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Fourth Division. The French Period.

Cause. Richelieu influences the Swedish government not to accede to the peace of Prague. The elector of Saxony had by an express article of this peace pledged himself to assist in driving the Swedes from Germany. Richelieu wishes to prevent their expulsion.

Duration. Nearly 14 years, (1635-1648.)

Theatre of war. Two different theatres of war in Germany. In the east, the Swedes; in the west, the French.

Character of the war. purely political struggle. Object of the war. The political annihilation of the German Empire. Result of the war. The policy of France and Sweden is entirely successful. Great commanders. Imperialists: Von Werth. Anti-imperialists: Bernard of Weimar, Baner, Wrangel, Torstenson, Condé, Turenne.

The war has lost its religious character. It is a

Decisive battles. Gained by the Imperialists: Duttlingen, (1643.) Gained by the Anti-imperialists: Wittstock, (1636;) Leipsic, (1643;) Jankau, (1645;) Allerheim, (1645.)

Peace. See PEACE OF WESTPHALIA.

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Duration. Four years, (1642-1645.)

Theatre of war. England.

Character of the war. Partly religious, partly political.

Object of the war. To bring the government of England under the control of the house of commons.

Result of the war. The government under the control of the army.

Great commanders. Royalists: Prince Rupert, Newcastle, Falkland, Montrose. Anti-royalists: Fairfax and Cromwell.

Decisive battles. Marston Moor (1644) and Naseby, (1645,) both gained by Cromwell.

b. Second Civil War.

Cause. The refusal of the parliament to treat any longer with Charles.
Duration. Six months, (March-August, 1648.)
Theatre of war. The northwest of England.

Object of the war. An army of 14,000 Scotchmen crosses the border with the intention of reinstating Charles on his throne.

Result of the war. Trial and execution of the king, (1649.)

Decisive battle. The Scots defeated at Preston by Cromwell. Remark. The first acts of the Commons, after the execution of the king, were the abolition of the office of royalty, and of the house of lords, the sale of the church and crown lands, and the punishment of some of the more distinguished royalists. A council of state was appointed, of which Bradshaw was the president, Milton the foreign secretary. Cromwell was made lieutenant-general. England was declared a commonwealth. The house of commons, reduced to

a small number of members, was nominally the supreme power of the state. In fact, the army and its great chief governed everything. Cromwell had made its choice. He had kept the hearts of his soldiers, and had broken with almost every other class of his fellow-citizens.

III. THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.

A. DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF MAZARIN.

I. The Franco-Spanish War. Cause. The elector of Trèves had admitted French troops in his fortresses, and had named Richelieu his coadjutor, a step by which that cardinal might have eventually secured a vote as one of the electors of the empire. The elector had, on account of these proceedings of his, been put under the ban of the empire, and in March, 1635, a Spanish corps surprised Trèves, and carried off the elector a prisoner to Antwerp. Richelieu immediately demanded the elector's liberation from the governor of the Netherlands. On the refusal of this demand, war was openly declared by a French herald at Brussels, (May, 1635.) Duration. Twenty-four years, (1635-1659.)

Theatre of war. The confines of the French and Spanish Empires, (Spain, Italy, Rhine countries, Belgium.)

Object of the war. The extension of the French boundaries; especially the acquisition of Belgium.

Result of the war. France gains Artois in the north, and Rousillon in the south.

Parties. France allied with the Swedes and the Dutch, against the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs.

Commanders. Spanish: Piccolomini, Gallas, von Werth, Mercy, CONDE, (after 1652.) French: Bernard of Weimar, La Force, TURENNE.

Decisive battles. Four victories of the French under CONDE: Rocroy, (1643;) Freiburg, (1644;) Nordlingen, (1645;) and Lens, (1648.) Defeat of the Spanish army under Condé by TURENNE, at Dunkirk, (1658.)

Peace. The peace of the Pyrenees, (November, 1659.) The conditions were

almost entirely in favor of France, which gained nearly the whole of Artois, and several towns on the Franco-Belgian frontier. In the south the French boundary was extended to the foot of the Pyrenees.

It was stipulated that Condé should submit to the king with the assurance of a pardon and the government of Burgundy, and that Louis XIV. should espouse Maria Theresia, eldest daughter of Philip IV., king of Spain. (See GENEALOGY, IX.)

II. Anglo-Dutch Wars.

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a. First Anglo-Dutch War. Cause. The passing of the Navigation Act, (October 9th, 1651,) intended to cripple the carrying trade of the Dutch.

Duration. Nearly two years, (May, 1652-April, 1654.) Theatre of war. The narrow seas. (English channel, straits of Dover, southern part of the German ocean.)

Object of the war. To force England to take back the Navigation Act. Result of the war. Holland impoverished. England master of the narrow

seas.

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Great commanders. English: Blake, Monk. Dutch: Tromp, De Ruyter. Decisive battles. Twelve great battles, and many smaller encounters. Portland, off the North Foreland, off the Texel, (all English victories.) Peace. At Westminster. The Navigation Act remains in force-Holland has to strike its flag to England. The Act of Seclusion.

Remark. The Navigation Act, which had caused this war, prohibited all nations from importing into England, in their bottoms, any commodity which was not the growth and manufacture of their own country. By this law the Dutch were the principal sufferers, because they subsisted chiefly by being the general carriers and factors of Europe.

The Act of Seclusion, which was the result of the English victories, excluded for ever the house of Orange from the chief magistracy, and from the command of the armies of the Dutch republic.

b. Second Anglo-Dutch War.

Cause. The war was entered into both by the English court and people from interested motives, though of a different kind. The king (Charles II.) encouraged it as a pretence to get subsidies from his parliament, and also as a means to place his nephew, the prince of Orange, at the head of the Dutch republic. The king's brother, the duke of York, was incited to encourage the war by the prospect of employment, and the hope of distinguishing himself as an admiral. Lastly, the English nation was envious of the commercial prosperity of the Dutch. Duration. Nearly three years, (1665-1667.)

Theatre of war. The narrow seas, (that portion of the German ocean and English channel, which separates England from Holland.)

Object of the war. The annihilation of the Dutch commerce.

Result of the war, Mutual exhaustion.

Great commanders. English: The duke of York, and Monk. Dutch: De Ruyter, Tromp, Wassenaar.

Decisive battles. English victories: Off Lowestoff, on the Suffolk coast, (1665.) Dutch victories: Between Dunkirk and North Foreland, (1666,) Chatham, (1667.) Peace. At Breda. The English retained New York and New Jersey, while Surinam and the isle of Polerone in the Moluccas remained to the Dutch. The Navigation Act was so far modified that all merchandise coming down the Rhine was allowed to be imported into England in Dutch vessels; a measure which rendered the Dutch masters of a great part of the commerce of Germany.

B. DURING THE REIGN OF LOUIS XIV. '

I. Condition of France during the first part of the Reign of Louis XIV.

The territory of France was not quite so extensive as at present, but it was large, compact, fertile, well placed both for attack and for defence, situated in a happy climate, well inhabited by a brave, active, and ingenious people. The state implicitly obeyed the direction of a single mind. The great fiefs, which three hundred years before had been in all but name independent principalities, had been annexed to the crown. Only a few old men could remember the last meeting of the states-general. The resistance which the Huguenots, the nobles, and the parliament had offered to the kingly power had been put down by the two great cardinals (Richelieu and Mazarin) who had ruled the nation during 40 years. The government was now a despotism, but, at least in its dealings with the upper classes, a mild and generous despotism, tempered by courteous manners and chivalric sentiments. The means at the disposal of the sovereign were, for that age, truly formidable. His revenue- raised, it is true, by a severe and unequal taxation, which pressed heavily on the cultivators of the soil — far exceeded that of any other potentate. His army, excellently disciplined, and commanded by the greatest generals then living, already consisted of more than 120,000 men. Such an array of regular troops had not been seen in Europe since the downfall of the Roman Empire. Of maritime powers, France was not the first. But though she had rivals on the sea, she had not yet a superior. Such was her strength during the last forty years of the 17th century, that no enemy could singly withstand her; and two great coalitions, in which half Christendom was united against her, failed of success.

II. The Wars of Louis XIV. a. General Summary.

Cause. The marriage of Louis XV. with Maria Theresia, eldest daughter of Philip IV. of Spain, which gave him a claim to the Spanish monarchy. (See GENEALOGY, IX.)

Duration. Nearly a half century, (1667-1715.)

Theatre of war. The whole of south-western Europe.

Object of the wars. To make France the ruling power in Europe, and to extend its boundaries as far as possible.

Result of the wars. The utter exhaustion of France.

Number of wars. Four. I. The war of devolution, (1667–1668.) II. The

war with Holland, (1672-1678.) III. The war of the league of Augsburg, (1678-1697.) IV. The Spanish Succession War, (1702–1715.)

b. The War of Devolution.

Cause. Louis XIV. had married, in 1660, Maria Theresia, daughter of Philip IV. of Spain. The dowry was fixed at 500,000 crowns, and Philip made it a condition that his daughter should renounce for herself and her descendants every right she might have to the succession. On the death of Philip IV., (1668.) Louis, without paying attention to the renunciation made by Maria Theresia, immediately set up claims in her name to Flanders, to the exclusion of the rights of Charles II., the younger child of Philip IV. His pretext was that the dowry of the queen not having been paid, her renunciation was null and void, and he set up with respect to Flanders a right of devolution, which resulted from a custom in force in parts of the Low Countries, which gave the paternal heritage to children of the first marriage, in preference to those of the second. Maria Theresia, his wife, was a child of her father's first marriage, while Charles II. was a child of the second.

Duration. One year, (May, 1667-May, 1668.)
Theatre of war. Belgiam and Franche-Comté.

Object of the war. The incorporation of Belgium and Franche-Comté with the French monarchy.

Result of the war. French Flanders united with the French monarchy. France was thus established in the heart of Belgium, and able to push forward in a moment to the gates of Bruges, Ghent, and Antwerp.

Parties. Louis XIV., against the government of his brother-in-law, Charles II. Great commanders. French: Turenne, Vauban, Louvois, Condé. Campaigns. 1st. Louis enters Flanders, (May 18th, 1667,) which he conquers within three weeks. 2d. Louis enters Franche-Comté, (February, 1668,) which he conquers within two weeks.

Cause of peace. Europe became alarmed at these rapid successes, and a triple alliance was formed against Louis between Holland, England, and Sweden. John de Witt became the soul of this league, and it forced the king to sign the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.

Peace. May 1st, 1668, at Aix-la-Chapelle. Spain cedes to France the places captured in Belgium, and Louis XIV. restores Franche-Comté.

c. The War with Holland.

Cause. The desire to punish Holland for the part it had taken in the triple alliance, which had robbed Louis of the fruits of his campaign of 1668. Offended by some medals which represented the United Provinces as the arbiters of Europe, and irritated at the impertinence of certain gazetteers, the king seized upon these frivolous pretexts and declared war upon the Dutch. Duration. Nearly seven years, (1672–. 1678.)

Theatre of war. The middle and lower part of the Rhine valley, Belgium, and Franche-Comté.

Object of the war. The annihilation of Holland.

Result of the war. Holland did not lose a foot of ground in Europe. France reached its natural frontier on the east, the Jura.

Parties. France, England, Cologne, and Münster, against Holland — after 1674. France, with Sweden, opposed to the greater part of Europe. Great commanders. French: Condé, Turenne, Vauban, Luxembourg, Duquesne. Dutch William of Orange, De Ruyter. German: Montecuculi. Campaigns. Early in May, 1672, the French marched against Holland. With the assistance of their allies from Cologne and Münster, they occupied in a few weeks the provinces of Gelderland, Utrecht, Over-Yssel, and part of Holland. Despair lent strength to the vanquished. They opened their dikes and laid the country under water, for the purpose of compelling the French to evacuate it. Europe also rose in favor of Holland. The emperor Leopold, the kings of Spain and Denmark, the elector of Brandenburg, etc., leagued themselves against Louis XIV., who was not only compelled to abandon his conquests, (in the winter and spring, 1673-74,) but had to defend himself against the greater part of Europe. Louis in person entered Franche-Comté, which was conquered within two months, (May and June, 1674.) Condé opposed the prince of Orange in Belgium. Indecisive battle of Senef, (August, 1674.)

Turenne held the imperialists in check by a series of brilliant manœuvres on the Rhine. He burned 27 towns and villages in the palatinate, and conquered Elsass. (See TURENNE.)

Decisive battles. On land, gained by Turenne: Entsheim, (1674;) Türckheim, (1675.) On sea, gained by Duquesne: Off Palermo, (1676.)

Peace. At Nimwegen. (See this.)___The Peace of Nimwegen is the culminating point of Louis XIV.'s glory. But France now became the object of a jealousy excited by the pride of Louis, the pernicious counsels of Louvois, and the natural restlessness of the French people; which, after some time, produced misfortunes that embittered the last days of the French monarch with repentance and regret. d. Position of Louis XIV. after the Peace of Nimwegen.

The works executed by Colbert, Louvois, and Vauban; the conquests of Turenne and Condé; the halo of a brilliant literature; the eloquence of Bossuet, Bourdaloue, Fléchier, and Fénélon; the writings of Corneille, Molière, Racine, Boileau, La Fontaine, and so many other celebrated men; the profound works of the great thinkers and moralists, such as Pascal, Descartes, Malebranche, La Bruyère, and La Rochefoucauld; the marvellous artistic productions of the sculptors Girardon, Puget, Coysevox, and Couston; the artists Lesueur, Nicholas Poussin, Claude Lorraine, and Le Brun, and the architects Perrault, the two Mansards, and Le Notre; the scientific discoveries of the great mathematicians of this period, in the first rank of whom may be placed Pierre Fermat; and finally, the labors undertaken by the astronomers Picard and Cassini, for the purpose of measuring the globe · throw an incomparable lustre upon the first portion of the reign of Louis XIV., and contributed to lead posterity to apply to the monarch the epithet of Great, and to speak of the age in which he reigned as the age of Louis XIV.

e. The War of the League of Augsburg.

Causes. The main grounds assigned for declaring war were: 1st. That the emperor intended to conclude a peace with the Turks, in order that he might turn his arms against France. 2d. That he had supported the elector pala

tine in his unjust hesitation to do justice to the claims of the duchess of Orleans. 3d. That he had deprived Cardinal Furstenberg, an ally of France, of the archbishopric of Cologne.

Duration. Ten years, (1688--1697.)

Theatre of war. Belgium, Piemont, Rhine countries, and north-eastern Spain. Object of the war. Louis XIV. wanted to extend his boundaries, and replace James II. on the English throne. The allies intended to break down the power of France, and reconquer the countries lost in the preceding war.

Result of the war. The prince of Orange is acknowledged as king of England. The power of Louis XIV. is shaken to its foundations by this long and bloody war.

Parties. The emperor, the princes of the empire, Spain, Holland, and Savoy, against France.

Great commanders. French: Luxembourg, Catinat, Vendome, Boufflers, Tourville. The Allies: William of Orange, Waldeck, Evertsen.

Decisive battles. Gained by the French: Fleurus, (1690;) Steenkerk, (1692 ;) Neerwinden, (1693;) Marsaglia, (1693.) Gained by the Allies: La Hogue, where the French navy was destroyed. In 1689 took place the second burning of the palatinate.

Cause of peace. The utter exhaustion of France forced Louis to enter into negotiations for peace. He first of all succeeded, in 1696, in detaching from the league the duke of Savoy, who gave his daughter in marriage to the duke of Burgundy, grandson of Louis XIV. Secure on the side of Italy, the king marched considerable bodies of troops into Flanders, and carried on the war actively in Catalonia, where Vendome achieved the important conquest of Barcelona. These events hastened the progress of the negotiations for peace.

Peace. It was signed at length at Ryswyk. (September 20th, 1697,) the principal conditions of this treaty were: 1st. The king of Spain regains many places in Belgium. 2d. The prince of Orange is acknowledged as king of England. 3d. France restores all her recent conquests and all the additions to her territory subsequent to the peace of Nimwegen, save Strasburg and the domains of the Elsass.

Remark. Thus terminated this vast war, in which the two parties had displayed, on land and sea, forces incomparably greater than modern Europe had ever seen before in motion. The armies acquired frightful proportions: France, in order to maintain herself against the coalition, had nearly doubled her military status since the war with Holland. The result of these gigantic efforts had been to her a barren honor: alone against almost all Europe, she had continued to conquer; but she had conquered without increasing her power. For the first time, on the contrary, since the accession of Richelieu, she had lost ground and receded in the work of her territorial completion. She found herself, in 1697, much within the limits of 1684, and returned to the limits of 1678, except that she had acquired a great defensive position, Strasburg, in exchange for offensive positions, which was advantageous to a true policy.

f. The Spanish Succession War.

Cause. Charles II., king of Spain, had nominated as his successor, Philip,

duke of Anjou, grandson of his eldest sister, Maria Theresia, and second son of the dauphin of France. (See GENEALOGY, IX.) Louis XIV. knew that to accept this testament was to expose France to a new war with Europe. He could not resist, however, his desire to place so brilliant a crown on the head of his grandson; and therefore, after some hesitation, he accepted the will, recognized the duke of Anjou as a king, under the title of Philip V., and sent him to Spain with the memorable words: "There are no longer any Pyrenees." Duration. Fourteen years, (1702-1715.)

Theatre of war. Italy, Belgium, Rhine countries, Spain.
Object of the war.

Spanish throne.

Result of the war.

To prevent the house of Bourbon from ascending the

The house of Bourbon ascend the Spanish throne. Parties. Louis XIV. against the emperor, the empire, Holland, and England. Great commanders. French: Catinat, Vendome, Berwick, Villars. The Allies: Prince Eugene and Marlborough.

Decisive battles. Gained by the French: Almanza, (1707;) Villa Viciosa, (1710) Denain, (1712.) Gained by the Allies: Blenheim, (1704;) Ramillies, (1706) Oudenaarde, (1708;) Malplaquet, (1709.)

Causes of peace. A revolution which took place in the English court. The duchess of Marlborough offended Queen Anne, and her disgrace led to that of her husband. The opposite party (the Tories) came into power, and, for the purpose of completing the ruin of Marlborough, they inclined the queen toward peace. The death of the emperor Joseph assisted them in their designs. The archduke Charles, his brother, (see GENEALOGY, IX.,) the competitor of Philip V., obtained the imperial crown, and incurred, in his turn, the reproach of aspiring to universal monarchy. From this time England was no longer interested in supporting his c'aims to the throne of Spain, and agreed to a truce with France. Peace. At Utrecht, (1718.) Its principal provisions were, that Philip V. should be acknowledged as king of Spain, but that his monarchy should be dismembered. Sicily was given to the duke of Savoy, with the title of king.

The English obtained Minorca and Gibraltar; France also ceding to them Hudson's bay, Newfoundland, and St. Christopher.

Louis XIV. guaranteed the succession to the English throne to the Protestant line, and promised to demolish the port of Dunkirk. The elector of Brandenburg was recognized as king of Prussia.

The emperor made peace at Baden, (1714,) by which he obtained Belgium, the Milanese, and the kingdom of Naples, dismembered from the monarchy of Spain. Remark. France preserved its frontiers by the Peace of Utrecht; but its immense sacrifices had opened an abyss, in which the monarchy was finally engulphed. He died at Versailles, on

Louis did not long survive the peace of Utrecht.

the first of September, 1715. He had lived 77 years, reigned 72, governed 54. It was the longest as the greatest reign of French history.

France prospered under Louis XIV., as long as he continued the idea of Richelieu; it suffered, then declined, when he became unfaithful to it.

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During the wars of Louis XIV. in western Europe, a series of wars scarcely less important in their effects, and even more extraordinary in their circumstances, had been going on in the north and east, involving Sweden, Denmark, Poland, and Russia. At the beginning of this period, Sweden was the great power in the north. The peace of Westphalia had rewarded Sweden for the exertions of Gustavus Adolphus, by ceding to her Pomerania, and other districts on the Baltic, and giving her three votes in the German diet. The ambition of Sweden, being once aroused, now appeared, under the first three kings of the Bipontine house, to menace all neighboring states more than under Gustavus Adolphus himself.

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Object of the war. To prevent the crown of Sweden from passing from the house of Vasa.

Result of the war. The crown of Sweden is confirmed to the heirs of Charles X, and an end is put to the pretensions of the Polish Vasas.

Parties. John Casimir II., of Poland, against Charles X., of Sweden. Frederick William, the great elector, and Alexis, czar of Russia, are sometimes on the side of the one, sometimes on the side of the other of the contending parties. Great commanders. Charles X., the Pyrrhus of the north. Frederick William, the great elector.

Decisive battles. Sobota, utter defeat of John Casimir, (1655;) Warsaw, Poles again defeated, (1656.)

Cause of peace. The death of Charles X.

Peace. At Oliva, (1660.) John Casimir renounced his claim to the Swedish crown, but was allowed to retain the title of king of Sweden, which, however, was not to be borne by his successors. All Livonia beyond the Dwina was ceded to Sweden.

Remark. The treaty of Oliva is as celebrated in the northeast of Europe as the peace of Westphalia in the southwest.

b. The First War between Sweden and Denmark.

Cause. Frederick III., of Denmark, had concluded a treaty with the Dutch republic, for the defence of the Baltic navigation.

Duration. Two years, (1656-1658.) Theatre of war. Denmark.

Object of the war. The establishment of a Scandinavian empire that should command the Baltic.

Result of the war. The conviction that Denmark without allies cannot withstand Charles X.

Parties. Denmark in alliance with John Casimir of Poland, the emperor, and the czar. Sweden without allies, and with Holland and Brandenburg as covert enemies. Great commanders. Charles X., Wrangel.

Campaign. The Swedes cross the ice, (beginning of 1658,) and march toward Copenhagen; before they reached the capital, however, the Danes asked for peace. Cause of peace. The elector of Brandenburg and the Dutch were both preparing to come to the relief of Denmark.

Peace. At Roskild, (March, 1658.) By this treaty Denmark was isolated from her allies, as each party agreed to renounce all alliances contracted to the prejudice of the other, and the Baltic was to be closed to the fleets of the enemies of either power.

c. The Second War between Sweden and Denmark.

Cause. The king of Denmark was charged with not having fulfilled all the conditions of the treaty of Roskild; with being the cause of the oppression of the Protestants in Livonia by the Russians; with being the cause of the taking of Thorn by the Poles; and with having promoted the election of Leopold, the enemy of Sweden, as emperor of Germany.

Duration. Two years, (August, 1658-June, 1660.)

Theatre of war.

Denmark, especially the island of Zealand. Object of the war. Denmark was to be annihilated as an independent kingdom, and to be reduced to the condition of a Swedish province.

Result of the war. Sweden had to restore all her Danish conquests. Parties. Denmark, assisted by the Dutch, Brandenburg, and Poland, against Sweden.

Campaign. Charles X. blockaded Copenhagen; but he was blockaded at the same time, at sea, by the Dutch and Danish fleet, and on land, by the army of the allies.

Causes of peace. 1st. England, France, and the Dutch republic entered into an agreement to enforce the peace of Roskild. If the belligerent monarchs did not agree to a peace within a fortnight after the receipt of the demands of this new convention, the fleets were to be employed against the party or parties refusing. 2d. The death of Charles X.

Peace. The treaty of Copenhagen. It was essentially a confirmation of the treaty of Roskild.

Remark. This was the first attempt in European policy to coerce a conquering nation by forcing upon it a treaty.

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