The Grand Alliance was a European coalition, consisting (at various times) of Austria, Bavaria, Brandenburg, the Dutch Republic, England, Ireland, the Palatinate of the Rhine, Portugal, Savoy, Saxony, Scotland, Spain and Sweden. The organization, which was founded in 1686 as the League of Augsburg, was known as the "Grand Alliance" after England and Scotland joined the League (in 1689). It was originally formed in an attempt to halt Louis XIV of France's expansionist policies.
The League was officially formed by Emperor Leopold I, acting upon the advice of William III of Orange. The primary reason for its creation was to defend the Electorate of the Palatinate from France. This organization fought the War of the Grand Alliance against France from 1688 to 1697.
The Alliance was formed twice. It fought the Nine Years' War against France. After the Treaty of Den Haag was signed on September 7, 1701, it went into a second phase as the Alliance of the War of Spanish Succession. In this war, Bavaria and the Bourbon faction in Spain defected to the French side. The War ended following the Tory political victory in 1710 in Britain which led to the Peace of Utrecht — the peace with France which granted Spain's crown to the French candidate but divided Spain's external territories. In Spain the war continued until it was decided by the Siege of Barcelona, on September 11, 1714.