Editing Dutch Republic (section)

===Franco-Dutch War and Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1702)===
{{Main|Franco-Dutch War|Rampjaar|Third Anglo-Dutch War}}
[[File:King William III of England, (1650-1702).jpg|thumb|150px|left|Stadtholder William III, Prince of Orange, also reigned as [[William III of England]] from 1689 to 1702 after the [[Glorious Revolution]].]]
The year 1672 is known in the Netherlands as the "Disaster Year" (''[[Rampjaar]]''). England declared war on the Republic, (the [[Third Anglo-Dutch War]]), followed by France, [[Münster]] and Cologne, which had all signed alliances against the Republic. France, Cologne and Münster invaded the Republic. Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis, who had accomplished a diplomatic balancing act for a long time, were now the obvious scapegoats. They were lynched, and a new [[stadtholder]], William III, was appointed.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 September 2018 |title=Johan De Witt |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johan-De-Witt |access-date=20 October 2018 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref>

An Anglo-French attempt to land on the Dutch shore was barely repelled in three desperate naval battles under command of [[Admiral (Netherlands)|Admiral]] [[Michiel de Ruyter]]. The advance of French troops from the south was halted by a costly inundation of its own heartland, by breaching river dikes. With the aid of friendly German princes, the Dutch succeeded in fighting back [[Cologne]] and [[Münster]], after which the peace was signed with both of them, although some territory in the east was lost forever. Peace was signed with England as well, in 1674 ([[Treaty of Westminster (1674)|Second Treaty of Westminster]]). In 1678, peace was made with France at the [[Treaty of Nijmegen]], although the Spanish and German allies of the [[Dutch Republic]] felt betrayed by this.

In 1688, at the start of the [[Nine Years' War]] with France, the relations with England reached crisis level once again. Convinced that he needed English support against France and that he had to prevent a second Anglo-French alliance, Stadtholder [[William III of England|William III]] decided he had to take a huge gamble and invade England. To this end he secured the support from the Dutch States-General and from Protestant English nobles opposed to William's Catholic father-in-law [[James II of England]]. This led to the [[Glorious Revolution]] and cemented the principle of parliamentary rule and Protestant ascendency in England. James fled to France, and William ascended to the English throne as co-monarch with his wife Mary, James' eldest daughter. This manoeuvre secured England as a critical ally of the United Provinces in its ongoing war with [[Louis XIV of France]]. William was the commander of the Dutch and English armies and fleets until his death in 1702. During William's reign as King of England, his primary focus was leveraging English manpower and finances to aid the Dutch against the French. The combination continued during the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] after his death as the combined Dutch, English, and Imperial armies conquered Flanders and Brabant, and invaded French territory before the alliance collapsed in 1713 due to British political infighting.