Editing Battle of Denain (section)

===Disunity in the Allied leadership===
In the first months of 1712, the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] was marked by disunity among the [[Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg)|Grand Alliance]]. As a result of the [[1710 British general election]], the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whigs]] had been swept from power in [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and replaced by the [[Tories (British political party)|Tories]], who were opposed to further involvement in the conflict. The Tory [[Harley ministry]] accused the [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough|Duke of Marlborough]] and his fellow Whig politicians of [[war profiteering]]; as a result, Marlborough, who had led the Allied armies in the [[Low Countries]] since 1702 was removed from office by [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]] under Tory pressure.{{Sfn|Van Nimwegen|2020|p=335}}

The Tories were also hostile towards the [[Dutch Republic]], who they did not trust. In his 1711 work ''[[The Conduct of the Allies]]'', Tory pamphleteer [[Jonathan Swift]] argued that the Dutch were ungrateful allies and a threat to Britain. Swift wrote that the Dutch were in "a condition to strike terror into us, with 50,000 veterans ready to invade us from the country which we have conquered for them". When the Tory-dominated [[House of Commons of Great Britain|British House of Commons]] passed a resolution criticising the Dutch for not fulfilling prior agreements with Britain, Dutch statesman [[Anthonie Heinsius]] and his fellow ''[[regenten]]'' were outraged. The Dutch issued a reply to the resolution wherein they refuted Tory criticisms point by point, greatly embarrassing the Harley ministry.{{Sfn|Van Nimwegen|2020|p=335-336}}

Such disputes did not stop the Harley ministry from continuing secret peace negotiations with [[Kingdom of France|France]]. To keep their allies in the dark and maintain a strong negotiating position with France, the Harley ministry decided to participate in a new campaign in 1712, if only superficially. The [[James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde|Duke of Ormonde]] was chosen by the Harley ministry to command British troops in the Low Countries for this campaign. Although Ormonde was a veteran commander who had served under [[William III of England]] in the [[Nine Years' War]], he was relatively inexperienced. Tory statesman [[Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer|Lord Oxford]] saw this as an advantage, as he could therefore control him more easily. Ormonde had been given secret instructions to frustrate the Allied war effort as much as possible, which would make the Dutch and [[Habsburg monarchy|Austrians]] more inclined to seek peace. However, the [[States General of the Netherlands|Dutch States General]] had no intention of allowing Ormonde to lead [[Dutch States Army|their army]]. They asked the Austrians to send [[Eugene of Savoy]] back to the Dutch Republic instead. The Austrians agreed to this and also sent an additional 20,000 men.{{Sfn|Van Nimwegen|2020|p=337}}