The French juggernaut (Europe 1700)
Marshal Villars lead the assault on English forts
The reign of Louis XIV had seen the army grow in an exponentially fashion . At the beginning of his reign they were usually 10 000 men in time of peace and 70 000 in time of war . When the treaty of Ryswick was signed in 1694 , 320 000 French were serving in the Army . This number , already incredible , didn't include the thousands of sailors , corsairs and merchants mobilised by La Royale to gain the superiority of the seas . In 1694 , the military depenses had reached 73 per cent of the budget .
The French infantry was organised in regiments , composed from one or more battalions . A battalion was usually around 800 men , disposed in six ranks . The cavalry was also organised in régiments , with the squadron as the principal unit . During the war of the Spanish succession , a squadron was composed of three companies of 30 men each . The French armament was generally less modern than its enemies , not because they feared progress , but because arming enough flintlocks muskets for 300 000 men was not an easy task . It was not until 1698 that the armament of the French Army forbid the use of the matchlocks and issued the flintlock as the primary weapon . The generals in charge of an army were generally issued one piece of artillery for each 1 000 men .
Finally , battles in open ground were not common and rarely decisive , long sieges were the core of the wars of the seventeenth century . Louis XIV knew this and was advised by his ministers that a new long war would be devastating on the French treasury . Pontchartrain , as the naval minister , wanted to destroy the Alliance commerce by arming hundred of corsairs and warships and so strangle economically the Grand Alliance . Army officers , jealous of the rising popularity of the navy countered the proposition by supporting a lightning war : overwhelm the enemy in a single season of campaign . In the end , the King didn't had the time to make the choice , the navy wasn't quite ready when the war started .
In 1699 , Louis XIV 's army in time of peace consited of nearly 150 000 men . This proved a deadly advantage when he declared war on the Grand Alliance in the beginning of the year 1700. In less than two months , the army had doubled in size again . His enemies , who had counted to begin the war by marching on Paris , were quickly forced on the defensive and struggled under the French juggernault they had brought on their lands . It was only the beginning as they soon learned . On May 3 , Marshal Luxembourg crossed the frontier of the Spanish Netherlands at the head of 80 000 men . At the same time , a force 60 000 strong commanded by Marshal Tallard crossed the Rhine and tried to link with the Bavarian forces . In England , Marshal De Villars and the Duke of Berwick with 40 000 men launched a terrible offensive against William 's army on May 25 . In Italy , Marshal Catinat crossed Savoy and defeated an Habsburg army in the Duchy of Milan . In Catalognia , the Duke of Vendôme passed the Pyrennees and defeated one rebel army after another . Fortresses after fortresses , caught by surprise , were overwhelmed by the French Army .The disaster in June was so severe that Leopold I , Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was grateful that there was a clause in the Grand Alliance contract that forbid all the allies to sign a separate peace .
In September , the offensive began to stall and was finally stopped on October , allowing the Allied governments a moment to regain their breath . However , considerable ground had been lost . The Spanish Netherlands were occupied by the French army ,save Antwerp and a few citadels in the north . In the East , Baden was lost and the French forces could link up with Bavaria when they wanted . In Italy , most of the duchy of Milan was in French hands and Catalognia was seeing the revolts crushed . In England , Villars was besieging Notthingham . The only motive of hope for the Grand Alliance was the catastrophic performance of the Spanish armies . Every time they had seen action , their failures had been spectacular , costing them men and money they could definitely not afford . As an anonymous diplomat at Versailles said " France is fighting this war with the corpse of Spain on our shoulders " .
But the "Sun War " as it was called for its crushing and devastating effectiveness was coming to an end . In October , the Empire and its allies had managed to concentrate 200 000 men on the Eastern Front , 60 000 men in Italy , 50 000 men in Aragon and Portugal . The only front that wasn't bolstered by mercenary troops was England , cut from the continent by the French navy again . If the Allied generals now had a light optimism for the future of the war , such was not the case of William III ...
Marshal Villars lead the assault on English forts
The reign of Louis XIV had seen the army grow in an exponentially fashion . At the beginning of his reign they were usually 10 000 men in time of peace and 70 000 in time of war . When the treaty of Ryswick was signed in 1694 , 320 000 French were serving in the Army . This number , already incredible , didn't include the thousands of sailors , corsairs and merchants mobilised by La Royale to gain the superiority of the seas . In 1694 , the military depenses had reached 73 per cent of the budget .
The French infantry was organised in regiments , composed from one or more battalions . A battalion was usually around 800 men , disposed in six ranks . The cavalry was also organised in régiments , with the squadron as the principal unit . During the war of the Spanish succession , a squadron was composed of three companies of 30 men each . The French armament was generally less modern than its enemies , not because they feared progress , but because arming enough flintlocks muskets for 300 000 men was not an easy task . It was not until 1698 that the armament of the French Army forbid the use of the matchlocks and issued the flintlock as the primary weapon . The generals in charge of an army were generally issued one piece of artillery for each 1 000 men .
Finally , battles in open ground were not common and rarely decisive , long sieges were the core of the wars of the seventeenth century . Louis XIV knew this and was advised by his ministers that a new long war would be devastating on the French treasury . Pontchartrain , as the naval minister , wanted to destroy the Alliance commerce by arming hundred of corsairs and warships and so strangle economically the Grand Alliance . Army officers , jealous of the rising popularity of the navy countered the proposition by supporting a lightning war : overwhelm the enemy in a single season of campaign . In the end , the King didn't had the time to make the choice , the navy wasn't quite ready when the war started .
In 1699 , Louis XIV 's army in time of peace consited of nearly 150 000 men . This proved a deadly advantage when he declared war on the Grand Alliance in the beginning of the year 1700. In less than two months , the army had doubled in size again . His enemies , who had counted to begin the war by marching on Paris , were quickly forced on the defensive and struggled under the French juggernault they had brought on their lands . It was only the beginning as they soon learned . On May 3 , Marshal Luxembourg crossed the frontier of the Spanish Netherlands at the head of 80 000 men . At the same time , a force 60 000 strong commanded by Marshal Tallard crossed the Rhine and tried to link with the Bavarian forces . In England , Marshal De Villars and the Duke of Berwick with 40 000 men launched a terrible offensive against William 's army on May 25 . In Italy , Marshal Catinat crossed Savoy and defeated an Habsburg army in the Duchy of Milan . In Catalognia , the Duke of Vendôme passed the Pyrennees and defeated one rebel army after another . Fortresses after fortresses , caught by surprise , were overwhelmed by the French Army .The disaster in June was so severe that Leopold I , Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was grateful that there was a clause in the Grand Alliance contract that forbid all the allies to sign a separate peace .
In September , the offensive began to stall and was finally stopped on October , allowing the Allied governments a moment to regain their breath . However , considerable ground had been lost . The Spanish Netherlands were occupied by the French army ,save Antwerp and a few citadels in the north . In the East , Baden was lost and the French forces could link up with Bavaria when they wanted . In Italy , most of the duchy of Milan was in French hands and Catalognia was seeing the revolts crushed . In England , Villars was besieging Notthingham . The only motive of hope for the Grand Alliance was the catastrophic performance of the Spanish armies . Every time they had seen action , their failures had been spectacular , costing them men and money they could definitely not afford . As an anonymous diplomat at Versailles said " France is fighting this war with the corpse of Spain on our shoulders " .
But the "Sun War " as it was called for its crushing and devastating effectiveness was coming to an end . In October , the Empire and its allies had managed to concentrate 200 000 men on the Eastern Front , 60 000 men in Italy , 50 000 men in Aragon and Portugal . The only front that wasn't bolstered by mercenary troops was England , cut from the continent by the French navy again . If the Allied generals now had a light optimism for the future of the war , such was not the case of William III ...
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