Third Anglo-Dutch War
Encyclopedia
The Third Anglo–Dutch War or Third Dutch War ( or ) was a military conflict between England
and the Dutch Republic lasting from 1672 to 1674. It was part of the larger Franco-Dutch War
. England's Royal Navy joined France
in its attack on the Republic, but was frustrated in its attempts to blockade the Dutch coast by four strategic victories by Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter
. An attempt to make the province of Holland an English protectorate rump state
likewise failed. Parliament, fearful that the alliance with France was part of a plot to make England Roman Catholic, forced the king to abandon the costly and fruitless war.
had signed a Triple Alliance against France in 1668 to prevent that country from occupying the Spanish Netherlands, Charles II of England
signed the secret Treaty of Dover with France in 1670, entailing that England would join Louis XIV of France
in a punitive campaign against the United Provinces. Indeed Charles, feeling personally humiliated by the events of the Second Anglo–Dutch War, especially the Raid on the Medway
, had only engaged himself in the Triple Alliance in order to create a rift between the Dutch and the French, two former allies. While publicly trying to appease tensions between France and the Republic, making ambassador William Temple
avow friendship to Grand Pensionary
Johan de Witt
, he secretly schemed to seduce Louis to a campaign against the Dutch. He was promised that after a French victory he would be rewarded by taking as Crown possessions strategic coastal key positions. Walcheren
, Cadzand
and Sluys were mentioned explicitly but Charles also desired Brill, Texel
, Terschelling
and Delfzijl
, to control the seaways towards the main Dutch ports, including Rotterdam
and Amsterdam
, the latter of which was the richest city in Europe.
Charles had hoped that an attack on the Republic could have begun in 1671, but it had to be delayed for a year because the French needed first to establish secure diplomatic relations with two key German principilaties: the Bishopric of Münster
and the Archbishopric of Cologne
. Normally the Spanish Netherlands would act as a buffer between the Republic and France; to conquer the strongly fortified towns of Flanders
and the south of the Republic would both be too slow and too costly for a swift and decisive campaign. Therefore it had been decided to let the French army advance through the Bishopric of Liège
, a dependency of Cologne, that intersected the Spanish Netherlands, and then attack the Republic unexpectedly from the east in its unprotected "soft side". Ultimately Münster and Cologne even decided to join the invasion with their armies.
Charles tried to use the delay to sow dissension between the Orangist faction in the Republic that wanted to restore the House of Orange (represented at the time by Charles's nephew William III of Orange
) to the office of stadtholder
and the republican States faction headed by De Witt. When from November 1670 William visited Charles to urge the House of Stuart
to pay back a part of the large debt it owed to the House of Orange, Charles intended to make his nephew part of the conspiracy and promise him to be made Sovereign Prince of Holland, a puppet state
, in return for collaboration with the invading forces. However he started this attempt to recruit the young prince for his undertaking by advising William to become Roman Catholic, as he believed Catholicism was best fitted to absolutist
rulers. William's horrified reaction to this proposal convinced Charles that it was best not to reveal the Dover Treaty to him.
A further problem for Charles was the fact that he needed Parliament to vote for sufficient funds to bring out a strong fleet. England would not be involved with its rather weak army; apart from an English brigade in the French army under the Duke of Monmouth
its only effort would be made by the Royal Navy
: to defeat its Dutch counterpart and ideally blockade the Dutch coast. Charles was receiving considerable subsidies from Louis, about ₤225,000 a year, but he preferred to spend these on the luxuries of his own court. Besides, the treaty being after all secret, these subsidies couldn't be directed to the fleet anyway. However, whereas in 1664 the country had been, in the words of Samuel Pepys
, "mad for war", in 1671 most English had begun to despair of ever being able to "beat the Dutch". To provide for short-term money Charles therefore on 2 January 1672 repudiated the Crown debts in the Great Stop of the Exchequer
which gained him ₤1,300,000.
put it this way: "Our business is to break with them, yet to lay the breach at their door". He let the royal yacht Merlin
, with Temple's wife Dorothy Osborne
aboard, on 24 August 1671 sail through the Dutch fleet at anchor off Den Briel for maintenance. The Dutch ships duly struck their flag in salute first, as was mandatory under treaty, but refused to salute firing white smoke, because they were doubtful the Merlin counted as a real warship. Charles now ordered the intriguer George Downing
, the new ambassador in The Hague
, to demand that the admirals responsible would be severely punished, which the States-General of the Netherlands
refused. Early 1672, Downing, who already had made himself profoundly hated by the Dutch population when he was an ambassador in the previous war, had to flee The Hague in fear of his life. Temple — somewhat wryly as he was rather sympathetic to the Dutch himself — remarked to Charles that now both he and his wife had had the honour to have become instruments of doom for the Dutch.
Though De Witt tended to believe the repeated diplomatic assurances by the French and English that they had no invasion in mind, many Dutch politicians and military men interpreted the French diplomatic activities in the German principalities, the preparing of the English Navy and the raising of large armies as sure signs of an imminent war. On 25 February 1672, William III, despite his youth, was appointed Captain-General of the confederate Dutch army. Factional strife and uncertainty about the French strategy prevented a strong field army from being created; most of the 83,000 troops (70,700 infantry and 12,710 cavalry in June 1672) were assigned to the fortresses. Whereas the Dutch Republic was thus ill-prepared for a land campaign, the situation at sea was much more favourable, even though the States-General decided to limit the naval budget to 4,776,248 guilders (down from an original projected budget of 7,893,992 guilders) in order not to provoke the English. In 1667, the Dutch navy, after having destroyed the core of the English navy at Chatham, had been the strongest in the world. Although in 1672 this had again changed, with the English having replaced the capital ships lost, while few Dutch ships had been built and one of the five autonomous Dutch admiralties, that of Friesland
, was unable to contribute many ships because that province was attacked by Münster, the Dutch successfully prevented a blockade of their coast and any landing of enemy troops, despite being outnumbered by a third by the combined Anglo–French fleet. The reason for this success were the much improved training standards. In the major battles of 1666, the Dutch navy still had to get used to its brandnew, much heavier, warships and some costly tactical mistakes had been made; also personal conflict between Lieutenant-Admirals Michiel de Ruyter
and Cornelis Tromp
had damaged the unity of the fleet. De Ruyter used the summer of 1671 to execute many training manoeuvres employing the line-of-battle, perfecting the fire drill and installing a new sense of coherence and discipline. As a result, the Republic was in 1672 at the apex of its naval power; in the English navy however, Admiral Edward Spragge
had grown jealous of supreme commander Prince Rupert of the Rhine
. Also, Spragge broke formation in two battles to seek out his personal enemy Tromp, having vowed to kill him for having insulted his wife. Cooperation between the English and the French navies was poor, plagued by misunderstandings and suspicions.
Charles had intended to make William his creature by raising him from a position of unimportance to that of nominal ruler, ensuring his subservience to the English king. The threat of an invasion however, had as an unintended side-effect that the position of William grew stronger independently. In January 1672, William, by then having figured out the intentions of Charles by himself, tried to exploit this by offering Charles to make the Dutch Republic a faithful ally of England. In return, Charles would have to demand from the States-General that William be appointed stadtholder — and break with France. Charles did not take up this suggestion as, without the threat of a French invasion, he could hardly expect the Dutch to remain submissive.
As happened in the previous conflict, even before the formal outbreak of war, the English tried to intercept the Dutch Smyrna Fleet, a yearly convoy of Dutch merchants from the Levant
sailing with a flotilla to protect them from the Barbary Corsairs
. From 12 March 1672 (Old Style), Admiral Robert Holmes
attacked the convoy in the English Channel, but was beaten back by Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest
, capturing only a limited number of prizes.
As agreed in the Treaty of Dover, England joined France
, having declared war on 6 April 1672 (New Style), by declaring war on 7 April, using as a pretext the Merlin incident. Many sources incorrectly state the English were the first to declare war on 27 March, a mistake caused by the fact the English were still using the Julian calendar
, then ten days behind the Gregorian calendar
in use at the Continent. A French army of 130,000 (118,000 foot and 12,500 horse), exceptionally accompanied by Louis himself, in two months marched through Liège, bypassed the strong Dutch fortress of Maastricht
, advanced along the Rhine, took the Rhine fortresses of Cleves
and then on 12 June crossed the Lower Rhine
into the Betuwe
, thus invading the Republic itself and outflanking the IJssel Line. As a result the province of Overijssel
withdrew its troops from the already small Dutch field army to protect its own cities; soon after it capitulated to Bernhard von Galen
, the bishop of Münster, who then marched north to occupy Drenthe
and lay siege to Groningen. William was forced to fall back on Utrecht
, but the burghers
refused to let him in. Instead they opened their gates to the French army, to avoid a siege. William withdrew behind the Dutch Water Line, a deliberate flooding to protect the core province of Holland, but the inundations were not ready yet, only having been ordered by the States of Holland
on 8 June and hampered by villages unwilling to let the water damage their property.
Meanwhile the first sea battle had taken place. After the English declaration of war, the States-General had increased the naval budget with 2.2 million guilders. De Witt, seeking a decisive naval victory, had decided on an aggressive strategy and sent out De Ruyter with the mission to destroy the Allied fleet. On 7 June, he surprised it when resupplying on the English coast; it was only saved from a severe defeat in the Battle of Solebay
by a sudden turning of the wind, causing De Ruyter to lose the weather gage
. Nevertheless the damage incurred — including the death of Admiral Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich
— was so extensive that the Allies would be prevented from executing major naval actions for the rest of the season, apart from a failed attempt to intercept the Dutch East India Company
(VOC) Return Fleet from the Dutch East Indies
. A blockade of the Dutch coast failed. Johan de Witt's brother Cornelis de Witt
had accompanied the fleet to make the States regime share in the glory, but the events on land nullified this.
The sudden appearance of a hostile army in the heart of the Republic caused a general panic. On 14 June, the States of Holland decided to ask for peace conditions from France and England. This convinced Louis that the war was already won and on the advice of de Louvois
he began negotiations to reach a treaty as favourable as possible for France. The city populations rioted, blaming the States regime for the disaster and calling for the Prince of Orange to take over government. Most city councils turned Orangist or were even replaced by threat of force with Orangist partisans. Charles had always supported the Orangist faction; now they repaid him with accusing the States faction of wanting to betray the land to the French and depicting Charles as the only man able and willing to save the Dutch from French subjugation. In Dutch history, the year 1672, the national annus horribilis
, subsequently became known as the "Year of Disaster" (Rampjaar
). A Dutch saying was coined to describe the situation of the state: Redeloos, radeloos, reddeloos, meaning: "reasonless" (the people), "clueless" (the authorities), "rescueless" (the country).
In fact the situation was not as immediately desperate as the population believed. De Witt had assumed the conflicting interests of England and France would prevent their successful cooperation. The two kings, motivated by a shared lust for revenge, had managed to put their differences aside as long as their immediate common goal of humiliating the Republic had not been reached yet. Now that it was, each began to worry the other would benefit too much from the war; neither would allow a complete domination of the Republic, and its huge mercantile assets, by his formal ally. When a Dutch mission arrived suing for peace, Louis only demanded Delfzijl, by far the least important port Charles desired, for the English. Yet, when he was offered the southern fortresses of the Republic — the French possession of which would make the Spanish Netherlands indefensible — and ten million guilders, he refused. Knowing that the mission was not allowed to make any concessions on the point of religion and the territorial integrity of the provinces themselves (the southern fortress cities of Breda
, 's-Hertogenbosch and Maastricht were in the Generality Lands
) Louis demanded — besides twenty million guilders and an annual embassy from the States-General to Louis asking pardon for their perfidy — either religious freedom for the Catholics or lordship over Utrecht
and Guelders
, merely to humiliate the Dutch a bit further. Still he didn't continue his advance fearing to drive the Dutch into the hands of Charles. He waited while the mission returned to ask for new instructions, which would take some time given the decentralised nature of the Dutch administration; all the city councils would have to be consulted on the issue. Meanwhile the water gradually filled the polder
s of the defence line. On 7 July, the inundations were fully set and the province of Holland was safe from a further French advance. Louis wasn't overly worried by this; he was very much focused on Amsterdam and, an early attempt to take the city by a sudden cavalry assault having failed, had decided in any case to avoid an expensive and inevitably very muddy siege by waiting till winter when he expected — reasonably so in the Little Ice Age
— his troops to be able to advance over the ice. He personally returned to France on 26 July, taking 18,000 men with him and freeing 20,000 Dutch prisoners of war, to avoid having to pay for their maintenance.
On 4 July, William was appointed stadtholder of Holland; on 16 July, of Zealand
. In early July, Charles had decided to secure his share of the booty and sent Lord Arlington
, one of the few English politicians privy to the Treaty of Dover, together with the Duke of Buckingham
to the Republic to convey his peace conditions. Arlington landed in Brill accompanied by a group of Dutch Orangist exiles and then travelled to William at the Dutch headquarters in Nieuwerbrug
, all the way being cheered by Dutch crowds, believing he had come to promise English support against the French. Arriving on 5 July, he brought William the good news that Charles insisted on his nephew being made Sovereign Prince of Holland. Everything would be all right if only William would then consent to an equitable peace, including paying the English ten million guilders for their efforts, paying a yearly sum of ₤10,000 for the North Sea herring rights and reinstating the clauses of the 1585 Treaty of Nonsuch
about Brill, Sluys and Flushing
being English securities. Far from finding William grateful to his uncle for having brought about his rise to power, Arlington soon discovered that the stadtholder was outraged by these demands, the prince even uncharacteristically losing his temper in public. He yelled that he would rather "die a thousand times than accept them". Arlington in turn threatened the Dutch state with total annihilation if William did not comply; in the end the meeting turned into a quarrel and Arlington left without having accomplished anything. He then travelled to Heeswijk
, the headquarters of the French army in vain besieging 's-Hertogenbosch, where he on 16 July concluded the Accord of Heeswijk with the French, each party agreeing on a minimal shared list of demands and promising never to conclude a separate peace. These demands were again refused by William on 20 July.
On 18 July, William received a letter from Charles, very moderate in tone, in which the king claimed that the entire campaign was merely directed against the States regime and that the only obstacle to peace was the continued influence of the faction of De Witt. William responded by offering the herring rights, ₤400,000, Sluys and Surinam; in return Charles should make him Sovereign Prince and conclude a separate peace. Annoyed Charles answered by accusing William of being unreasonably obstinate and scheming behind his back with politicians of the Country Party, the later "Whigs".
De Witt had had to resign from his function of Grand Pensionary after he had been wounded by an attempt on his life in June. His brother Cornelis had been arrested on (probably false) charges of having plotted to murder William. On 15 August, the stadtholder published Charles's letter to further incite the population against De Witt. There were many new riots; on 20 August, Johan de Witt visited his brother in prison; both were then murdered by an Orangist civil militia that had been instructed by Tromp, the Orangist admiral. William's power was now secure from internal threats.
The Allies now found themselves in a rather awkward position. If the Battle of Solebay had not prevented it, they would have been able to force the Dutch population to surrender by starvation, as it was dependent for its survival on supplies of Baltic grain. Now they had no clear exit strategy
; they could only wait hoping the Dutch would at last understand the hopelessness of their situation and capitulate. Meanwhile their own situation deteriorated. The war was very expensive and especially Charles had trouble paying for it. Münster was in an even worse condition; in August it had to abandon the siege of Groningen; before 1672 had ended Coevorden
was retaken and the province of Drenthe liberated, leaving the Allies in possession of only three of the in fact ten (despite the number traditionally given of seven) Dutch provincial areas. The supply lines of the French army were dangerously extended and William in the autumn of 1672 tried to cut them off, marching all the way through the Spanish Netherlands to attack Charleroi
, then a French border city close to the supply route through Liège. Also the German states, though having promised Louis to remain neutral, had become very worried by the French success and especially by the refusal to withdraw from the Duchy of Cleves
. On 25 July, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Leopold I
, concluded a defensive treaty with the Republic in The Hague and together with Brandenburg
sent an army to the Rhine. Though this force did not attack the French army, its presence was enough to draw it to the east in response.
s, organised by temporary Lieutenant-Admiral Johan de Liefde. The attack from the east thus being considered impractical, the activities of the Royal Navy gained much more importance. It was now ordered, in cooperation with a French squadron, to at least blockade the Dutch coast and, if possible, execute a landing on it, conquering the Republic from the west. How this should be accomplished exactly, was not very clear. The English navy, in contrast to the Dutch fleet, had little experience in shore landings, so it was expected to directly take some Dutch port by assault, despite having insufficient recent information about the dangerous constantly shifting shoals.
Before this could happen the Dutch fleet would have to be defeated first. Although deliberately creating the impression — in order to frighten the Dutch population into an invasion scare — that transports, carrying an army, were sailing immediately behind the war fleet, in fact the (rather small) invasion force was left in Yarmouth
, only to be shipped after a full control over the seas had been attained. In this the French would be of little help; they had received clear orders by Louis to give absolute priority to the survival of their vessels and inform him personally about what knowledge they had gained by observing the English and Dutch tactics. The French navy thus considered the campaign first of all to be a great learning opportunity; it would indeed be very instructive.
In May, Rupert advanced to the Dutch coast with superior forces; De Ruyter took up a defensive position in the Schooneveld
. Rupert tried to outflank the smaller Dutch fleet hoping to force it to seek refuge in the naval port fortress of Hellevoetsluis
, where it could be blocked while the transport fleet would be brought over to storm either Brill in Holland or Flushing on Walcheren in Zealand. Instead De Ruyter attacked, starting the First Battle of the Schooneveld
. In the Battle of Solebay of the previous year the French squadron had on sight of the approaching Dutch fleet sailed in a direction opposite to that of the English fleet. To counter English accusations that this had been done on purpose to let the English bear the brunt of the fighting, the French now formed the centre squadron. When a gap formed in the French line, De Ruyter suddenly tacked with his own centre and sailed through it. After a while the French disengaged — later writing enthusiastic reports to Louis about feeling honoured to witness the tactical genius shown by De Ruyter by this manoeuvre — exposing the Allied rear to encirclement by the Dutch rear and centre. On perceiving the danger, its commander, Spragge, abandoned the remainder of the rear with his flotilla to seek out Tromp, who was rather hesitantly attacked by Rupert in the van, fearing the shoals. Thus being outmanoeuvred and divided, the Allied fleet only managed to reunite because De Ruyter decided not to take any unnecessary risks by pressing his advantage; but the disorder was so persistent, it had to withdraw at nightfall.
Rupert now was at a loss how to continue the campaign; not daring to enter the dangerous Schooneveld again, his only hope was to lure the Dutch out; but he was so convinced De Ruyter would never leave this ideal blocking position, his fleet was unready when the resupplied Dutch fleet indeed attacked on 14 June, starting the Second Battle of the Schooneveld
. Rupert at the very last moment decided to invert his squadron order, hereby causing such a chaos in the Allied fleet, that the Dutch and French were too astonished to fully commit themselves to the fight. Spragge however, now not having to break formation as there really was none, again sought out Tromp, without success. Much damaged and its morale shaken, the Allied fleet returned to the Thames for repairs.
In late July, Rupert sailed out again, trying to lure the Dutch fleet to the north, pretending to attempt a landing at Den Helder
. De Ruyter at first decided not to leave his Schooneveld position, but was ordered to do so by William to prevent a Dutch East India Company
fleet, loaded with spices and treasure, from being captured, which might alleviate Charles's lack of funds. This resulted in the final Battle of Texel
. Both sides now no longer restrained their forces, striving for a decision; even the French fought hard, but for the fourth time allowed themselves to get separated from the English fleet. Spragge broke formation for the second time to duel with Tromp; on this occasion losing his life. Having incurred enormous damage both fleets retreated. This tactical draw was a complete strategic victory for the Dutch, even though some ships of the Spice Fleet ultimately fell into Allied hands. For De Ruyter, the successful campaign, repelling attacks by much superior fleets to save his homeland, had been the highlight of his career, as the English readily acknowledged; the Duke of York
concluded that among admirals "he was the greatest that ever to that time was in the world". The plans for an invasion from the sea had to be abandoned and the large costs of repair troubled Parliament.
Overall the war had been far from profitable. In previous conflicts many in England had gained riches by joining privateering enterprises; in this war Dutch raiders managed to capture more English ships (over 550 merchantmen; 2800 vessels of all Allies) than vice versa. Being well aware that the war was waged by English and French nobles who disdained the Dutch as a nation of "cheesemongers", at least three privateers sailed under the name of the Getergde Kaasboer, the "Provoked Cheesemonger". The English had failed in blockading the Dutch coast and were themselves largely blocked from the vital Baltic trade in wood and tar. That New York City
(formerly New Amsterdam
) had been retaken by the Dutch in 1673 mattered little in financial respect, like the temporary loss of Saint Helena
, but hurt the English reputation. In the East, on 1 September 1673 a Dutch East India Company fleet commanded by Cornelis van Quaelbergen defeated an East India Company
squadron under William Basse
off Masulipatam. The material damage compounded a moral unease about the justifiability of the war; John Evelyn
already after Solebay wrote: "the loss of my Lord Sandwich redoubled the loss to me, as well the folly of hazarding so brave a fleet, and losing so many good men, for no provocation in the world but because the Hollander exceeded us in industry, and all things else but envy". In November 1673 Parliament voted to deny Charles a war budget for 1674.
Meanwhile the developments in the land war had also become very unfavourable to Charles. The ultimate aim of the French and their deeper rationale for this war was to conquer the Spanish Netherlands. Such a conquest would however be very detrimental to the English strategic position: should the province of Holland capitulate to them the French would then control the entire continental coast opposite England, as would be the case later, in the Napoleonic Wars
. For this reason Charles had in the Treaty of Dover explicitly reserved his rights to come to the aid of the Spanish Netherlands should his interests demand so; Louis thus had to delay the execution of his plans in this region until the Dutch affair was finished. Now that a deadlock had been reached Louis's patience was severely tried and eventually the tempation to take possession of the Southern Netherlands while they were so vulnerable became too great. He gradually turned his attention to this area, first by the capture of Maastricht
in July 1673, in which Monmouth's brigade played an honourable rôle. Though this could be justified as improving the supply situation of the northern French army, its potential as a starting point for a Flemish campaign was not lost on the Spanish. On 30 August, the Republic, the Empire, Spain and Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine
(who wanted his duchy back from Louis) concluded the Quadruple Alliance
and William made sure peace negotiations held with France in Cologne failed. In November Bonn
was taken by the alliance forces commanded by William; this forced the French army to abandon almost all occupied Dutch territory, with the exception of Grave and Maastricht. A final victory over the Dutch had thus become most implausible; the war was changed into one about the dominion of Flanders and on this issue the natural interests of England were opposed to those of France. The changed international situation was an important consideration for Parliament influencing its decision to withhold funding, but internal events were even more decisive.
The Treaty of Dover was not only aimed at the Dutch Republic but also at the domination of Protestantism in England; Charles had promised Louis to try and end it. In accordance on 25 March 1672 he had issued the Royal Declaration of Indulgence
, as a first step to complete religious tolerance. Parliament was shocked by this, but at first was unaware of the relation with the French alliance; in February 1673 it voted to start funding the alliance in exchange for a suspension of the Indulgence (and an issuing of the Test Act
in March), not as yet seeing any contradiction in such policies. This would soon change however. Arlington's former secretary, Pierre du Moulin
, had after fleeing to the Republic begun to work for William; in the summer of 1673 he exploited the fears of the English population by starting a propaganda campaign, using one of the Dutch main assets: the world's largest printing capacity. Soon England was flooded with tens of thousands of pamphlets accusing Charles of wanting to make the country Catholic again in conspiracy with the French king. The campaign was a complete success, convincing the English people that such a plan really existed; it was greatly aided by the decision by Charles's brother James, the Duke of York
, to lay down his position as Lord High Admiral
, which was generally (and correctly) interpreted as a sign that James had in secret become a Catholic and was therefore unable to abjure the transubstantiation
doctrine, as the Test Act demanded of all officials. In September James married the Catholic Mary of Modena
, a beautiful young girl especially selected for him by King Louis. As Charles himself had no legitimate offspring, this created the strong prospect of a Catholic dynasty ruling England in the future.
Reacting to the change in the public mood, Buckingham, who had learned of it during his trip to the Republic the previous year, began to leak the Dover Treaty to many fellow politicians and Arlington soon followed. Thus in a short time Charles's own cabinet, the Cabal Ministry
, went over to the "Dutch" peace party; Lord Shaftesbury, much shocked by the revelation, even beginning to consider driving out the troublesome House of Stuart
entirely and inducing his secretary, John Locke
, to further develop the legal concepts which would later be the basis of the Two Treatises of Government
, which justified the Glorious Revolution
of 1688.
In this situation Charles felt that continuing the alliance was a grave threat to his personal position. He informed the French ambassador Colbert de Croissy that to his regret he had to terminate the English war effort and told the Dutch via the Spanish consul in London, the Marquess del Fresno, that, his main war aim, to install his noble nephew as stadtholder, having been attained, there was no longer any objection on his side to concluding a lasting peace between the two Protestant brother nations, if only some minor "indemnities" could be paid. At first the States of Holland were disinclined to grant Charles's demands: as England had accomplished nothing in the war, it was, in their opinion, not entitled to anything. Many members admitted their personal satisfaction in the thought that the British might be kept suffering a bit longer. But William convinced them that there was even some chance of bringing Charles into the war against France eventually and that this had to take precedence over petty considerations of retribution, unworthy of their high office. Furthermore Spain had still not declared war on France and was only willing to do so if England made peace, because it feared English attacks on its American colonies.
, carrying with him two letters for the Spanish consul. Though the herald was promptly arrested by the town mayor, the letters were sent to Lord Arlington, who hurriedly brought them in person to del Fresno; Arlington was in turn on 15 January impeached by Sir Gilbert Gerard
for high treason as by this very act he had shown to have secret dealings with the enemy. On 24 January the consul handed the letters, containing the peace proposal, to Charles, who pretended to be greatly surprised by this, although he had especially recalled Parliament, prorogued by him in November, for this occasion that very same day. While addressing both Houses the King first emphatically denied the existence of the Treaty of Dover and then produced the peace proposal to the great satisfaction of the members — who in turn had to pretend surprise although Parliament had been informed beforehand by the Dutch of the full content. After some days of debate the treaty was approved by Parliament.
This news was met with open joy by the populace. Charles now sent his own trumpeter who was received by the States-General on 1 February. His message was that Charles could announce the absolute agreement of himself and Parliament on this matter, to which institution he gladly deferred. On 5 February a Dutch trumpeter arrived in London, carrying the response of the States-General. That very day Parliament advised the King to conclude a "speedy peace". A Royal Commission was appointed to make a final draft; the Treaty of Westminster
was signed by the King on 9 February Old Style, 19 February New Style, 1674. It was ratified by the Lord Keeper on 10 February by placement of the Great Seal
; on 17 February it was publicly proclaimed. It was approved by the States of Holland and West Frisia on 4 March (New Style) and ratified by the States-General on 5 March. Due to the different calendars in use in the two countries and the complex procedure, when a single date is given the literature is not in agreement.
The treaty stipulated that New York
(formerly New Netherland
) would henceforth be an English possession and that Suriname
, captured by the Dutch in 1667, would remain their colony, confirming the status quo of 1667. An "indemnity" of two million guilders was paid by the Dutch. Monmouth's brigade would however, not be withdrawn from the French army and be allowed to recruit in Britain until the end of the Franco-Dutch War. An attempt by William to convince his uncle to enter the war against Louis failed in April; Charles would till the end of that war in 1678 try to negotiate between the two parties, at times pretending to really consider a conflict with France, when such pretence was beneficial to him. In 1677 he forced his niece Mary
to marry William, one of the fundamental causes of the fall of his brother in 1688.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and the Dutch Republic lasting from 1672 to 1674. It was part of the larger Franco-Dutch War
Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, often called simply the Dutch War was a war fought by France, Sweden, the Bishopric of Münster, the Archbishopric of Cologne and England against the United Netherlands, which were later joined by the Austrian Habsburg lands, Brandenburg and Spain to form a quadruple alliance...
. England's Royal Navy joined France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in its attack on the Republic, but was frustrated in its attempts to blockade the Dutch coast by four strategic victories by Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter is the most famous and one of the most skilled admirals in Dutch history. De Ruyter is most famous for his role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. He fought the English and French and scored several major victories against them, the best known probably...
. An attempt to make the province of Holland an English protectorate rump state
Rump state
A rump state is the remnant of a once-larger government, left with limited powers or authority after a disaster, invasion, military occupation, secession or partial overthrowing of a government. In the last case, a government stops short of going in exile because it still controls part of its...
likewise failed. Parliament, fearful that the alliance with France was part of a plot to make England Roman Catholic, forced the king to abandon the costly and fruitless war.
Preparations
Although England, the Dutch Republic and SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
had signed a Triple Alliance against France in 1668 to prevent that country from occupying the Spanish Netherlands, Charles II of England
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
signed the secret Treaty of Dover with France in 1670, entailing that England would join Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
in a punitive campaign against the United Provinces. Indeed Charles, feeling personally humiliated by the events of the Second Anglo–Dutch War, especially the Raid on the Medway
Raid on the Medway
The Raid on the Medway, sometimes called the Battle of the Medway, Raid on Chatham or the Battle of Chatham, was a successful Dutch attack on the largest English naval ships, laid up in the dockyards of their main naval base Chatham, that took place in June 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War...
, had only engaged himself in the Triple Alliance in order to create a rift between the Dutch and the French, two former allies. While publicly trying to appease tensions between France and the Republic, making ambassador William Temple
William Temple (British politician)
Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet was an English statesman and essayist.Sir William was the son of Sir John Temple of Dublin and nephew of Rev Dr Thomas Temple DD. Born in London, and educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he travelled across Europe, and was for some time a member of the Irish...
avow friendship to Grand Pensionary
Grand Pensionary
The Grand Pensionary was the most important Dutch official during the time of the United Provinces. In theory he was only a civil servant of the Estates of the dominant province among the Seven United Provinces: the county of Holland...
Johan de Witt
Johan de Witt
Johan de Witt, heer van Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp and IJsselveere was a key figure in Dutch politics in the mid 17th century, when its flourishing sea trade in a period of globalization made the United Provinces a leading European power during the Dutch Golden Age...
, he secretly schemed to seduce Louis to a campaign against the Dutch. He was promised that after a French victory he would be rewarded by taking as Crown possessions strategic coastal key positions. Walcheren
Walcheren
thumb|right|250px|Campveer Tower in Veere, built in 1500Walcheren is a former island in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Oosterschelde in the north and the Westerschelde in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus...
, Cadzand
Cadzand
Cadzand is a town in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is located in the municipality of Sluis, about 8 km northwest of Oostburg. The village contains 804 inhabitants . Better known to many visitors is the nearby beach at Cadzand-Bad....
and Sluys were mentioned explicitly but Charles also desired Brill, Texel
Texel
Texel is a municipality and an island in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the biggest and most populated of the Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea, and also the westernmost of this archipelago, which extends to Denmark...
, Terschelling
Terschelling
Terschelling is a municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands.Waddenislanders are known for their resourcefulness in using anything and everything that washes ashore. With few trees to use for timber, most of the farms and barns are built with masts...
and Delfzijl
Delfzijl
Delfzijl is a municipality and city in the northeast of the Netherlands. It is situated on the left bank of the river Ems estuary, which forms the border with Germany.-Population centres:...
, to control the seaways towards the main Dutch ports, including Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
and Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, the latter of which was the richest city in Europe.
Charles had hoped that an attack on the Republic could have begun in 1671, but it had to be delayed for a year because the French needed first to establish secure diplomatic relations with two key German principilaties: the Bishopric of Münster
Bishopric of Münster
The Bishopric of Münster was an ecclesiastical principality in the Holy Roman Empire, located in the northern part of today's North Rhine-Westphalia and western Lower Saxony...
and the Archbishopric of Cologne
Archbishopric of Cologne
The Electorate of Cologne was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire and existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the temporal possessions of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne . It was ruled by the Archbishop in his function as prince-elector of...
. Normally the Spanish Netherlands would act as a buffer between the Republic and France; to conquer the strongly fortified towns of Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and the south of the Republic would both be too slow and too costly for a swift and decisive campaign. Therefore it had been decided to let the French army advance through the Bishopric of Liège
Bishopric of Liège
The Bishopric of Liège or Prince-Bishopric of Liège was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries in present Belgium. It acquired its status as a prince-bishopric between 980 and 985 when Bishop Notger, who had been the bishop of Liege since 972, acquired the status of Prince-Bishop...
, a dependency of Cologne, that intersected the Spanish Netherlands, and then attack the Republic unexpectedly from the east in its unprotected "soft side". Ultimately Münster and Cologne even decided to join the invasion with their armies.
Charles tried to use the delay to sow dissension between the Orangist faction in the Republic that wanted to restore the House of Orange (represented at the time by Charles's nephew William III of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
) to the office of stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
and the republican States faction headed by De Witt. When from November 1670 William visited Charles to urge the House of Stuart
House of Stuart
The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland...
to pay back a part of the large debt it owed to the House of Orange, Charles intended to make his nephew part of the conspiracy and promise him to be made Sovereign Prince of Holland, a puppet state
Puppet state
A puppet state is a nominal sovereign of a state who is de facto controlled by a foreign power. The term refers to a government controlled by the government of another country like a puppeteer controls the strings of a marionette...
, in return for collaboration with the invading forces. However he started this attempt to recruit the young prince for his undertaking by advising William to become Roman Catholic, as he believed Catholicism was best fitted to absolutist
Absolutism (European history)
Absolutism or The Age of Absolutism is a historiographical term used to describe a form of monarchical power that is unrestrained by all other institutions, such as churches, legislatures, or social elites...
rulers. William's horrified reaction to this proposal convinced Charles that it was best not to reveal the Dover Treaty to him.
A further problem for Charles was the fact that he needed Parliament to vote for sufficient funds to bring out a strong fleet. England would not be involved with its rather weak army; apart from an English brigade in the French army under the Duke of Monmouth
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Buccleuch, KG, PC , was an English nobleman. Originally called James Crofts or James Fitzroy, he was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II and his mistress, Lucy Walter...
its only effort would be made by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
: to defeat its Dutch counterpart and ideally blockade the Dutch coast. Charles was receiving considerable subsidies from Louis, about ₤225,000 a year, but he preferred to spend these on the luxuries of his own court. Besides, the treaty being after all secret, these subsidies couldn't be directed to the fleet anyway. However, whereas in 1664 the country had been, in the words of Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
, "mad for war", in 1671 most English had begun to despair of ever being able to "beat the Dutch". To provide for short-term money Charles therefore on 2 January 1672 repudiated the Crown debts in the Great Stop of the Exchequer
Great Stop of the Exchequer
The Great Stop of the Exchequer or Stop of the Exchequer was a repudiation of state debt that occurred in England in 1672 under the reign of Charles II of England....
which gained him ₤1,300,000.
The Merlin incident
The Parliament was very unenthusiastic about a new war. The king therefore tried to incite the public opinion in England against the Dutch by creating a serious incident. Lord ArlingtonHenry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington
Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington KG, PC was an English statesman.- Background and early life :He was the son of Sir John Bennet of Dawley, Middlesex, and of Dorothy Crofts. He was the younger brother of John Bennet, 1st Baron Ossulston; his sister was Elizabeth Bennet who married Robert Kerr,...
put it this way: "Our business is to break with them, yet to lay the breach at their door". He let the royal yacht Merlin
HMS Merlin (1666)
In 1671 the Royal Yacht Merlin played an important role in provoking the Third Anglo-Dutch War. While carrying the wife of the British ambassador Sir William Temple, Dorothy Osborne through the Dutch fleet anchored near Den Briel, the Dutch warships fired 'white smoke' as a salute, as was mandatory...
, with Temple's wife Dorothy Osborne
Dorothy Osborne
Dorothy Osborne, Lady Temple was a British writer of letters and wife of Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet.-Life:Osborne was born at Chicksands Priory, Bedfordshire, England, the youngest of ten children born to a staunchly Royalist family. Her father was the nobleman Sir Peter Osborne, who was the...
aboard, on 24 August 1671 sail through the Dutch fleet at anchor off Den Briel for maintenance. The Dutch ships duly struck their flag in salute first, as was mandatory under treaty, but refused to salute firing white smoke, because they were doubtful the Merlin counted as a real warship. Charles now ordered the intriguer George Downing
Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet
Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet was an Anglo-Irish soldier, statesman, and diplomat. Downing Street in London is named after him. As Treasury Secretary he is credited with instituting major reforms in public finance. His influence was substantial on the passage and substance of the mercantilist...
, the new ambassador in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, to demand that the admirals responsible would be severely punished, which the States-General of the Netherlands
States-General of the Netherlands
The States-General of the Netherlands is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes in which medieval...
refused. Early 1672, Downing, who already had made himself profoundly hated by the Dutch population when he was an ambassador in the previous war, had to flee The Hague in fear of his life. Temple — somewhat wryly as he was rather sympathetic to the Dutch himself — remarked to Charles that now both he and his wife had had the honour to have become instruments of doom for the Dutch.
Though De Witt tended to believe the repeated diplomatic assurances by the French and English that they had no invasion in mind, many Dutch politicians and military men interpreted the French diplomatic activities in the German principalities, the preparing of the English Navy and the raising of large armies as sure signs of an imminent war. On 25 February 1672, William III, despite his youth, was appointed Captain-General of the confederate Dutch army. Factional strife and uncertainty about the French strategy prevented a strong field army from being created; most of the 83,000 troops (70,700 infantry and 12,710 cavalry in June 1672) were assigned to the fortresses. Whereas the Dutch Republic was thus ill-prepared for a land campaign, the situation at sea was much more favourable, even though the States-General decided to limit the naval budget to 4,776,248 guilders (down from an original projected budget of 7,893,992 guilders) in order not to provoke the English. In 1667, the Dutch navy, after having destroyed the core of the English navy at Chatham, had been the strongest in the world. Although in 1672 this had again changed, with the English having replaced the capital ships lost, while few Dutch ships had been built and one of the five autonomous Dutch admiralties, that of Friesland
Admiralty of Friesland
The Admiralty of Friesland or Frisian Admiralty was one of the five admiralties of the Dutch Republic...
, was unable to contribute many ships because that province was attacked by Münster, the Dutch successfully prevented a blockade of their coast and any landing of enemy troops, despite being outnumbered by a third by the combined Anglo–French fleet. The reason for this success were the much improved training standards. In the major battles of 1666, the Dutch navy still had to get used to its brandnew, much heavier, warships and some costly tactical mistakes had been made; also personal conflict between Lieutenant-Admirals Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter is the most famous and one of the most skilled admirals in Dutch history. De Ruyter is most famous for his role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. He fought the English and French and scored several major victories against them, the best known probably...
and Cornelis Tromp
Cornelis Tromp
Sir Cornelis Maartenszoon Tromp, 1st Baronet was a Dutch naval officer. He was the son of Lieutenant Admiral Maarten Tromp. He became Lieutenant Admiral General in the Dutch Navy and briefly Admiral General in the Danish Navy...
had damaged the unity of the fleet. De Ruyter used the summer of 1671 to execute many training manoeuvres employing the line-of-battle, perfecting the fire drill and installing a new sense of coherence and discipline. As a result, the Republic was in 1672 at the apex of its naval power; in the English navy however, Admiral Edward Spragge
Edward Spragge
Sir Edward Spragge was an English admiral. His name was also written as Spragg or Sprague.Spragge was a fiery, brilliantly accomplished Irish seaman who fought in many great actions after the restoration of King Charles II in 1660.Spragge was an officer of the Royal Navy who remained loyal to the...
had grown jealous of supreme commander Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, 1st Duke of Cumberland, 1st Earl of Holderness , commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, KG, FRS was a noted soldier, admiral, scientist, sportsman, colonial governor and amateur artist during the 17th century...
. Also, Spragge broke formation in two battles to seek out his personal enemy Tromp, having vowed to kill him for having insulted his wife. Cooperation between the English and the French navies was poor, plagued by misunderstandings and suspicions.
Charles had intended to make William his creature by raising him from a position of unimportance to that of nominal ruler, ensuring his subservience to the English king. The threat of an invasion however, had as an unintended side-effect that the position of William grew stronger independently. In January 1672, William, by then having figured out the intentions of Charles by himself, tried to exploit this by offering Charles to make the Dutch Republic a faithful ally of England. In return, Charles would have to demand from the States-General that William be appointed stadtholder — and break with France. Charles did not take up this suggestion as, without the threat of a French invasion, he could hardly expect the Dutch to remain submissive.
As happened in the previous conflict, even before the formal outbreak of war, the English tried to intercept the Dutch Smyrna Fleet, a yearly convoy of Dutch merchants from the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
sailing with a flotilla to protect them from the Barbary Corsairs
Barbary corsairs
The Barbary Corsairs, sometimes called Ottoman Corsairs or Barbary Pirates, were pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Tunis, Tripoli and Algiers. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, a term derived from the name of its Berber...
. From 12 March 1672 (Old Style), Admiral Robert Holmes
Robert Holmes (admiral)
Sir Robert Holmes was an English Admiral of the Restoration Navy. He took part in the second and third Anglo-Dutch wars, both of which he is, by some, credited with having started. He was made governor of the Isle of Wight, where he is buried in Yarmouth parish church...
attacked the convoy in the English Channel, but was beaten back by Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest
Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest
Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest is a Dutch admiral from the 17th century.Cornelis was the second son of Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Evertsen the Elder, nephew of Lieutenant-Admiral Johan Evertsen and cousin of the latter's son Vice-Admiral Cornelis Evertsen the Younger, with whom he is very often...
, capturing only a limited number of prizes.
The invasion
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, having declared war on 6 April 1672 (New Style), by declaring war on 7 April, using as a pretext the Merlin incident. Many sources incorrectly state the English were the first to declare war on 27 March, a mistake caused by the fact the English were still using the Julian calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
, then ten days behind the Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
in use at the Continent. A French army of 130,000 (118,000 foot and 12,500 horse), exceptionally accompanied by Louis himself, in two months marched through Liège, bypassed the strong Dutch fortress of Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
, advanced along the Rhine, took the Rhine fortresses of Cleves
Duchy of Cleves
The Duchy of Cleves was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and the town of Wesel, bordering the lands of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster in the east and the Duchy of Brabant in the west...
and then on 12 June crossed the Lower Rhine
Lower Rhine
The Lower Rhine flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hoek van Holland, Netherlands.Almost immediately after entering the Netherlands, the Rhine splits into many branches. The main branch is called the Waal which flows from Nijmegen to meet the river Meuse; after which it is called Merwede...
into the Betuwe
Betuwe
The Betuwe is an area in the Netherlands in the province of Gelderland...
, thus invading the Republic itself and outflanking the IJssel Line. As a result the province of Overijssel
Overijssel
Overijssel is a province of the Netherlands in the central eastern part of the country. The region has a NUTS classification of NL21. The province's name means "Lands across river IJssel". The capital city of Overijssel is Zwolle and the largest city is Enschede...
withdrew its troops from the already small Dutch field army to protect its own cities; soon after it capitulated to Bernhard von Galen
Bernhard von Galen
Christoph Bernhard Freiherr von Galen was prince-bishop of Münster. He was born into a noble Westphalian family....
, the bishop of Münster, who then marched north to occupy Drenthe
Drenthe
Drenthe is a province of the Netherlands, located in the north-east of the country. The capital city is Assen. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and Germany to the east.-History:Drenthe, unlike many other parts of the Netherlands, has been a...
and lay siege to Groningen. William was forced to fall back on Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
, but the burghers
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
refused to let him in. Instead they opened their gates to the French army, to avoid a siege. William withdrew behind the Dutch Water Line, a deliberate flooding to protect the core province of Holland, but the inundations were not ready yet, only having been ordered by the States of Holland
States of Holland
The States of Holland and West Frisia were the representation of the two Estates to the court of the Count of Holland...
on 8 June and hampered by villages unwilling to let the water damage their property.
Meanwhile the first sea battle had taken place. After the English declaration of war, the States-General had increased the naval budget with 2.2 million guilders. De Witt, seeking a decisive naval victory, had decided on an aggressive strategy and sent out De Ruyter with the mission to destroy the Allied fleet. On 7 June, he surprised it when resupplying on the English coast; it was only saved from a severe defeat in the Battle of Solebay
Battle of Solebay
The naval Battle of Solebay took place on 28 May Old Style, 7 June New Style 1672 and was the first naval battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War.-The battle:...
by a sudden turning of the wind, causing De Ruyter to lose the weather gage
Weather gage
The weather gage is a nautical term used to describe the advantageous position of a fighting sailing vessel, relative to another. The term is from the Age of Sail, and is now antiquated. A ship is said to possess the weather gage if it is in any position, at sea, upwind of the other vessel...
. Nevertheless the damage incurred — including the death of Admiral Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich
Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich
Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, KG was an English Infantry officer who later became a naval officer. He was the only surviving son of Sir Sidney Montagu, and was brought up at Hinchingbrooke House....
— was so extensive that the Allies would be prevented from executing major naval actions for the rest of the season, apart from a failed attempt to intercept the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
(VOC) Return Fleet from the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
. A blockade of the Dutch coast failed. Johan de Witt's brother Cornelis de Witt
Cornelis de Witt
Cornelis de Witt was a Dutch politician.-Biography:Cornelis de Witt was a member of the old Dutch patrician family De Witt. He was born on 15 June 1623 in Dordrecht, Holland, Dutch Republic...
had accompanied the fleet to make the States regime share in the glory, but the events on land nullified this.
The sudden appearance of a hostile army in the heart of the Republic caused a general panic. On 14 June, the States of Holland decided to ask for peace conditions from France and England. This convinced Louis that the war was already won and on the advice of de Louvois
François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois
François Michel Le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois was the French Secretary of State for War for a significant part of the reign of Louis XIV. Louvois and his father, Michel le Tellier, would increase the French Army to 400,000 soldiers, an army that would fight four wars between 1667 and 1713...
he began negotiations to reach a treaty as favourable as possible for France. The city populations rioted, blaming the States regime for the disaster and calling for the Prince of Orange to take over government. Most city councils turned Orangist or were even replaced by threat of force with Orangist partisans. Charles had always supported the Orangist faction; now they repaid him with accusing the States faction of wanting to betray the land to the French and depicting Charles as the only man able and willing to save the Dutch from French subjugation. In Dutch history, the year 1672, the national annus horribilis
Annus horribilis
Annus horribilis is a Latin phrase meaning "horrible year", or alternatively, "year of horrors". It alludes to annus mirabilis meaning "year of wonders".-Elizabeth II:...
, subsequently became known as the "Year of Disaster" (Rampjaar
Rampjaar
The rampjaar was the year 1672 in Dutch history. In that year,the Republic of the Seven United Provinces was after the outbreak of the Franco-Dutch War and the Third Anglo-Dutch War attacked by England, France, and the prince-electors Bernhard von Galen, bishop of Münster and Maximilian Henry of...
). A Dutch saying was coined to describe the situation of the state: Redeloos, radeloos, reddeloos, meaning: "reasonless" (the people), "clueless" (the authorities), "rescueless" (the country).
In fact the situation was not as immediately desperate as the population believed. De Witt had assumed the conflicting interests of England and France would prevent their successful cooperation. The two kings, motivated by a shared lust for revenge, had managed to put their differences aside as long as their immediate common goal of humiliating the Republic had not been reached yet. Now that it was, each began to worry the other would benefit too much from the war; neither would allow a complete domination of the Republic, and its huge mercantile assets, by his formal ally. When a Dutch mission arrived suing for peace, Louis only demanded Delfzijl, by far the least important port Charles desired, for the English. Yet, when he was offered the southern fortresses of the Republic — the French possession of which would make the Spanish Netherlands indefensible — and ten million guilders, he refused. Knowing that the mission was not allowed to make any concessions on the point of religion and the territorial integrity of the provinces themselves (the southern fortress cities of Breda
Breda
Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance...
, 's-Hertogenbosch and Maastricht were in the Generality Lands
Generality Lands
The Generality Lands, Lands of the Generality or Common Lands were about one fifth of the territories of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, that were directly governed by the States-General...
) Louis demanded — besides twenty million guilders and an annual embassy from the States-General to Louis asking pardon for their perfidy — either religious freedom for the Catholics or lordship over Utrecht
Utrecht (province)
Utrecht is the smallest province of the Netherlands in terms of area, and is located in the centre of the country. It is bordered by the Eemmeer in the north, Gelderland in the east, the river Rhine in the south, South Holland in the west, and North Holland in the northwest...
and Guelders
Guelders
Guelders or Gueldres is the name of a historical county, later duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries.-Geography:...
, merely to humiliate the Dutch a bit further. Still he didn't continue his advance fearing to drive the Dutch into the hands of Charles. He waited while the mission returned to ask for new instructions, which would take some time given the decentralised nature of the Dutch administration; all the city councils would have to be consulted on the issue. Meanwhile the water gradually filled the polder
Polder
A polder is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments known as dikes, that forms an artificial hydrological entity, meaning it has no connection with outside water other than through manually-operated devices...
s of the defence line. On 7 July, the inundations were fully set and the province of Holland was safe from a further French advance. Louis wasn't overly worried by this; he was very much focused on Amsterdam and, an early attempt to take the city by a sudden cavalry assault having failed, had decided in any case to avoid an expensive and inevitably very muddy siege by waiting till winter when he expected — reasonably so in the Little Ice Age
Little Ice Age
The Little Ice Age was a period of cooling that occurred after the Medieval Warm Period . While not a true ice age, the term was introduced into the scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939...
— his troops to be able to advance over the ice. He personally returned to France on 26 July, taking 18,000 men with him and freeing 20,000 Dutch prisoners of war, to avoid having to pay for their maintenance.
On 4 July, William was appointed stadtholder of Holland; on 16 July, of Zealand
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
. In early July, Charles had decided to secure his share of the booty and sent Lord Arlington
Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington
Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington KG, PC was an English statesman.- Background and early life :He was the son of Sir John Bennet of Dawley, Middlesex, and of Dorothy Crofts. He was the younger brother of John Bennet, 1st Baron Ossulston; his sister was Elizabeth Bennet who married Robert Kerr,...
, one of the few English politicians privy to the Treaty of Dover, together with the Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG, PC, FRS was an English statesman and poet.- Upbringing and education :...
to the Republic to convey his peace conditions. Arlington landed in Brill accompanied by a group of Dutch Orangist exiles and then travelled to William at the Dutch headquarters in Nieuwerbrug
Nieuwerbrug
Nieuwerbrug is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the former municipality of Bodegraven, and lies about five kilometres west of Woerden....
, all the way being cheered by Dutch crowds, believing he had come to promise English support against the French. Arriving on 5 July, he brought William the good news that Charles insisted on his nephew being made Sovereign Prince of Holland. Everything would be all right if only William would then consent to an equitable peace, including paying the English ten million guilders for their efforts, paying a yearly sum of ₤10,000 for the North Sea herring rights and reinstating the clauses of the 1585 Treaty of Nonsuch
Treaty of Nonsuch
The Treaty of Nonsuch was signed by Elizabeth I of England and the Netherlands on 10 August 1585 at Nonsuch Palace in Surrey.-Background:The treaty was provoked by the signing of the Treaty of Joinville in 1584 between Philip II of Spain and the Catholic League in France in which Philip II promised...
about Brill, Sluys and Flushing
Flushing, Netherlands
Vlissingen is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an important harbour for centuries. It was granted city rights in 1315. In the 17th century...
being English securities. Far from finding William grateful to his uncle for having brought about his rise to power, Arlington soon discovered that the stadtholder was outraged by these demands, the prince even uncharacteristically losing his temper in public. He yelled that he would rather "die a thousand times than accept them". Arlington in turn threatened the Dutch state with total annihilation if William did not comply; in the end the meeting turned into a quarrel and Arlington left without having accomplished anything. He then travelled to Heeswijk
Heeswijk
Heeswijk is a Dutch town. It is located in the province of North Brabant, in the south of the Netherlands.Heeswijk was a separate municipality until 1969, when it merged with the adjacent village of Dinther. Since 1 January 1994 it has been part of the larger municipality of Bernheze, which...
, the headquarters of the French army in vain besieging 's-Hertogenbosch, where he on 16 July concluded the Accord of Heeswijk with the French, each party agreeing on a minimal shared list of demands and promising never to conclude a separate peace. These demands were again refused by William on 20 July.
On 18 July, William received a letter from Charles, very moderate in tone, in which the king claimed that the entire campaign was merely directed against the States regime and that the only obstacle to peace was the continued influence of the faction of De Witt. William responded by offering the herring rights, ₤400,000, Sluys and Surinam; in return Charles should make him Sovereign Prince and conclude a separate peace. Annoyed Charles answered by accusing William of being unreasonably obstinate and scheming behind his back with politicians of the Country Party, the later "Whigs".
De Witt had had to resign from his function of Grand Pensionary after he had been wounded by an attempt on his life in June. His brother Cornelis had been arrested on (probably false) charges of having plotted to murder William. On 15 August, the stadtholder published Charles's letter to further incite the population against De Witt. There were many new riots; on 20 August, Johan de Witt visited his brother in prison; both were then murdered by an Orangist civil militia that had been instructed by Tromp, the Orangist admiral. William's power was now secure from internal threats.
The Allies now found themselves in a rather awkward position. If the Battle of Solebay had not prevented it, they would have been able to force the Dutch population to surrender by starvation, as it was dependent for its survival on supplies of Baltic grain. Now they had no clear exit strategy
Exit strategy
An exit strategy is a means of leaving one's current situation, either after a predetermined objective has been achieved, or as a strategy to mitigate failure. An organisation or individual without an exit strategy may be in a quagmire...
; they could only wait hoping the Dutch would at last understand the hopelessness of their situation and capitulate. Meanwhile their own situation deteriorated. The war was very expensive and especially Charles had trouble paying for it. Münster was in an even worse condition; in August it had to abandon the siege of Groningen; before 1672 had ended Coevorden
Coevorden
Coevorden is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands. During the municipal reorganisation in the province in 1998, Coevorden merged with Dalen, Sleen, Oosterhesselen and Zweeloo.- Population centers :...
was retaken and the province of Drenthe liberated, leaving the Allies in possession of only three of the in fact ten (despite the number traditionally given of seven) Dutch provincial areas. The supply lines of the French army were dangerously extended and William in the autumn of 1672 tried to cut them off, marching all the way through the Spanish Netherlands to attack Charleroi
Charleroi
Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...
, then a French border city close to the supply route through Liège. Also the German states, though having promised Louis to remain neutral, had become very worried by the French success and especially by the refusal to withdraw from the Duchy of Cleves
Duchy of Cleves
The Duchy of Cleves was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and the town of Wesel, bordering the lands of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster in the east and the Duchy of Brabant in the west...
. On 25 July, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Leopold I
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...
, concluded a defensive treaty with the Republic in The Hague and together with Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
sent an army to the Rhine. Though this force did not attack the French army, its presence was enough to draw it to the east in response.
1673
In the winter of 1673 the French failed to cross the Water Line over the ice, thwarted both by sudden thaws and special Dutch sailor companies moving on skateIce skate
Ice skates are boots with blades attached to the bottom, used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice. They are worn as footwear in many sports, including ice hockey, bandy and figure skating. The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with...
s, organised by temporary Lieutenant-Admiral Johan de Liefde. The attack from the east thus being considered impractical, the activities of the Royal Navy gained much more importance. It was now ordered, in cooperation with a French squadron, to at least blockade the Dutch coast and, if possible, execute a landing on it, conquering the Republic from the west. How this should be accomplished exactly, was not very clear. The English navy, in contrast to the Dutch fleet, had little experience in shore landings, so it was expected to directly take some Dutch port by assault, despite having insufficient recent information about the dangerous constantly shifting shoals.
Before this could happen the Dutch fleet would have to be defeated first. Although deliberately creating the impression — in order to frighten the Dutch population into an invasion scare — that transports, carrying an army, were sailing immediately behind the war fleet, in fact the (rather small) invasion force was left in Yarmouth
Yarmouth, Isle of Wight
Yarmouth is a port and civil parish in the western part of the Isle of Wight, off the southern coast of mainland England. The town is named for its location at the mouth of the small Western Yar river...
, only to be shipped after a full control over the seas had been attained. In this the French would be of little help; they had received clear orders by Louis to give absolute priority to the survival of their vessels and inform him personally about what knowledge they had gained by observing the English and Dutch tactics. The French navy thus considered the campaign first of all to be a great learning opportunity; it would indeed be very instructive.
Schooneveld
The Schooneveld is a shallow basin at the mouth of the Scheldt river, near the island of Walcheren, off the coast of the Netherlands. It runs parallel to the continental coast, narrowing from the southwest to the northeast, bounded by the irregular, shifting and very dangerous Raan shoal in the...
. Rupert tried to outflank the smaller Dutch fleet hoping to force it to seek refuge in the naval port fortress of Hellevoetsluis
Hellevoetsluis
Hellevoetsluis is a small city and municipality on Voorne-Putten Island in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland...
, where it could be blocked while the transport fleet would be brought over to storm either Brill in Holland or Flushing on Walcheren in Zealand. Instead De Ruyter attacked, starting the First Battle of the Schooneveld
Battle of Schooneveld
The Battles of Schooneveld were two naval battles of the Franco-Dutch War, fought off the coast of the Netherlands on 7 June and 14 June 1673 between an allied Anglo-French fleet commanded by Prince Rupert of the Rhine, and the fleet of the United Provinces, commanded by Michiel de Ruyter.The...
. In the Battle of Solebay of the previous year the French squadron had on sight of the approaching Dutch fleet sailed in a direction opposite to that of the English fleet. To counter English accusations that this had been done on purpose to let the English bear the brunt of the fighting, the French now formed the centre squadron. When a gap formed in the French line, De Ruyter suddenly tacked with his own centre and sailed through it. After a while the French disengaged — later writing enthusiastic reports to Louis about feeling honoured to witness the tactical genius shown by De Ruyter by this manoeuvre — exposing the Allied rear to encirclement by the Dutch rear and centre. On perceiving the danger, its commander, Spragge, abandoned the remainder of the rear with his flotilla to seek out Tromp, who was rather hesitantly attacked by Rupert in the van, fearing the shoals. Thus being outmanoeuvred and divided, the Allied fleet only managed to reunite because De Ruyter decided not to take any unnecessary risks by pressing his advantage; but the disorder was so persistent, it had to withdraw at nightfall.
Rupert now was at a loss how to continue the campaign; not daring to enter the dangerous Schooneveld again, his only hope was to lure the Dutch out; but he was so convinced De Ruyter would never leave this ideal blocking position, his fleet was unready when the resupplied Dutch fleet indeed attacked on 14 June, starting the Second Battle of the Schooneveld
Battle of Schooneveld
The Battles of Schooneveld were two naval battles of the Franco-Dutch War, fought off the coast of the Netherlands on 7 June and 14 June 1673 between an allied Anglo-French fleet commanded by Prince Rupert of the Rhine, and the fleet of the United Provinces, commanded by Michiel de Ruyter.The...
. Rupert at the very last moment decided to invert his squadron order, hereby causing such a chaos in the Allied fleet, that the Dutch and French were too astonished to fully commit themselves to the fight. Spragge however, now not having to break formation as there really was none, again sought out Tromp, without success. Much damaged and its morale shaken, the Allied fleet returned to the Thames for repairs.
In late July, Rupert sailed out again, trying to lure the Dutch fleet to the north, pretending to attempt a landing at Den Helder
Den Helder
Den Helder is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula...
. De Ruyter at first decided not to leave his Schooneveld position, but was ordered to do so by William to prevent a Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
fleet, loaded with spices and treasure, from being captured, which might alleviate Charles's lack of funds. This resulted in the final Battle of Texel
Battle of Texel
The naval Battle of Texel or Battle of Kijkduin took place on 21 August 1673 between the Dutch and the combined English and French fleets and was the last major battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, which was itself part of the Franco-Dutch War , during which Louis XIV of France invaded the...
. Both sides now no longer restrained their forces, striving for a decision; even the French fought hard, but for the fourth time allowed themselves to get separated from the English fleet. Spragge broke formation for the second time to duel with Tromp; on this occasion losing his life. Having incurred enormous damage both fleets retreated. This tactical draw was a complete strategic victory for the Dutch, even though some ships of the Spice Fleet ultimately fell into Allied hands. For De Ruyter, the successful campaign, repelling attacks by much superior fleets to save his homeland, had been the highlight of his career, as the English readily acknowledged; the Duke of York
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
concluded that among admirals "he was the greatest that ever to that time was in the world". The plans for an invasion from the sea had to be abandoned and the large costs of repair troubled Parliament.
Overall the war had been far from profitable. In previous conflicts many in England had gained riches by joining privateering enterprises; in this war Dutch raiders managed to capture more English ships (over 550 merchantmen; 2800 vessels of all Allies) than vice versa. Being well aware that the war was waged by English and French nobles who disdained the Dutch as a nation of "cheesemongers", at least three privateers sailed under the name of the Getergde Kaasboer, the "Provoked Cheesemonger". The English had failed in blockading the Dutch coast and were themselves largely blocked from the vital Baltic trade in wood and tar. That New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(formerly New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
) had been retaken by the Dutch in 1673 mattered little in financial respect, like the temporary loss of Saint Helena
Saint Helena
Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...
, but hurt the English reputation. In the East, on 1 September 1673 a Dutch East India Company fleet commanded by Cornelis van Quaelbergen defeated an East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
squadron under William Basse
William Basse
William Basse was an English poet. He was a follower of Edmund Spenser. He is now remembered mostly for a eulogy he wrote about Shakespeare.-Life:...
off Masulipatam. The material damage compounded a moral unease about the justifiability of the war; John Evelyn
John Evelyn
John Evelyn was an English writer, gardener and diarist.Evelyn's diaries or Memoirs are largely contemporaneous with those of the other noted diarist of the time, Samuel Pepys, and cast considerable light on the art, culture and politics of the time John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February...
already after Solebay wrote: "the loss of my Lord Sandwich redoubled the loss to me, as well the folly of hazarding so brave a fleet, and losing so many good men, for no provocation in the world but because the Hollander exceeded us in industry, and all things else but envy". In November 1673 Parliament voted to deny Charles a war budget for 1674.
Meanwhile the developments in the land war had also become very unfavourable to Charles. The ultimate aim of the French and their deeper rationale for this war was to conquer the Spanish Netherlands. Such a conquest would however be very detrimental to the English strategic position: should the province of Holland capitulate to them the French would then control the entire continental coast opposite England, as would be the case later, in the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. For this reason Charles had in the Treaty of Dover explicitly reserved his rights to come to the aid of the Spanish Netherlands should his interests demand so; Louis thus had to delay the execution of his plans in this region until the Dutch affair was finished. Now that a deadlock had been reached Louis's patience was severely tried and eventually the tempation to take possession of the Southern Netherlands while they were so vulnerable became too great. He gradually turned his attention to this area, first by the capture of Maastricht
Siege of Maastricht
The Siege of Maastricht was one of the key elements in King Louis XIV's plans to attack the Netherlands, in order to revenge the humiliating conditions enforced on him by the Triple Alliance when he tried to fully conquer the Spanish Netherlands...
in July 1673, in which Monmouth's brigade played an honourable rôle. Though this could be justified as improving the supply situation of the northern French army, its potential as a starting point for a Flemish campaign was not lost on the Spanish. On 30 August, the Republic, the Empire, Spain and Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine
Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine
Charles IV was Duke of Lorraine from 1624 to 1634, when he abdicated under French pressure in favor of his younger brother, and again from 1661 until 1675.- Biography :...
(who wanted his duchy back from Louis) concluded the Quadruple Alliance
Quadruple Alliance
The term "Quadruple Alliance" refers to several historical military alliances; none of which remain in effect.# The Quadruple Alliance of August 1673 was an alliance between the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Spain, Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine, and the United Provinces of the Netherlands, in...
and William made sure peace negotiations held with France in Cologne failed. In November Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
was taken by the alliance forces commanded by William; this forced the French army to abandon almost all occupied Dutch territory, with the exception of Grave and Maastricht. A final victory over the Dutch had thus become most implausible; the war was changed into one about the dominion of Flanders and on this issue the natural interests of England were opposed to those of France. The changed international situation was an important consideration for Parliament influencing its decision to withhold funding, but internal events were even more decisive.
The Treaty of Dover was not only aimed at the Dutch Republic but also at the domination of Protestantism in England; Charles had promised Louis to try and end it. In accordance on 25 March 1672 he had issued the Royal Declaration of Indulgence
Royal Declaration of Indulgence
The Royal Declaration of Indulgence was Charles II of England's attempt to extend religious liberty to Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics in his realms, by suspending the execution of the penal laws that punished recusants from the Church of England...
, as a first step to complete religious tolerance. Parliament was shocked by this, but at first was unaware of the relation with the French alliance; in February 1673 it voted to start funding the alliance in exchange for a suspension of the Indulgence (and an issuing of the Test Act
Test Act
The Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and Nonconformists...
in March), not as yet seeing any contradiction in such policies. This would soon change however. Arlington's former secretary, Pierre du Moulin
Peter du Moulin
Peter du Moulin was a French-English Anglican clergyman, son of the Huguenot pastor Pierre du Moulin and brother of Lewis du Moulin. He was the anonymous author of Regii sanguinis clamor ad coelum adversus paricidas Anglicanos, published at The Hague in 1652, a royalist work defending Salmasius...
, had after fleeing to the Republic begun to work for William; in the summer of 1673 he exploited the fears of the English population by starting a propaganda campaign, using one of the Dutch main assets: the world's largest printing capacity. Soon England was flooded with tens of thousands of pamphlets accusing Charles of wanting to make the country Catholic again in conspiracy with the French king. The campaign was a complete success, convincing the English people that such a plan really existed; it was greatly aided by the decision by Charles's brother James, the Duke of York
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
, to lay down his position as Lord High Admiral
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
, which was generally (and correctly) interpreted as a sign that James had in secret become a Catholic and was therefore unable to abjure the transubstantiation
Transubstantiation
In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation means the change, in the Eucharist, of the substance of wheat bread and grape wine into the substance of the Body and Blood, respectively, of Jesus, while all that is accessible to the senses remains as before.The Eastern Orthodox...
doctrine, as the Test Act demanded of all officials. In September James married the Catholic Mary of Modena
Mary of Modena
Mary of Modena was Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of King James II and VII. A devout Catholic, Mary became, in 1673, the second wife of James, Duke of York, who later succeeded his older brother Charles II as King James II...
, a beautiful young girl especially selected for him by King Louis. As Charles himself had no legitimate offspring, this created the strong prospect of a Catholic dynasty ruling England in the future.
Reacting to the change in the public mood, Buckingham, who had learned of it during his trip to the Republic the previous year, began to leak the Dover Treaty to many fellow politicians and Arlington soon followed. Thus in a short time Charles's own cabinet, the Cabal Ministry
Cabal Ministry
The Cabal Ministry refers to a group of high councillers of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1668 to circa 1674.The term "Cabal" has a double meaning in this context. It refers to the fact that, for perhaps the first time in English history, effective power in a royal council...
, went over to the "Dutch" peace party; Lord Shaftesbury, much shocked by the revelation, even beginning to consider driving out the troublesome House of Stuart
House of Stuart
The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland...
entirely and inducing his secretary, John Locke
John Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
, to further develop the legal concepts which would later be the basis of the Two Treatises of Government
Two Treatises of Government
The Two Treatises of Government is a work of political philosophy published anonymously in 1689 by John Locke...
, which justified the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
of 1688.
In this situation Charles felt that continuing the alliance was a grave threat to his personal position. He informed the French ambassador Colbert de Croissy that to his regret he had to terminate the English war effort and told the Dutch via the Spanish consul in London, the Marquess del Fresno, that, his main war aim, to install his noble nephew as stadtholder, having been attained, there was no longer any objection on his side to concluding a lasting peace between the two Protestant brother nations, if only some minor "indemnities" could be paid. At first the States of Holland were disinclined to grant Charles's demands: as England had accomplished nothing in the war, it was, in their opinion, not entitled to anything. Many members admitted their personal satisfaction in the thought that the British might be kept suffering a bit longer. But William convinced them that there was even some chance of bringing Charles into the war against France eventually and that this had to take precedence over petty considerations of retribution, unworthy of their high office. Furthermore Spain had still not declared war on France and was only willing to do so if England made peace, because it feared English attacks on its American colonies.
Second Peace of Westminster
On 4 January 1674 the States-General drafted a final peace proposal. On 7 January a Dutch trumpeter arrived in HarwichHarwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
, carrying with him two letters for the Spanish consul. Though the herald was promptly arrested by the town mayor, the letters were sent to Lord Arlington, who hurriedly brought them in person to del Fresno; Arlington was in turn on 15 January impeached by Sir Gilbert Gerard
Sir Gilbert Gerard, 1st Baronet of Fiskerton
Sir Gilbert Gerard, 1st Baronet of Fiskerton was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1661 to 1685.Gerard was the son of Ratcliffe Gerard and his wife Jennet Barret, daughter of Edward Barret, of Pembrokeshire....
for high treason as by this very act he had shown to have secret dealings with the enemy. On 24 January the consul handed the letters, containing the peace proposal, to Charles, who pretended to be greatly surprised by this, although he had especially recalled Parliament, prorogued by him in November, for this occasion that very same day. While addressing both Houses the King first emphatically denied the existence of the Treaty of Dover and then produced the peace proposal to the great satisfaction of the members — who in turn had to pretend surprise although Parliament had been informed beforehand by the Dutch of the full content. After some days of debate the treaty was approved by Parliament.
This news was met with open joy by the populace. Charles now sent his own trumpeter who was received by the States-General on 1 February. His message was that Charles could announce the absolute agreement of himself and Parliament on this matter, to which institution he gladly deferred. On 5 February a Dutch trumpeter arrived in London, carrying the response of the States-General. That very day Parliament advised the King to conclude a "speedy peace". A Royal Commission was appointed to make a final draft; the Treaty of Westminster
Treaty of Westminster (1674)
The Treaty of Westminster of 1674 was the peace treaty that ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Signed by the Netherlands and England, it provided for the return of the colony of New Netherland to England and renewed the Treaty of Breda of 1667...
was signed by the King on 9 February Old Style, 19 February New Style, 1674. It was ratified by the Lord Keeper on 10 February by placement of the Great Seal
Great Seal of the Realm
The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom is a seal that is used to symbolise the Sovereign's approval of important state documents...
; on 17 February it was publicly proclaimed. It was approved by the States of Holland and West Frisia on 4 March (New Style) and ratified by the States-General on 5 March. Due to the different calendars in use in the two countries and the complex procedure, when a single date is given the literature is not in agreement.
The treaty stipulated that New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
(formerly New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
) would henceforth be an English possession and that Suriname
Suriname
Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...
, captured by the Dutch in 1667, would remain their colony, confirming the status quo of 1667. An "indemnity" of two million guilders was paid by the Dutch. Monmouth's brigade would however, not be withdrawn from the French army and be allowed to recruit in Britain until the end of the Franco-Dutch War. An attempt by William to convince his uncle to enter the war against Louis failed in April; Charles would till the end of that war in 1678 try to negotiate between the two parties, at times pretending to really consider a conflict with France, when such pretence was beneficial to him. In 1677 he forced his niece Mary
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
to marry William, one of the fundamental causes of the fall of his brother in 1688.
See also
- Anglo–Dutch Wars
- History of EnglandHistory of EnglandThe history of England concerns the study of the human past in one of Europe's oldest and most influential national territories. What is now England, a country within the United Kingdom, was inhabited by Neanderthals 230,000 years ago. Continuous human habitation dates to around 12,000 years ago,...
- Military history of EnglandMilitary history of EnglandThe Military history of England deals with the period prior to the creation of the united Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. For the period after 1707 see Military history of the United Kingdom.-Medieval period:...
- History of the NetherlandsHistory of the NetherlandsThe history of the Netherlands is the history of a maritime people thriving on a watery lowland river delta at the edge of northwestern Europe. When the Romans and written history arrived in 57 BC, the country was sparsely populated by various tribal groups at the periphery of the empire...
- New AmsterdamNew AmsterdamNew Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
- Province of New YorkProvince of New YorkThe Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...