The Sun King rises... and keeps rising!- A French TL (work in progress :o)

Here is my first pathetic attempt at a TL! :D

Basically it begins right after the Franco-Dutch War in 1678. I expect there to be many mistakes, ASBs, and flaws so please point them out, but don't be too mean... :p

Here goes >.<

Equestrian_portrait_louis_xiv_1692.jpg


Louis XIV in 1692... Louis the Conqueror? :D


The Reunions

On August 10, 1678, France and the Dutch Republic signed a peace as part of the Treaty of Nijmegen, ending the Franco-Dutch War. France was ceded Franche-Comté, Hainaut, and parts of Flanders. Having gained prestige for these territorial acquisitions, Louis XIV (the Sun King) decided to shift his focus from conquest to consolidation of power, and religious uniformity in France. His plan was to form a series of forts along France’s eastern borders as protection against her numerous enemies in Germany. To do this, he decided on a campaign of “Reunion”, which involved asserting his power over lands left to France in the Peace of Westphalia and the recent Nijmegen treaty. His first target was Lorraine, which French troops had occupied since 1670. He approached the Parlement of Metz (Parlemtents were regional legislative bodies that had jurisdiction in certain areas) in September of 1679 with a formal request to confirm France’s claim over Lorraine (Metz was the Parlement directly bordering Lorraine and so had authority on the matter). The Parlement of Metz did confirm this in their session the following day. In October Louis sent a formal demand to Duke Charles V (at that time in exile in Vienna) to abdicate his title. Charles, who had been forming close ties with the Habsburgs, reluctantly agreed and Louis XIV claimed the title of Duke of Lorraine. Similar take-overs were done in Alsace, and Franche-Comté, Toul, Verdun, and Luxembourg (though French forces later withdrew from Luxembourg). In the spring of 1681 French forces captured Strasbourg. All of this enraged the rulers of the Netherlands and of the Holy Roman Empire, but neither could take military action: Stadtholder William of the Dutch Republic was unable to gain support from the burghers, and HRE Leopold I had little imperial authority, and what military capabilities he had were preoccupied with the Ottoman threat in Hungary.

These territories were formally annexed into the Kingdom of France by an edict enacted on January 1st 1682. This caused Spain to move forces into Luxembourg, as they saw France’s expansionism as a threat, and greatly angered (once more) the Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire. In February, Louis organized embassies to be sent to Poland and the Ottoman Empire, to try to solidify some kind of support against the HRE (Louis saw Leopold as his arch-rival). In exchange for a French promise of protection against any Imperial move against Poland, King Sobieski agreed to stay neutral in any further German-Ottoman wars (while Louis had hope to secure Poland’s assistance against the HRE, he was still satisfied). When the following year, The Ottomans invaded Austria, Louis was ecstatic. He immediately took advantage of this (seemingly forgetting his earlier vow to stay away from conquest) and invaded the Duchy of Luxembourg with 8,000 troops. The French troops under the command of Guillaume Raymond de Saint-Jerome-Gascogne drove the Spanish out of the Duchy and besieged it. Still recovering from the earlier French occupation, the city fell on June 28.



War With Spain


The Spanish were forced to declare war on France the following month, and they were assisted by their allies in Genoa. Louis was enraged and sent an army of 16,000 to conquer Genoa. On the northern front, meanwhile, the Spanish, supported by the Dutch and by the HRE, massed a mixed force of 20,000 troops at the town of Charleroi. The French quickly raised another 5,000 troops from Champagne and neighbouring regions and advanced on the city, which had been fortified with haste (primarily wooden stakes and ditches). The Battle of Charleroi, on September 1 1683 was the first major engagement of this war. The 13,000 troops under General Saint-Jerome-Gascogne were initially unsuccessful in their assault of Charleroi. In October, French troops lay siege to Genoa. While their fleet was defeated by the city-state the town was unable to survive and fell on October 31. France’s extreme reaction against Genoa shocked other Italian states, and the Spanish duchy of Milan began trying to form a coalition.

The city of Charleroi held out admirably against the French, and in one attempted assault the French lost over 500 men. Through a series of bribes and promises, the Dutch finally declared war on France and sent a force to relieve the siege.

Louis XIV put pressure on his foreign and war ministers to capture Charleroi before winter set in. On November 15 he proclaimed an edict asking for 100,000 troops from his various dependant duchies (Anjou, Bourbonnais, etc.) and raised an army of 40,000 peasants in the South in preparation for the continuation of hostilities in the spring.

Louis’ aspirations on the northern front were crushed when a 15,000-strong Dutch force successfully raised the siege of Charleroi. The battered French force retreated to Luxembourg. At this point, a ceasefire was agreed until winter.

----

I have a few questions as to how to continue. Firstly, I'm not entirely sure if all the diplomatic exchanges above are realistic to the time (for instance, Charles V being forced to abdicate). I'm also not sure how badly Spain would have to be beaten for them to cede parts of the Netherlands (and maybe Milan :D).

On a stylistic note, I do feel like the way I'm writing is a bit dry and I'd like to incorporate some humor/drama into it. Any suggestions?
 
This seems interesting. While Charles V being forced to abdicate is not out of the realm of possibility, it would cause a TOTAL shitstorm around Europe. States'd be declaring war on Louis left and right. I guess you kinda did that, so I approve. :)

You'd definitely have to have the French almost completely conquering Spain for them to give up any substantial amount of the Netherlands--IOTL, they held onto it as long as possible.

And if you want to add some humor, I suggest the Unreliable Narrator approach. Make whatever you write an excerpt from an ITTL history book filled with propaganda and/or errors, then add sarcastic (and accurate)footnotes. It's fun.

Oh, and subscribed. :D
 
This seems interesting. While Charles V being forced to abdicate is not out of the realm of possibility, it would cause a TOTAL shitstorm around Europe. States'd be declaring war on Louis left and right. I guess you kinda did that, so I approve. :)

You'd definitely have to have the French almost completely conquering Spain for them to give up any substantial amount of the Netherlands--IOTL, they held onto it as long as possible.

And if you want to add some humor, I suggest the Unreliable Narrator approach. Make whatever you write an excerpt from an ITTL history book filled with propaganda and/or errors, then add sarcastic (and accurate)footnotes. It's fun.

Oh, and subscribed. :D

OK then... I think most countries who could challenge France at the moment are a bit preoccupied, but forcing Charles out won't go completely ignored ;)

As to the Unreliable narrator idea I love it... I should do that in the next update :D

Thanks for the comments
 
Well, it seemed Louis wanted to burn early his plan to give France the natural borders to the Rhine... Wondering how it will develop the Spanish crisis...:D
 
Last edited:
The duke of Lorraine might be forced to recognize the loss of his ancestral lands, but he won't give up the title. Besides his allies, the Habsburgs, will advice against it; and it might very will be their best change for some compensation (like Tesschen and later Tuscany IOTL).
 
A good line could be the survival of the Great Dauphine and his first son... Onwards to an alternative line of Louis! :D
 
The War Resumes

During the winter of 1683-84, Louis retreated to his château in Provence and contemplated his long term strategy. He had to balance his taking advantage of the HRE's weakness with the possibility of other countries intervening. England was his greatest fear; in November 1683 Louis had sent an embassy seeking to ensure English neutrality but King William III would not even see them, and they returned to France. He records in his diary entry from Provence:

December 14, 1683rd YoOL

Today I spoke with the Marquis Louvois [his chief advisor]. We discussed primarily the war, which I am somewhat distressed about. The Dutch have defeated our force and the Spanish undoubtedly send reinforcements as we speak. Croissy even fears that they may invade from the south, into Languedoc. I am assured, however, that Toulouse could withstand a siege of demons, so this does not worry me...


...Yesterday I received the news that M. Cavalier La Salle has claimed a great area of land along the Misisipie [sic] river in the name of France and has bestowed it with my name. This is good news as it may encourage commerce and challenge Spanish greed...


...I plan to recieve the Dukes of Foix and Bourbonnais next week. They have told me that plagues and famine ravage their land, and they can spare but few men to take up arms. We shall see how badly they really suffer...


The Territory of Louisiana
Lake_Itasca_Mississippi_Source.jpg


By February, Louis had 95,000 of his desired 140,000 troops. He had planned to invade Italy (Milan had formed a coalition of themselves, Ferrara, Venice, Pisa, and Tuscany against France) but it was made clear to him by the English Ambassador that this would result in English intervention. Louis sent 50,000 of these troops to the Northern front where approximately 20,000 were at guard (14,000 of these in and around Luxembourg), while keeping the rest near Toulouse. A full frontal attack against the combined Spanish and Dutch forces at Charleroi was commenced during march:


(From A History of The Dutch Wars, by Maurice Halcone, Paris, 1784)

The French Force, led by M. Raymond St. Jerôme-Gascogne numbered approximately Sixty Five Thousand men. We are certain that the total Number of Men was greater than Sixty Thousand all told, including Auxiliaries and Artillery-Men, but some sources from the Time indicate that the number may have exceeded Eighty Thousand. All were ready to die for their Fatherland and there was great celebration on the eve of battle, that Day and Night being the 24th of March of 1684. The Officers carried themselves with great Dignity and the cavalry proudly advanced at the front of the line as they marched towards the Spanish Defences at Charles-Roiye [sic].

The combined Forces of the Spanish and Dutch, which was led by M. Hugo Santos de Bilboa, numbered approximately One-Hundred and Twenty-Five Thousand men*. Though many of the local people reported that over the hill in Charles-Roiye there were over One Million soldiers, the prudent Commander of the French Force ignored their Gross Exaggerations. In any Case, on that day he was confident that his Force could defeat a number Ten Times greater than that, and he had no fear or doubt.

The Battle was Short and Glorious. Bravery was exhibited on Both Sides but especially in the Gallantry of the Cavalry of Louis François, Duke of Boufflers, which charged into combat, suffering many losses but taking Ten Spanish Lives for every French Life lost.

After several Volleys of Muskets, which killed over Seventy-Five Thousand Spanish and Dutch soldiers, The French Force successfully Stormed the Castle of Charles-Roiye, which had been very Inadequately fortified by the Blundering Dutch Commanders.**

Only Five-Hundred French Lives were lost in the mêlée, which amounted to a very Small Percentage of the total force. The Spanish and Dutch lost well over Three Quarters of their men, and they were pushed Back to Ghent in the following days.


*Of course, the Advantage given to the Spanish and Dutch by their Greater Numbers was greatly reduced by the greater Morals and Spirit of those in the French Force. This has been attributed to the excellent Skill in War of M. Raymond St. Jerôme-Gascogne.
**William of Orange was clearly not the Best at Choosing Advisers.


--

The French Victory at the Second Battle of Charleroi, while not quite as crushing as depicted by this later account, pleased Louis immensely and he ordered a siege of Ghent.

Glory to the Caliphate!

Meanwhile, in the Balkans, the combined forces of the Holy Roman Empire and Austria were struggling to hold back the Turkish advance. By the time of the French victory at Charleroi Vienna had been under siege for several months. In the initial assault in Spring of 1683, the Ottomans under Mehmed IV (TTL he leads the invasion rather than his pasha) invaded Austria with 120,000 troops. 45,000 combined Austrian, Bohemian, and Hungarian troops (from Royal Hungary, that is) met them at Buda on May 5th. They were decisively crushed by the Ottomans and retreated into Austria.

Upon hearing of this, several other European countries were greatly alarmed. Castile and Venice blockaded the Aegean sea, as well as sending an army of 12,000 men to invade Greece. Although well-intentioned, this went disastrously, and over half of the Spanish soldiers were killed by Janissary regiments which were ferried across the Dardanelles. England sent a task force headed by Neville Widge in August, but this also ended in tragedy after the fleet was shipwrecked on Rhodes. Several hundred troops survived and were held as prisoners of war until the end of the war. Russia, while technically at war with the Ottomans did nothing, as they were pre-occupied with several peasant rebellions.

France remained pointedly pro-Ottoman, and while they did not take military action (their fleet was already crippled from the Genoese) they barred all participating countries from their ports, which included Genoa. Poland, as per their agreement with France, did nothing. The enraged Leopold I was said to have defenestrated his cat in anger after hearing this news (contemporary sources report that the cat landed on its feet and was unharmed). Louis sent an embassy to Vienna warning him not to take action against Poland.

The Ottomans slowly pushed into Austria, quickly overwhelming the defenders at several battles. By November they reached the outlying villages of Vienna, which were burned in an act of brutality which the Sultan later regretted. In December a hodge-podge militia was completely decimated by the Turks and the Siege of Vienna began.

The Battle of Vienna
Vienna_Battle_1683.jpg


Now back to the Netherlands...

The 75,000-odd strong French Army, under Raymond St. Jerome-Gascogne, advanced into the Spanish Netherlands, leaving a trail of destruction (Louis wanted to be sure that if the French were pushed back to France, it would be difficult for the Spanish and Dutch to follow, as they would be forced to cross miles of barren land). In April, they reached Ghent, where the Spanish and Dutch were garrisoned, and lay siege to the city.

Louis now felt confident enough to open another front. He hired 10,000 Swiss mercenaries (The Swiss Confederation, despite being part of the Holy Roman Empire was not picky about its clients) and moved a force of 55,000 troops into Catalonia (at this time owned by France).

In June, Louis received the news that the French Indian outpost Ponduchéry had fallen to Dutch forces. Angered, he ordered 1,200 troops in French Guyana to attack Suriname (Dutch).

Victory appeared to be on the horizon for the French and Ottomans. Ghent fell in August, and Vienna began asking the Ottomans permission to send away the women and children, as there was virtually no food left in the city. This request was granted and in September there remained 10,000 men and 500 soldiers in the city. Leopold called up a force to relieve the siege, but decided against attacking the Ottomans, had he only had 26,000-some men. He demanded that Poland capitulate and assist him against the Ottomans, threatening military action. Poland was cowed into sending the Austrians 5,000 troops, but refused to even talk to them anymore. Louis was angered but not surprised. As he wrote in his journal: "I cannot imagine being in such a situation, torn between faith and allegiance".

The Ottomans, however, previously having taken Polish neutrality for granted, were greatly cajoled and declared war on Poland on November 1, 1684. French diplomats tried to dissuade Suleiman, but he dismissed them. He detached 25,000 men from his siege at Vienna and marched into Ruthenia. Leopold, perhaps wisely, did nothing.

By the first snowfall later that month, French troops occupied virtually the entire Spanish Netherlands. The Dutch forces had retreated back to their home country, and the Spanish to Mainz. They tried to get England to give refuge to their troops, but were refused.

England, however, did warn that any peace agreement resulting in French gains in the Netherlands would result in a declaration of war. They gave no opinion on the situation in the Balkans, where the Ottomans defeated the Poles at Pressburg on November 29.

France, Spain, and the Netherlands agreed to a ceasefire until spring in mid-December.

Meanwhile, Louis planned an invasion of Spain itself, securing 5,000 more Swiss and a further 15,000 Italian (from non-aligned states of course), troops for the invasion.

The Ottomans continued the siege of Vienna into the winter until the city fell on Christmas Eve, 1684.

Ottoman troops occupied Vienna from December of 1684.
Battle_of_Vienna.SultanMurads_with_janissaries.jpg
 
The duke of Lorraine might be forced to recognize the loss of his ancestral lands, but he won't give up the title. Besides his allies, the Habsburgs, will advice against it; and it might very will be their best change for some compensation (like Tesschen and later Tuscany IOTL).
Interesting... perhaps Tesschen for now? And I assume that if the HRE comes out of this Ottoman business still standing there should be a coalition against the French to try to re-instate Charles in Lorrine?
 
The War Continues

Hostilities between France, and Spain and the Netherlands officially resumed on March 1st, 1685. Later that month the commander of French forces in the Netherlands, Raymond St. Jerome-Gascogne led 70,000 men from Antwerp across towards Eindhoven. He met a Spanish-Dutch force of 95,000 at a small village halfway between Antwerp and Eindhoven, whose name has been lost to history. A bloody battle ensued, one which is considered as one of the turning points of the Franco-Spanish war (called the First Dutch War in France). On March 23, the armies met and agreed to postpone hostilities until the 27th. Here the battle is described in the journal of Joachim Jose San Marco Xavier, the Spanish commander in the Netherlands:

(cue thick Spanish accent)

March 27, 1685th YoOL

Today I am shamed to write that our armies have suffered a terrible defeat, and shamed tenfold that it was mainly due to my blundering. It was a crisp morning, with frost coating the grass, a strange feature of these northern lands: that winter seems to last beyond its proper end. Although my troops were on the whole unhappy to have wintered in such a cold, dark country, with such cold, unfriendly, and foreign people as bunkmates (this is not even mentioning the supply difficulties that were experienced), they were invigorated by the cold air, as seemed to be our Dutch allies… Our men lined the crest of a small hill (very slightly graded- this is a very flat country, it must be understood), with pikemen in center and musket units flanking. The French charged with cavalry, straight up the hill towards our center (this was after much tiresome bugling and trumpeting by both sides, which need not be described in detail). This move surprised me, as they were outnumbered. I estimated about 5,000 men charging initially [this seems a small number, but only about 25-35 thousand men on each side were actually present at the beginning at the battle; the rest being held in reserve or resting]. I thought this strange, but eagerly ordered the musket units to move down and encircle the cavalry, along with a several hundred pikemen each. Several minutes later, I was surprised to see only one flank of muskets moving to encircle the French… The other side stood like fools, while I could do nothing but helplessly watch as the French moved infantry in and began pushing our army easily back. I hastily ordered a full charge, deploying 4,000 reserve cavalry, but to no avail. Our troops fell into disarray, some following my orders, others following confused orders from mysterious authorities on the other side of the hill, presumably Dutch, others in full retreat. Those fools. Working with these damned Dutch is like forcing two pieces of star-iron together- truly impossible…


Approximately 12,000 Spanish and Dutch were killed at this battle (the official name has been disputed by scholars- most Continental scholars refer to it, somewhat inaccurately, as the Battle of Eindhoven, while elsewhere it is generally referred to as the Battle of Tilburg). The crushing defeat inflicted upon the allies in the Netherlands, due to miscommunication (and hesitance about what the war was truly about- a Spanish-Dutch alliance would have been fragile in any situation) virtually lost them the Northern front. The situation of the United Provinces was exacerbated even farther by tensions with England: in April, several armed Dutch merchant ships had a brief exchange with several English warships. While war was averted, their relationship cooled greatly and it seemed that England would be unlikely to follow up on their earlier warning to France (that any French territorial gains in the Netherlands would result in war). France officially signed a peace treaty with the Netherlands on 14 July, 1685, which resulted in a 5-year truce. Meanwhile, in Catalonia, King Louis ordered the 85,000 men that he had there to cross the border into Spain itself. Emboldened, by his stunning victories in the Spanish Netherlands, he assumed that the situation in Spain was similar to that that he had found in the Netherlands: fatigued armies and incapable commanders. He could not have been farther from the truth, and though he would eventually march victorious through Madrid, it would come at a heavy price.

-excerpt from an Ottoman school textbook, 2006-

Unit 6.7- The Polish Enemies!

After Mehmet IV marched gloriously through Vienna, sparing all citizens mercifully, he turned his attention to the Polish attackers. In late 1684, they had broken their solemn promise to the Sultan*, and had treacherously backstabbed him by assisting the German Empire** in a war that the Germans had started***! The Sultan was infuriated by this, and although King Luis of France wanted to use Turkey as a puppet, who could weaken his German enemies while he attended to his savagery in the Netherlands, the Sultan was not to be dissuaded. And neither were the Ottoman people, for over ten thousand thousand new recruits tried to join the Ottoman army over the next few months, so enraged were they at this betrayal, many of them from the Christian regions of Hungary, Bosnia and Serbia****. This showed the depth of the devotion of the Ottoman citizens, no matter their religion. Although the Sultan could not accept all, he raised a mighty army***** and took it into Poland as soon as the spring sun had thawed the frost of winter. They met the Polish army at Pressburg (now modern-day Abdulsehir in Ruthenia Province §). The Polish army, while much greater in numbers that the Ottomans, was mainly conscript peasants, some armed with little more than scythe or sickle†...

*An overstatement. The promise of neutrality was to France, not the Ottomans.
** A somewhat inaccurate name for the HRE, due to not wanting to call it “Holy” in textbooks
*** Blatant lie
**** Another gross exaggeration. Several thousand people from these regions did join, as auxiliaries, under threat of higher taxes.
***** Exaggeration again. The “Great Army” was little more than a detachment from the main army in Austria.
§ Foreshadowing anyone? :D
† The reverse was actually more accurate. Most of the Ottoman army was conscript. While a surprising number of Poles did join (again, not without some not-too-gentle coercion), the Polish army at Pressburg was mostly mercenaries.

The Battle of Pressburg, in December of 1684, was in fact, a major defeat for the Ottomans, who had underestimated the Pole’s war readiness. The textbook goes on to mention that the loss was due to “infernal trickery”, though it was simply pure numbers (25,000 Ottomans faced around 55,000 Poles).
Austria itself remained occupied by Ottoman troops, who captured Linz and Salzburg with little difficulty. Emperor Leopold dispatched the Margrave of Brandenburg to handle negotiations. Charles of Lorraine had fled to Tesschen, where he had been given a temporary title. Leopold had promised him that he would spare no cost to restore his title of Duke of Lorraine, but so far such action had been unforthcoming. Leopold had several more pressing issues; the Ottoman occupation of Austria, the French threatening the Western counties and duchies, and the iciness with which he met the Polish ambassador in March of 1685. He traveled to Italy in May, partially to organize another coalition against the French (the first one had largely died out), who still occupied Genoa, and partially to ease his nerves.

A Global(ish) War

In the fall of 1684, French troops had occupied Dutch Guiana, and Dutch troops had occupied Pondicherry, in India. Now, Louis turned his attention towards Spanish possessions in the New World and Asia. He transported 5,000 troops each to Louisiana and Guiana in April 1685 (ironically, using primarily generously paid Dutch merchant ships), hoping they would be combat ready by the summertime. In Louisiana, the troops nearly outnumbered the people in the sparsely populated colony of New Orleans, where they landed. In Guiana, the troops were ordered to raid Spanish settlements nearby (in OTL Colombia). A detachment of a hundred or so troops was sent from French India to attack the Philippines. The Spanish, perhaps used to their dominance on the global stage, were quite unprepared for the attacks. The French successfully raided Florida from New Orleans in August 1685, marching across the peninsula and capturing St. Augustine. The small Spanish garrison at Manila was overwhelmed by the French assault in September, and surrendered quickly. The troops in South America did not fair so well, however. Over half died of malnutrition and disease, and the other half was wiped out by colonial militias and native allies. The Spanish blockaded French Guiana, and Spanish troops occupied it until the end of the war. From then, Spanish warships regularly attacked and captured French merchant ships, a situation which was unstoppable, and which convinced Louis of the need for a stronger navy.

The French in Spain

85,000 French troops crossed from Catalonia into Aragon in late May of 1685. They met sparse resistance along the way towards Zaragoza, mainly smaller militias which barely put up a fight before being forced to disarm. A month of seemingly stunning success followed, until a heat wave hit the following month. Only at this point did the Spanish commanders bring out their army, which was more used to the intense heat. Although French casualties were fairly low- records indicate that 453 soldiers died from the heat wave- they were demoralized greatly, and were soundly defeated by a Spanish force of 40,000 (the majority of the Spanish army was still mobilizing or still on its way from the Spanish Netherlands, occupied by France). Suffering high casualties, the French retreated north, hoping to find natural defense in the mountains of the Pyrenees, but were stymied by guerilla groups, this time forewarned of the French advance, which fought a highly effective hit-and-run campaign, which left several thousand French dead, and supply lines nonexistent. The battered French army retreated back towards Catalonia, but were suddenly re-invigorated by the end of the heat-wave, and its replacement with summer rains. One soldier wrote: “It was like a blessing from God! The clouds opened up and released a jubilant rain upon our tired bodies”. The French command made the decision to turn around, especially once encouraged by the arrival of 15,000 fresh re-inforcements. They defeated the Spanish at Zaragoza and captured the city easily. Peasant rebellions in the South forced the Spanish to abandon hope of beating back the French in the near future, and left them to occupy Aragon and the Basque region (a Navarran army had occupied this region), signing an ceasfire with the French on October 4.

The Northern Front

Louis decided to take the dangerous step of attacking other states within the HRE. In May, he ordered 30,000 troops into Germany and by August he had captured Liège, Trier (he already had gained Koblenz at the treaty of Nijmegen), and Cologne. While he did not attack the territories of the Count Palatinate of the Rhine (in Berg and Rhineland), he massed his troops in Cologne and Lorraine. Then, in an act of unbelievable boldness (some might say insanity), he claimed the title of Prince-elector to the Holy Roman Empire, stating that his capture of Cologne and Trier, and their annexation into France, officially to take place on January 1st, 1686, allowed him to adopt the title, and gain a vote in the HRE for each of the electors captured (two, therefore). The reaction across Europe was one of horrified disbelief. The Count Palatinate, himself an elector, demanded a strong reaction from the Emperor, and the Diet agreed to hold a meeting on the matter at Munich in October. England declared war on France on July 7th, 1685, and the Holy Roman Empire promised military action. They reached a somewhat one-sided agreement with the Ottomans (who, of course, were fully aware of their desperateness for a ceasefire), releasing Vienna from the Ottomans, but leaving the Ottomans occupying most of Royal Hungary. Leopold was determined to curb France’s growing power.

---

I think this section might need a little work, especially with regards to my Central European geography, which is a bit hazy... :eek:

Also, I'm not sure if Louis claiming the Prince-elector status just due to capturing and forcing abdication out of the two bishops (Cologne and Trier).

Halp pl0x? :D
 
WOW! Really enjoying this.

Charles II, as a Catholic sympathizer, was very pro-French IOTL - though France's quick rise and, perhaps, clumsy diplomacy could potentially be enough to break their friendly neutrality.

Louis's OTL ambition was definitely to unite the thrones of Spain and the HRE to France, and he is certainly following that course ITTL too. Of course, to achieve that he'd basically have to defeat all of Europe - probably impossible, but espescially at this point in his career Louis was bold enough to try.

Vive le Roi! Vive la France!
 
Top