop of Cologne]], an ally of France, died. The archbishopric had traditionally been held by the [[Wittelsbach]]s of [[Bavaria]], but the Bavarian claimant to replace Maximilian Henry, Prince [[Joseph Clemens of Bavaria]], was at that time not more than 17 years old and not even ordained. Louis sought instead to install his own candidate, [[Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg]], to ensure the key Rhenish state remained an ally.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p=192}}

In light of his foreign and domestic policies during the early 1680s, which were perceived as aggressive, Louis's actions, fostered by the succession crises of the late 1680s, created concern and alarm in much of Europe. This led to the formation of the 1686 [[Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg)|League of Augsburg]] by the Holy Roman Emperor, Spain, Sweden, [[Saxony]], and Bavaria. Their stated intention was to return France to at least the borders agreed to in the Treaty of Nijmegen.{{Sfn|Dunlop|2000|p=313}} Emperor Leopold{{Nbsp}}I's persistent refusal to convert the Truce of Ratisbon into a permanent treaty fed Louis's fears that the Emperor would turn on France and attack the Reunions after settling his affairs in the Balkans.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|pp=189–191}}

Another event Louis found threatening was England's [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688. Although King [[James II of England|James&nbsp;II]] was Catholic, his two [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] daughters, [[Mary II of England|Mary]] and [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Anne]], ensured the English people a Protestant succession. But when James{{Nbsp}}II's son [[James Francis Edward Stuart]] was born, he took precedence in succession over his sisters. This seemed to herald an era of Catholic monarchs in England. Protestant lords called on the Dutch Prince [[William III of England|William&nbsp;III of Orange]], grandson of [[Charles&nbsp;I of England]], to come to their aid. He sailed for England with troops despite Louis's warning that France would regard it as a provocation. Witnessing numerous desertions and defections, even among those closest to him, James{{Nbsp}}II fled England. Parliament declared the throne vacant, and offered it to James's daughter Mary{{Nbsp}}II and his son-in-law and nephew William. Vehemently anti-French, William (now William{{Nbsp}}III of England) pushed his new kingdoms into war, thus transforming the League of Augsburg into the [[Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg)|Grand Alliance]]. Before this happened, Louis expected William's expedition to England to absorb his energies and those of his allies, so he dispatched troops to the Rhineland after the expiry of his ultimatum to the German princes requiring confirmation of the Truce of Ratisbon and acceptance of his demands about the succession crises. This military manoeuvre was also intended to protect his eastern provinces from Imperial invasion by depriving the enemy army of sustenance, thus explaining the preemptive [[scorched earth]] policy pursued in much of southwestern Germany (the "Devastation of the Palatinate").<ref>{{Harvnb|Lynn|1999|pp=192–193}}.</ref>

[[File:Equestrian portrait louis xiv 1692.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV at the [[Siege of Namur (1692)|siege of Namur]] (1692)]]

French armies were generally victorious throughout the war because of Imperial commitments in the Balkans, French logistical superiority, and the quality of French generals such as Condé's famous pupil, [[François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg]].{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p={{Page needed|date=July 2017}}}} He triumphed at the Battles of [[Battle of Fleurus (1690)|Fleurus]] in 1690, [[Battle of Steenkerque|Steenkerque]] in 1692, and [[Battle of Landen|Landen]] in 1693, although, the battles proved to be of little of strategic consequence,{{Sfn|Wijn|1950|pp=28, 58, 71–72}}{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|pp=209, 227, 235}} mostly due to the nature of late 17th-century warfare.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p=209}}

[[File:Paul de Beauvilliers, duc de Saint-Aignan - Versailles MV 3571.jpg|thumb|upright|Marshal de Luxembourg]]

Although an attempt to restore James II failed at the [[Battle of the Boyne]] in 1690, France accumulated a string of victories from Flanders in the north, Germany in the east, and Italy and Spain in the south, to the high seas and the colonies. Louis personally supervised the captures of [[Siege of Mons (1691)|Mons]] in 1691 and [[Siege of Namur (1692)|Namur]] in 1692. Luxembourg gave France the defensive line of the [[Sambre]] by capturing [[Charleroi]] in 1693. France also overran most of the [[Duchy of Savoy]] after the battles of [[Battle of Marsaglia|Marsaglia]] and [[Battle of Staffarda|Staffarde]] in 1693. While naval stalemate ensued after the French victory at the [[Battle of Beachy Head (1690)|Battle of Beachy Head]] in 1690 and the Allied victory at [[Battles of Barfleur and La Hougue|Barfleur-La Hougue]] in 1692, the [[Battle of Torroella]] in 1694 exposed [[Catalonia]] to French invasion, culminating in the capture of [[Barcelona]]. The Dutch captured [[Pondicherry district|Pondichéry]] in 1693, but a 1697 French raid on the Spanish treasure [[port of Cartagena]], Spain, yielded a fortune of 10,000,000 livres.

In July 1695, the city of [[Namur]], occupied for three years by the French, [[Siege of Namur (1695)|was besieged]] by an allied army led by William{{Nbsp}}III. Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV ordered the surprise destruction of a Flemish city to divert the attention of these troops. This led to the [[Bombardment of Brussels (1695)|bombardment of Brussels]], in which more than 4,000 buildings were destroyed, including the entire city centre. The strategy failed, as Namur fell three weeks later, but harmed Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV's reputation: a century later, [[Napoleon]] deemed the bombardment "as barbarous as it was useless".<ref>Quoted in {{Cite journal |last=Terlinden |first=Ch. |date=1958 |title=Les rapports de l'internonce Piazza sur le bombardement de Bruxelles en 1695 |journal=Cahiers bruxellois |language=fr |volume=III |issue=II |pages=85–106 |quote=''aussi barbare qu'inutile''}}</ref>

Peace was broached by Sweden in 1690. By 1692, both sides evidently wanted peace, and secret bilateral talks began, but to no avail.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p=232}} Louis tried to break up the alliance against him by dealing with individual opponents but did not achieve his aim until 1696 when the [[Duchy of Savoy|Savoyards]] agreed to the Treaty of Turin and switched sides. Thereafter, members of the League of Augsburg rushed to the peace table, and negotiations for a general peace began in earnest, culminating in the [[Peace of Ryswick]] of 1697.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p=253}}

===Peace of Ryswick===
{{Main|Peace of Ryswick}}
The [[Peace of Ryswick]] ended the War of the League of Augsburg and disbanded the Grand Alliance. By manipulating their rivalries and suspicions, Louis divided his enemies and broke their power.

The treaty yielded many benefits for France. Louis secured permanent French sovereignty over all of Alsace, including Strasbourg, and established the Rhine as the Franco-German border (as it is to this day). Pondichéry and [[Acadia]] were returned to France, and Louis's ''de facto'' possession of [[Saint-Domingue]] was recognised as lawful. However, he returned [[Catalonia]] and most of the Reunions.

French military superiority might have allowed him to press for more advantageous terms. Thus, his generosity to Spain with regard to Catalonia has been read as a concession to foster pro-French sentiment and may ultimately have induced King [[Charles II of Spain|Charles&nbsp;II]] to name Louis's grandson [[Philip V of Spain|Philip, Duke of Anjou]], heir to the Spanish throne.{{Sfn|Bluche|1986|p=653}} In exchange for financial compensation, France renounced its interests in the Electorate of Cologne and the Palatinate. [[Lorraine (duchy)|Lorraine]], which had been occupied by the French since 1670, was returned to its rightful Duke [[Leopold, Duke of Lorraine|Leopold]], albeit with a right of way to the French military. William and Mary were recognised as joint sovereigns of the British Isles, and Louis withdrew support for James{{Nbsp}}II. The Dutch were given the right to garrison forts in the Spanish Netherlands that acted as a protective barrier against possible French aggression. Though in some respects the Treaty of Ryswick may appear a diplomatic defeat for Louis since he failed to place client rulers in control of the Palatinate or the Electorate of Cologne, he did fulfil many of the aims laid down in his 1688 ultimatum.{{Sfn|Lossky|1994|p=255}} In any case, peace in 1697 was desirable to Louis, since France was exhausted from the costs of the war.