Hello there,
From the English wiki on the Third Anglo-Dutch (1672-1674) war part of the Franco-Dutch war (1672-1678):
"When a Dutch mission arrived suing for peace, Louis demanded only Delfzijl, by far the least important port Charles desired, for the English. Yet, when he was offered the southern fortresses of the Republic — the French possession of which would make the Spanish Netherlands indefensible— and ten million guilders, he refused. Knowing that the mission was not allowed to make any concessions on the point of religion and the territorial integrity of the provinces themselves (the southern fortress cities of Breda, 's-Hertogenbosch and Maastricht were in the Generality Lands), Louis demanded – besides twenty million guilders and an annual embassy from the States General to Louis asking pardon for their perfidy – either religious freedom for the Catholics or lordship over Utrecht and Guelders, his sole motivation being to humiliate the Dutch a bit further."
The POD would be that Louis accepts this offer of the Generality Lands and the money on the spot, and feels that he has "punished" the Dutch enough. Of course, a separate peace means screwing the English over but that is exactly what the English would do to him with the Peace of Westminter.
I'm confused about the "indefensible Spanish Netherlands" part. Sure, now Louis controls territory on all sides of it, but the agreement he has with the Emperor Leopold I to be able to attack the Dutch means he cannot attack Spain. His newly acquired territory would also be much vulnerable to a combined Imperial and Dutch counter-attack.
I would greatly appreciate your opinion on the following:
Thank you for your help.
From the English wiki on the Third Anglo-Dutch (1672-1674) war part of the Franco-Dutch war (1672-1678):
"When a Dutch mission arrived suing for peace, Louis demanded only Delfzijl, by far the least important port Charles desired, for the English. Yet, when he was offered the southern fortresses of the Republic — the French possession of which would make the Spanish Netherlands indefensible— and ten million guilders, he refused. Knowing that the mission was not allowed to make any concessions on the point of religion and the territorial integrity of the provinces themselves (the southern fortress cities of Breda, 's-Hertogenbosch and Maastricht were in the Generality Lands), Louis demanded – besides twenty million guilders and an annual embassy from the States General to Louis asking pardon for their perfidy – either religious freedom for the Catholics or lordship over Utrecht and Guelders, his sole motivation being to humiliate the Dutch a bit further."
The POD would be that Louis accepts this offer of the Generality Lands and the money on the spot, and feels that he has "punished" the Dutch enough. Of course, a separate peace means screwing the English over but that is exactly what the English would do to him with the Peace of Westminter.
I'm confused about the "indefensible Spanish Netherlands" part. Sure, now Louis controls territory on all sides of it, but the agreement he has with the Emperor Leopold I to be able to attack the Dutch means he cannot attack Spain. His newly acquired territory would also be much vulnerable to a combined Imperial and Dutch counter-attack.
I would greatly appreciate your opinion on the following:
- Is this accurate that such a peace offer was made and do you have more sources than wiki about this?
- How plausible is it that Louis would grow a brain in time and accept this offer that rewards him with a golden position to threaten or even acquire the Spanish Netherlands (Breda, Maastricht and S'Hertogenbosch as Vauban fortresses sound really scary for the Dutch and the Spanish).
- In what scenario could the Spanish Netherlands later be acquired? War, a huge monetary compensation?
Thank you for your help.
Last edited:
