Nine Years' War

Nine Years' War
Siege of Namur, June 1692 by Jean-Baptiste Martin
Date 27 September 1688 – 20 September 1697 Location Mainland Europe, Ireland, Scotland, North America, South America, Asia Result Treaty of Ryswick Territorial changes France retains Alsace (including Strasbourg) and returns Freiburg, Breisach and Philippsburg to the Holy Roman Empire, regains Pondichéry (after paying the Dutch a sum of 16,000 pagodas) and Acadia. Spain recovers Catalonia from France, and the barrier fortresses of Mons, Luxembourg and Kortrijk. The Duchy of Lorraine is restored to Leopold Joseph from France.
Belligerents
Grand Alliance:  Dutch Republic  England  Scotland  Holy Roman Empire Spanish Empire  Duchy of Savoy Swedish Empire (until 1691)	France Jacobites
Commanders and leaders
William III Prince Waldeck Godert de Ginkell Mary II Frederick Schomberg Leopold I Duke of Lorraine Elector of Bavaria Margrave of Baden Elector of Brandenburg Eugene of Savoy Duke of Savoy Marquis of Gastañaga Duke of Villahermosa	Louis XIV Duc de Luxembourg Marquis de Vauban Duc de Boufflers Duc de Lorges Nicolas Catinat Duc de Noailles Duc de Duras Duc de Villeroi Duc de Vendôme Duc de Lauzun  James VII and II  Earl of Tyrconnell

The Nine Years' War (1688–97) – often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg – was a major conflict between Louis XIV of France and a European-wide coalition of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, Spain, Britain, and Savoy. It was fought on the European continent and the surrounding seas, Ireland, and in North America. It also encompassed a theatre in Ireland and in Scotland, where William III and James II struggled for control of Britain and Ireland, and a campaign in colonial North America between French and English settlers and their respective Indian allies, today called King William's War by Americans.

Louis XIV of France had emerged from the Franco-Dutch War in 1678 as the most powerful monarch in Europe, an absolute ruler who had won numerous military victories. Using a combination of aggression, annexation, and quasi-legal means, Louis XIV set about extending his gains to stabilize and strengthen France's frontiers, culminating in the brief War of the Reunions (1683–84). The resulting Truce of Ratisbon guaranteed France's new borders for twenty years, but Louis XIV's subsequent actions – notably his revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 – led to the deterioration of his military and political dominance. Louis XIV's decision to cross the Rhine in September 1688 was designed to extend his influence and pressure the Holy Roman Empire into accepting his territorial and dynastic claims. But when Leopold I and the German princes resolved to resist, and when the States General and William III brought the Dutch and the English into the war against France, the French King at last faced a powerful coalition aimed at curtailing his ambitions.

The main fighting took place around France's borders: in the Spanish Netherlands; the Rhineland; Duchy of Savoy; and Catalonia. The fighting generally favoured Louis XIV's armies, but by 1696 his country was in the grip of an economic crisis. The Maritime Powers (England and the Dutch Republic) were also financially exhausted, and when Savoy defected from the Alliance all parties were keen for a negotiated settlement. By the terms of the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) Louis XIV retained the whole of Alsace, but he was forced to return Lorraine to its ruler and give up any gains on the right bank of the Rhine. Louis XIV also accepted William III as the rightful King of England, while the Dutch acquired their Barrier fortress system in the Spanish Netherlands to help secure their own borders. However, with the ailing and childless Charles II of Spain approaching his end, a new conflict over the inheritance of the Spanish Empire would soon embroil Louis XIV and the Grand Alliance in a final war – the War of the Spanish Succession.

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