What was the Foreign Policy of William III of England?

After a period of full in foreign affairs. England with the accession of William III committed herself to a long period of European War. All through the reign of William England fought only one power that was France.

Warlike William sacrificed all that he had his health, wealth and happiness at the altar of his mission the mission to maintain the balance of power in Europe by checking the aggressive design of Louis XIV of France.

He under took this mission not because he was the king of England but because, antagonistic as he always was to France, his life long Desire was to beat the French down to their knees. When he was the king of Holland, in 1685, he cooked up an alliance of Europe powers against France- This was the League of Augsburg in which Holland, Germany, the Holy Roman Europe and some German princes were the members.

Later on William as the king of England joined the powers of the league, forming a Grand Alliance. When the stage was set, William wished to direct all his efforts towards the fulfillment of his mission.

In the crafty stage of Europe, it was not difficult for him to find out the causes of the war against France. The circumstances were so created and made complex that the members of the league of Augsburg were involved in a war against France.

The war of the league of Augsburg . Its causes:

First, Louis XIV, the life long enemy of William III, acquired in 1681 a position that was unique in Europe. Under him France was at the apex of her pride and prestige. The French army was superb, and the French navy was equal to that of Holland and England put together. Thus, a man with so many assets at his disposal got deadly drunk when he took the heady wine of military glory. He then wanted to extend the boundary of France at any cost.

The extension of the boundary of France as the river Rhine was his main aim. And it could only be achieved at the expense of German states and the Netherlands, consisting of a part of Holland and a part of Belgium. Louis started his action by seizing the barrier fortresses belonging to Belgium. Then he passed some of those forts into the hands of the French. Consequently this action of the French king made the members of the League indignant.

Lastly, Louis XIV championed the cause of James II for making him the king of England. War with England became inevitable when Louis XIV, espousing the cause of James II, determined to dethrone William III and restate James II, and a war was declared in April 1689. This was the war of League of Augsburg.

The events of the war:

This was also known as the war of English succession as the War was to decide whether. William or James to be the king of England. William was at the head of the powers of the League. James II was at the back of Louis XIV. For Eight years the war was fought continuously. But there were no big battles.

In the first two years of the war, the English operations were confined to Scotland, Ireland and to the Sea.

Scotland viscount Dundee fought on behalf of James II and inflicted a defeat on the English troops at killie Crankie. But soon the troops of James were subdued when Dundee was killed in the battle field.

Then James II shifted the scene of military operation to Ireland. There his forces were, mostly the French and his commander-in-Chief was a French man William himself came down to Ireland and won a brilliant victory at the river Boynee on 1st July, 1690.

This war of siege and counter-siege led to nothing, the final result was determined in the sea. The war then took place in the Sea. In 1690, the French fleet met a combined Dutch and English fleet at Beachy Head, the former won the day.

But in 1692 England won a decisive battle at Lattogue. The fifth year of the war-the year 1693-was a year of reverse for William everywhere. He was beater in Neerwindeen in 1693.

But William did not allow himself to be perturbed at the turn of the tide. By constant application of his teracity and strength he ultimately won. William’s crowning achievement of the military feat Lay in the seize of the impregnable fortress of Namur.

But by 1697 both sides were thoroughly exhausted and they became keen for a peace settlement.

The treaty of Ryswick (1697)

Then a peace treaty was signed in 1697 at Ryswick, near The Hague. By the peace of Ryswick Louis XIV recognised William as the king of England and gave up all her conquests since 1678. Thus the war of League of Augsburg checked the ambition of Louis XIV. The Englishmen learnt some valuable lessons from this war which were to help then a lot in fighting serious battles in future.

The treaty of Ryswick was a quite honorable treaty but it did not look like a permanent settlement. Luis, whose desire was merely Chlorormed, war far from being beater. He still hoped to dominate Europe and he got the chance to fulfill his hope about four. Years latter over the problem of succession to the Spanish throne.

The Spanish Succession Problem:

The Spanish succession problem appeared to be conflicting and confusing. The Spanish Empire then included not only Spain itself, but also nearly half of Italy, Belgium, and Mexico, whole of Central and South America, except Brazil. Thus the Spanish Monarchy was then a prize worthwhile to win.

The king of Spain Charles II had no children of brothers. He was a sickly, half lunatic and half-witted man. Describing his wretched condition Macaulay has said, ‘”Then he was too weak to lift his food to his Miss happen Mouth”. So it was known that Charles, the childless, the .sufferer, would die soon and in fact he had been reported to have been dying for 30 years.

It was quite natural that the question of the succession to the throne of Spain after the death of Charles II should pre­occupy the minds of the Europeans. Moreover it was not known as to what would happen to his vast Empire after his death. Of course, Charley II had two sisters, Maria Theresa and Margaret Theresa dead, but they had left their descendants.

Maria Theresa who had Married Louis XIV of France had her descendant is her son Dauphin of France. Margaret Theresa, who had married Emperor Leopold of Germany and her grand son Joseph Ferdinand the Prince of Bavaria. Maria, who was the mother of Leopold, had left her grandson Archduke Charles of Austria.

Thus there were three claimants to the Spanish Throne-Austrians, Bavarians and the French. Louis XIV and William could rightly know that under these circumstances sheer confusion would follow the death of ‘ Charles II. Finding it hopeless to deal with a Lunatic and Sickly king Charles II with regard to succession, they drew up a partition Treaty.

Thus the two monarchs arranging for the distribution of the territories belonging to the third monarch in anticipation of his death without consulting him or his ministers was a great political blunder.

The First Partition Treaty (1698):

However a partition Treaty was signed in October 1698. This treaty promised the weakest of the claimants the real king of Spain. But unfortunately he died of small Pox in February 1699. Louis and William quickly drafted another.

The Second Partition Treaty (1700):

This Partition treaty was signed in February 1700. Under this Treaty the throne of Spain was given to Charles Archduke of Austria the grandson of Maria but a Portion of the Spanish empire Naples and Milan was given to Dauphin of France.

The Will and Death of Charles II:

All this was done without the knowledge of Charles II or of his wife or, of his Ministers. When the head of these Partition treaties, he grew violent and it is said that his queen became so much angry that she smashed some of his furniture’s in her bed-room.

Finally Charles II passed away in November 1700. Before his death he wrote a will in the name of Phillip of Anjou the second son of Douphin of France, who would succeed to all his possessions.

After a momentary hesitation Louis accepted this will, throwing the second partition treaty agreement to fire. But neither Austria nor England would permit the whole of Spanish Empire to pass into the hands of Philip of France.

The dark clouds which hung over Europe in 1689 looked even darker now. It remained to be seen when the storm of the war of Spanish succession would burst. For War were some causes and they are not far to seek.

ENGLAND AND THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCES SION

Causes of the War:

Louis XIV patched up the Second Partition Treaty Agreement. But the other two parties grew violent. The Louis unceremoniously expelled the Dutch forces from barrier fortresses and stationed the French forces in their places Further Louis attempted to secure for France the commercial concessions which England had obtained for trade with Spanish Colonies in America.

Finally, at the death of James II in 1701, Louis recognised James-II’s son James III, as the king of England, thereby he violated the treaty of Ryswick.

This was no doubt a foolish act of Louis XIV as for this reason entire England was united against him. Thus, both the countries France and England were mentally prepared for a war with each other. When the storm was about to brust in 1702, William died. Leaving the legacy of the war to his successor, Queen Anne.

Death of the William III (1702):

In February 1702, while William was riding in the Park at Hampton Court, his horse stumbled and he fell down from the back of the horse. This fall caused an injury to his collar bone. The accident itself was trivial but it was too much for his worn-out body to stand. He began to sink rapidly and on 8 March, 1702, the frail lamp of his body got extinguished.