page_title: Franco-Dutch War
section_title: 1673
hierarchical_section_title: Franco-Dutch War / 1673
context_page_description: The Franco-Dutch War, often simply called the Dutch War, fought from 1672 to 1678, was a major conflict which pitted France against the Dutch Republic. It also involved many other European states, including the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, England, Sweden, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Norway. It was the first of the major European wars that marked the reign of Louis XIV of France.
  The war began in May 1672 when France invaded the Dutch Republic and nearly overran it; an event still referred to in the Netherlands as the Rampjaar. The French advance was finally halted by the Dutch flooding the country and by late July, their position had stabilised, with support from Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, Spain and Brandenburg-Prussia; this was formalised in the Treaty of The Hague in August 1673, which Lorraine joined in October and Denmark–Norway in January 1674.
  Faced with a financial crisis, Sweden agreed to remain neutral in return for French subsidies, but in 1675 became involved in the Scanian War with its regional rivals Denmark and Brandenburg. On balance, the cost of funding the Swedish army made its support largely negative for France.
context_section_description: Until the advent of railways in the 19th century, goods and supplies were largely transported by water, making rivers such as the Lys, Sambre and Meuse vital for trade and military operations. The primary French objective in 1673 was the capture of Maastricht, which controlled a key access point on the Meuse; the city surrendered on 30 June.
  In June 1673, the French occupation of Kleve and lack of money temporarily drove Brandenburg-Prussia out of the war in the Peace of Vossem. However, in August, the Dutch, Spain and Austria, supported by other German states, agreed the anti-French Alliance of the Hague, joined by Charles IV of Lorraine in October. In September, William recaptured Naarden, while Münster and Cologne left the war in November; with the war expanding into the Rhineland and Spain, French troops withdrew from the Dutch Republic, retaining only Grave and Maastricht.
  The alliance between England and Catholic France had been unpopular from the start and although the real terms of the Treaty of Dover remained secret, many suspected them. The Cabal ministry that managed government for Charles had gambled on a short war but when this proved not to be the case, opinion quickly turned against it, while the French were also accused of abandoning the English at Solebay.
  Opposition to the alliance with France further increased when Charles' heir, his Catholic brother James, was given permission to marry Mary of Modena, also a devout Catholic. In February 1673, Parliament refused to continue funding the war unless Charles withdrew a proposed Declaration of Indulgence and accepted a Test Act barring Catholics from public office.
  After Dutch naval forces defeated an Anglo-French fleet at Texel in August and captured the English settlement of New York City, pressure to end the war became unstoppable and England made peace with the Republic in the February 1674 Treaty of Westminster. To offset these losses, Swedish forces in Swedish Pomerania attacked Brandenburg-Prussia in December 1674 after Louis threatened to withhold their subsidies; this sparked Swedish involvement in the 1675–1679 Scanian War and the Swedish-Brandenburg War whereby the Swedish army tied up the armies of Brandenburg and some minor German principalities plus the Danish Army in the north.
caption: Louis XIV at Maastricht, 1673
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