The
Franco-Dutch War, often called simply the
Dutch War (
French:
La Guerre de Hollande) (1672–1678) was a
war fought by the
Kingdom of France, the
Swedish Empire, the
Bishopric of Münster, the
Archbishopric of Cologne and the
Kingdom of England against the
Dutch Republic, which was later joined by
Holy Roman Emperor,
Brandenburg and
Spain to form a
quadruple alliance. The war ended with the
Treaty of Nijmegen of 1678, which granted France control of the
Franche-Comté and some cities in
Flanders and
Hainaut (all formerly controlled by
Spain).
At the outset of the war, France led a coalition that included
Münster and
England against the Dutch.
Louis XIV had been angered by the refusal of the Dutch, a former French ally, to cooperate in the destruction and division of the
Spanish Netherlands in the
War of Devolution which he had fought against Spain a few years previously.
As the Dutch army had been neglected since the
Peace of Westphalia of 1648, when the independence of the Dutch Republic was universally recognised, the French had no trouble after unexpectedly by-passing the fortress of
Maastricht to march into the heart of the Republic, taking
Utrecht. In 1672 the leading Dutch politician
Johan de Witt was lynched by an angry mob, following rumors (never substantiated) that he and his brother Cornelis were planning the assassination of William of Nassau (The later
William III), and William was acclaimed
stadtholder. As the French had promised the major cities of Holland to the English they were in no hurry to capture them, but tried to extort sixteen million
guilders from the Dutch in exchange for a separate peace. This outrageous demand and other vindictive conditions posed by the French stiffened Dutch resistance and the negotiations gave the Republic time to flood the countryside by deliberate
inundations (
Dutch Water Line), blocking any further French advance. The
bishop of Münster laid siege to
Groningen but failed. An attempt was made to invade the Republic by sea, but this was thwarted by Admiral
Michiel de Ruyter in four strategic victories against the combined Anglo-French fleet (these events are usually called the
Third Anglo-Dutch War). England then abandoned the war in 1674.
Already, allies had joined the Dutch cause; the
Elector of
Brandenburg, the
Emperor, and
Charles II of
Spain. Louis, despite the successful
Siege of Maastricht in 1673, was forced to abandon his plans of conquering the Dutch and revert to a slow, cautious war of attrition around the French frontiers.
Jurriaen Aernoutsz, a navy captain from
Curaçao, captured two small forts in the French colony of
Acadia in 1674. Although the Dutch never fully gained control of the territory, they continued to claim sovereignty over Acadia on paper for the duration of the war, even appointing
Cornelius Van Steenwyk as its nominal governor. In actual practice, however, the territory remained under French control. By the time of the Treaty of Nijmegen, however, the Dutch claim to Acadia was simply abandoned. During their war against England, the Dutch also occupied
New York City, which had formerly been the Dutch settlement of
New Amsterdam, but returned it to the English when the English left the war.
In 1676, the French navy finally destroyed a Dutch fleet near
Palermo and temporarily achieved naval supremacy in the Mediterranean. De Ruyter had already been killed during the inconclusive
battle of Augusta against a French fleet.
By 1678, Louis had managed to break apart his opponents' coalition, and France gained considerable territories under the terms of the
Treaty of Nijmegen. Most notably, the French acquired the
Franche-Comté and various territories in the
Southern Netherlands from the Spanish. Nevertheless, the Dutch had thwarted the ambitions of two of the major royal dynasties of the time: the
Stuarts and the
Bourbons.
The war marked the beginning of an unending rivalry between the two most powerful men in Europe. William III (who would later also seize the throne of England, see
Glorious Revolution) and Louis XIV. They, along with their respective allies, would be pitted against each other in a series of wars in the years that followed.
See also
Category:17th-century conflictsCategory:17th century in FranceCategory:17th century in the NetherlandsCategory:1670sCategory:Wars involving FranceCategory:Wars involving SpainCategory:Wars involving the United ProvincesCategory:Wars involving EnglandCategory:Wars involving the Holy Roman EmpireCategory:Wars involving the NetherlandsCategory:Articles lacking sources (Erik9bot)af:Frans-Nederlandse Oorlogbg:Нидерландска войнаca:Guerra francoholandesade:Holländischer Krieges:Guerra Franco-Holandesaeo:Franca-Nederlanda militofr:Guerre de Hollandeid:Perang Perancis-Belandait:Guerra d'Olandanl:Hollandse Oorlogja:ネーデルラント継承戦争nn:Den fransk-nederlandske krigenpl:Wojna Francji z koalicją hiszpańsko-austriacko-lotaryńskąpt:Guerra Franco-Holandesaru:Голландская войнаsr:Француско-холандски ратfi:Ranskan–Hollannin sotasv:Fransk-nederländska krigetuk:Франко-голландська війна 1672—1678zh:法荷战争 
