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Wars of Louis XIV (Military History)

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  1. Introduction
  2.  
  3. Along with Napoleon, Louis XIV (b. 1638–d. 1715) is one of the most famous Frenchmen in history. The long-standing interest in Louis has been driven by several factors, foremost among them the king’s larger-than-life persona. Self-proclaimed Sun King (le Roi-Soleil) and builder of much-imitated Versailles, Louis’ taming of recalcitrant French nobles spawned the concept of political absolutism that has come to dominate the historiography of the 17th century. His behavior in his wars brought as much attention to himself as his political centralization and patronage of culture. His insistence that Roman and Spanish representatives beg forgiveness for altercations involving Frenchmen on foreign soil, his naval bombardment of neutral Genoa for assisting his Spanish foe, his devastation of the Palatinate: All these actions speak of a monarch eager to establish and maintain by force his reputation. Military successes over the first half of his reign cemented his reputation as the greatest (and most threatening) monarch in Europe, and his territorial conquests helped define the boundaries of modern France. As Louis would have wished, much of the historical writing on this period has revolved around him and his actions, justifying the common framing of the wars in western Europe between 1667 to 1714 as “his” wars. National schools have debated the merits and faults of Louis’ foreign policies ever since his first declaration of war, and this nationalistic bias is still present in even the most recent literature. This dominance of the Great Man school of history has perpetuated itself even as historians leave the Court of Versailles, for the standard historical writing on almost every aspect of Louis’ wars has been, until the past few decades, dominated by biographies of Great Captains who waged war for or against Louis le Grand. By the 1960s a “new military history” emerged among academic historians to supplant the Great Man biography with quantitative analysis of the social structures of military institutions. By the 1980s another wave of academic historians and political scientists had taken up the question of state formation and the role that army growth and administrative/fiscal reforms played in the creation of the modern bureaucratic state (see the article Fiscal-Military State in the Atlantic History module of Oxford Bibliographies Online). Yet these newer historiographical tendencies have failed to overtake a continued interest in the narratives of military campaigns for and against Louis. The wars of Louis XIV, much like his Court rituals, still revolve around the rise and fall of the spectacular Sun King.
  4.  
  5. General Overviews
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  7. There are very few overviews of Louis XIV’s wars as a whole, as most works focus on War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) in particular. English and French authors dominate discussion of the Sun King’s wars; Lynn 1999 represents the only modern survey of the entire period, though much of his operational detail comes from the earlier Quincy 1726. Recent works tend toward either monographic specialization or broader thematic surveys, so it is often necessary to return to earlier works such as Carsten 1961 for overviews of the period that balance discussion of each country with adequate detail on the politics and diplomacy of the period as a whole.
  8.  
  9. Carsten, F. L., ed. The New Cambridge Modern History. Vol. 5, The Ascendancy of France, 1648–88. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1961.
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  11. A dated reference work that provides a historical narrative on each region of Europe as well as thematic chapters. While many of its interpretations have been superseded, its basic narrative is still useful, as is the atlas volume that illustrates campaign theaters and territorial modifications resulting from the various treaties. Volume 6, The Rise of Great Britain and Russia, continues the account up through 1725.
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  13. Lynn, John. The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714. Modern Wars in Perspective. New York: Longman, 1999.
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  15. The only modern overview of all of Louis’ wars; heavy reliance on French sources, especially Quincy 1726. Helpfully for undergraduates, it synthesizes existing secondary accounts and explains Louis’ many conflicts in terms of war-as-process, attritional struggles that dragged out over many years without decisive victory by either side.
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  17. Quincy, Charles Sévin, marquis de. Histoire militaire du règne de Louis le Grand, Roy de France, où on trouve un détail de toutes les Batailles, Sièges, Combats particuliers, et généralement de toutes les actions de Guerre qui se sont passées pendant le cours de son Règne, tant sur Terre que sur Mer, Enrichie des plans nécessaires. On y a joint un traité particulier de Pratiques et de Maximes de l’Art Militaire. Par M. le marquis de Quincy, Brigadier des Armées du Roy, Lieutenant Général de l’Artillerie, Lieutenant pour le Roy au Gouvernement d’Auvergne, Chevalier de l’Ordre Militaire de S. Louis. 8 vols. Paris: D. Mariette, 1726.
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  19. A near-contemporary, multivolume account of Louis’ wars on land and sea. Includes detailed operational narratives, as well as maps of battles and sieges. Volume 8 is a treatise on the art of war, also published separately as L’Art de la guerre in two volumes.
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  21. Reference Works
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  23. Several works provide background information on Louis’ wars, and there are a few bibliographies of contemporary publications that allow the aspiring scholar to track down thousands of printed voices from the period (Morgan 1934–1942). Modern reference works either approach the subject with a broad brush, as Nolan 2008 does, or take a more focused, detail-oriented approach, as in Frey and Frey 1995. Oftentimes the most detailed answers to fleeting references are found in contemporary histories; chronologies found in the appendices of modern works are rarely as detailed, for example, as those published in Jones 1705.
  24.  
  25. Frey, Linda, and Marsha Frey, eds. The Treaties of the War of the Spanish Succession: An Historical and Critical Dictionary. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1995.
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  27. More wide-ranging than its title suggests, this encyclopedic reference provides several hundred entries on both important events and major and minor diplomatic, political, and military players mentioned only briefly in most other works.
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  29. Jones, D. A Compleat History of Europe . . . from the beginning of the treaty of Nimeguen, 1676 to the end of the year, 1700 . . . The fourth edition, corrected, and very much enlarged. Written by a gentleman, who kept an exact journal of all transactions. London, 1705.
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  31. This contemporary chronology provides political, diplomatic, and military details, including lists of all the royal office holders of Britain and of European royalty. Useful for small details often ignored in secondary works. A companion volume covers the period 1600 to 1676, and Jones also published individual volumes on each year from 1701 to 1714 that include even greater detail.
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  33. Morgan, William Thomas. A Bibliography of British History (1700–1715) with Special Reference to the Reign of Queen Anne. 5 vols. Bloomington: Indiana University, 1934–1942.
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  35. An exhaustive bibliography of all types of books, pamphlets, and newspapers published in England during Anne’s reign, even including works without extant copies.
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  37. Nolan, Cathal. Wars of the Age of Louis XIV, 1650–1715: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2008.
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  39. Over 1,000 entries range from minute technical terms to more useful several-page thematic entries, with the majority on Europe. Useful primarily for undergraduates, since most entries lack citations and the Select Bibliography relies almost exclusively on English-language works.
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  41. Primary Sources
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  43. As the comprehensive listing in Morgan 1934–1942 (cited under Reference Works) indicates, a wide range of sources on Louis’ wars were published by contemporaries. The volume and variety of sources increase dramatically as one enters the 1690s, and they range from official propaganda to memoirs to contemporary commentary on the wars and their progress. A comprehensive listing of English-language titles is available in the English Short Title Catalogue. Most of these printed sources are now available digitally, many freely accessible via Google Books and Gallica and others from subscription databases often held by research libraries, such as Early English Books Online, and Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Reading knowledge of the French language is practically mandatory: Not only was Louis’ France the one constant in the wars of the period, but French was also the lingua franca for well-educated individuals throughout western Europe, thus many accounts of the war intended for Dutch, English, and French expatriate consumption were written in French, including correspondence between English and Dutch allies.
  44.  
  45. Early English Books Online.
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  47. Chadwyck-Healey’s online subscription database provides scans of 100,000 pre-1701 works published in England. Includes titles from Wing’s Short-Title Catalogue and the Early English Tract Supplement. Dozens of contemporary pamphlets, histories, and other publications illustrate the public debates of the period. Some of these works are full text, through the Text Creation Partnership. Entire works are downloadable as PDFs or TIFFs.
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  49. Eighteenth Century Collections Online.
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  51. Gale Cengage Learning’s online subscription database provides images and searchable full-text of 180,000 titles published in the United Kingdom (and some from America) between 1701 and 1800. Histories, literature, and pamphlets allow insight into public discussion during Louis’ last war; several memoirs published later in the century discuss Louis’ earlier wars. Downloadable as image PDFs, 250 pages at a time.
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  53. English Short Title Catalogue.
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  55. A comprehensive online catalog of tens of thousands of books, pamphlets, and broadsides published in England over the course of the early modern period. Almost all of these works are available from research libraries on microfilm and via Early English Books Online and Eighteenth Century Collections Online.
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  57. Gallica.
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  59. Run by France’s Bibliothèque Nationale, this free-access digital collection includes page images and full-text versions of hundreds of thousands of French-language books, maps, and other documents. Entire works are downloadable as TIFF or PDF files. In addition to contemporary publications, Gallica also includes more recent works, such as 19th-century archive catalogs and published primary-source collections.
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  61. Google Books.
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  63. Google’s partnership with research libraries across the Western world has digitized millions of published works. Those in the public domain in the U.S. (published before 1923) are free to download as PDFs or EPUBs. Most of the works have searchable full text, but the OCR process makes the results less than 100 percent accurate. Best for 18th- and 19th-century works.
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  65. Newspapers
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  67. The ancestors of modern newspapers had already begun to appear in Europe by the time Louis XIV came to power. Newspapers such as Europische Mercurius, Le Mercure galant, Gazette de France, Gazette d’Amsterdam, The London Gazette, and The Daily Courant all provided detailed raw reports, and their advertisements often provide historians with a broader taste of contemporary culture. Considering the potential for fines and imprisonment, however, almost all of these papers avoided discussion of controversial domestic topics and focused on foreign affairs, and foreign gazettes often provided perspective on their own politics. The relative freedom of expression in England and the Netherlands led to the creation of numerous newspapers over the course of the 1690s and 1700s: The English media was particularly prolific, with more than two dozen different papers published over the course of the War of the Spanish Succession. When read in combination with periodicals that commented on these reports, such as Defoe 1704, contemporaries could follow the details of foreign wars and debate their meaning in Parliament, in print, and in the coffeehouses. Comparing the coverage in these various papers also opens up an entirely new world to the historian seeking to understand the daily background of contemporary debates. Many of these English papers are available through the 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers.
  68.  
  69. The Daily Courant. 1702–1735.
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  71. The world’s first daily newspaper, it kept to its publication schedule by reprinting letters and advice from all parts of Europe and, occasionally, overseas. Often times it would reproduce articles from continental newspapers, particularly from the gazettes of Leiden, Amsterdam, and Paris.
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  73. Defoe, Daniel. The Review. 1704–1713.
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  75. The title of this semiweekly periodical varied over time and discussed the news of the day while taking other newspapers to task for inaccurate stories. A hired pen, Defoe tended to follow the line of whatever party was in power at the time. A recent nine-volume scholarly edition edited by John McVeagh (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2003–2009) includes textual notes and a detailed index.
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  77. Europische Mercurius. Amsterdam, 1690–1739.
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  79. Translated into English as The Present State of Europe, this Dutch monthly summarized reports from all over Europe by region and included “Reflections” on the news, which give the official Dutch view of military and diplomatic affairs.
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  81. Gazette d’Amsterdam. Amsterdam, 1691–1796.
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  83. Influential French-language biweekly published by the French émigré Du Breuil family. Its articles were often reprinted in other newspapers, especially in England, and copies were commonly available within France as well. Available on CD-ROM from the Voltaire Foundation found online.
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  85. Gazette de France. Paris, 1631–1792.
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  87. Semiweekly newspaper published by the Renaudot family and overseen by French secretaries of state. Selective coverage (and occasional fabrications) portrayed events in the most positive light for the French Court. Best used for insight into the official French government’s position.
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  89. Le Mercure galant/Mercure de France. 1672–1714.
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  91. A monthly journal of Court culture that also included accounts of military operations and siege journals. Its reporting was much less independent than contemporary British papers.
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  93. The London Gazette. 1666–.
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  95. Published semiweekly by staff within England’s Secretary of State office, this official paper presented a dry but widely read account of news from various capitals and military camps around Europe.
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  97. 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers.
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  99. Drawn from the newspaper holdings of the British Library, over 1,200 English papers and broadsides from the period are available to view and download as PDFs (one issue at a time). The text is searchable, allowing historians to trace media coverage of military events on a day-by-day basis.
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  101. First-Person Narratives
  102.  
  103. The publication of first-person military narratives began in the late 16th century, and by the end of Louis’ age perhaps a few dozen had been penned. Most of these campaign narratives come from officers (La Colonie 1904). There are almost no sources from the soldiers’ ranks, Deane 1984 being an exception, and it is also rare to find many like Millner 1733, written by someone below the rank of field officer. Not surprisingly, chaplains like D’Auvergne (D’Auvergne 1693) had both the education and free time to pen semiofficial accounts, drawing on published sources as well as personal observances. Most existing accounts focus on the War of the Spanish Succession, and several are undoubtedly semifictional in nature, useful primarily for their picaresque quality rather than their factual portrayal of events.
  104.  
  105. D’Auvergne, Edward. A Relation of the Most Remarkable Transaction of the Last Campaigne in the Confederate Army, under the Command of His Majesty of Great Britain and after of the Elector of Bavaria in the Spanish Netherlands, Anno Dom. 1692. London, 1693.
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  107. The first of seven volumes published by a chaplain with the Scots Guards detailing the Allied campaigns in Flanders. Focuses on British actions and includes rare orders of battle.
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  109. Deane, John Marshall. A Journal of Marlborough’s Campaigns during the War of the Spanish Succession 1704–1711. Edited by David Chandler. London: Society for Army Historical Research, 1984.
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  111. Likely written by a gentleman soldier serving in the Foot Guards, John Marshall Deane’s detailed account of the campaigns highlights daily operations and the Duke of Marlborough’s actions in particular. Provides historians with a rare look at the period’s warfare from the ranks.
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  113. La Colonie, Jean-Martin de. The Chronicles of an Old Campaigner, 1692–1717. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1904.
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  115. An English translation of the 1737 French original, this chronicles the personal and professional adventures of a noble French dragoon/engineer who served in the French and later Bavarian service from the siege of Namur in 1692 to that of Belgrade in 1717. A more complete 1992 edition edited by Anne-Marie Cocula (Paris: Mercure de France) provides the French original with textual notes.
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  117. Millner, John A. A Compendious Journal of all the Marches, Famous Battles, Sieges and other most noteworthy, heroical and ever memorable Actions of the Triumphant Armies, Of the ever glorious Confederate High Allies, In their late and victorious War Against the Powerful Armies of proud and lofty France, In and on the Confines of Holland, Germany, & Flanders, So far as our successful British Troops extended in Conjunction therein. Digested into Twelve Campaigns, begun AD 1701, and ended 1712. All but the first and last, the Grand Confederate Armies were under the conduct and command of our Honourable & much Honor-worthy, ever-renown’d, graceful, & excellent war-like Hero John, duke of Marlborough, Prince of the Holy Empire, etc. Truly & punctually collected, form’d, compos’d & written in the Time of the said War, By John Millner, Serjeant in the Honourable Royal Regiment of Foot of Ireland. Having been therewith during the War an Eye-witness of the most of the following Marches & Actions of the said War. Completed at Ghent on the 31st Day of December, 1712. London, 1733.
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  119. This English sergeant’s history of the War of the Spanish Succession offers an account of Allied forces under the Duke of Marlborough. He presents a detailed, day-by-day account of the movements and actions of the Allied army, as well as quantitative summaries of the days and distances marched, as well as casualties incurred in the major combats.
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  121. Correspondence
  122.  
  123. Access to correspondence from Louis XIV’s wars is very uneven. A few databases (such as State Papers Online and Gallica, cited under Primary Sources) have begun to offer scanned images of archival documents, but most primary sources relevant to Louis’ wars remain locked away in archives and libraries spread throughout Europe and America. Published letters are uncommon, and the coverage, once again, is heavily biased toward the War of the Spanish Succession, although there are a few exceptions, such as Griffet 1760–1764. Furthermore, only the greatest of military commanders have warranted extended treatment, and rarely has their much more voluminous incoming correspondence been transcribed into print. Most of their correspondence, such as Churchill 1845 and Veenendaal 1976–2001, deals with quotidian administrative and operational matters rather than broader discussions of strategic issues. More rare is Snyder 1975, which illustrates higher-level political and diplomatic issues alongside standard details of Marlborough’s campaign. There are also a few miscellaneous collections such as Rochas d’Aiglun 1910 that attempt to provide a sense of the breadth of their subject’s concerns.
  124.  
  125. Churchill, John. The Letters and Dispatches of John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough, from 1702 to 1712. 5 vols. Edited by George Murray. London: Murray, 1845.
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  127. A five-volume selection of correspondence from Marlborough detailing routine administrative, political, and diplomatic affairs. Useful for operational details but lacks broader strategic discussions.
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  129. Griffet, Père Henri, ed. Recueil de lettres pour servir d’éclairissement à l’histoire militaire du règne de Louis XIV. 8 vols. The Hague: Antoine Boudet, 1760–1764.
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  131. Intended as a stylistic and professional reference for aspiring generals, this collection reproduces letters dated between 1671 and 1694 on operational-level matters written by Louis, his Secretaries of State for War, his Marshals of France, and a number of planning documents and diplomatic reports. One of the few published collections of French correspondence treating Louis’ early reign.
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  133. Rochas d’Aiglun, Albert de, ed. Vauban, sa famille et ses écrits, ses oisivetés et sa correspondance. 2 vols. Paris: Berger-Levrault, 1910.
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  135. A wide-ranging selection of the French military engineer’s papers, including selected correspondence, reports, and planning documents relating to topics as diverse as siege operations, religious toleration, pig farming, and military reforms. Until very recently, direct access to the original Vauban archives (les archives Rosanbo) has been extremely limited.
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  137. Snyder, Henry, ed. The Marlborough–Godolphin Correspondence. 3 vols. Oxford: Clarendon, 1975.
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  139. Correspondence between Marlborough and his close associate Sidney Godolphin, Lord Treasurer of England. Provides insight into strategic and political concerns during the War of the Spanish Succession as well as the personal relationship between the two men.
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  141. State Papers Online.
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  143. Gale Cengage Learning’s online subscription database provides images of manuscripts from the National Archives (formerly Public Record Office) and links them to the published Calendar summaries. Part III includes King William’s Chest (State Papers Domestic), while Part IV encompasses the State Papers Foreign series, which includes military and diplomatic documents by country. Downloadable as PDFs, eight pages at a time.
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  145. Veenendaal, A. J., Jr., ed. De Briefwisseling van Anthonie Heinsius, 1702–1720. 19 vols. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1976–2001.
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  147. A massive edition of correspondence between the Dutch Grand Pensionary Anthonie Heinsius and his Dutch correspondents throughout Europe. Reproducing letters primarily in Dutch and French, the first sixteen volumes are relevant to the War of the Spanish Succession and provide an important corrective to Anglo-centric studies that rely solely on English accounts.
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  149. Journals and Edited Collections
  150.  
  151. There are no journals specifically dedicated to either Louis XIV’s period or to his wars, although a few journals publish occasional articles on the topic. The Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research is the best example, with its emphasis on the history of British regimental culture. Slightly more often, articles on the subject are published in edited collections, often the result of international conferences. Hatton 1976 provides a diplomatic example, with its contributors placing Louis’ wars within the context of European powers’ foreign policy.
  152.  
  153. Hatton, Ragnhild, ed. Louis XIV and Europe. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1976.
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  155. An older collection of eleven essays that address both broad themes of diplomacy and several case studies treating France’s relations with specific European regions.
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  157. Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research.
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  159. This English journal is intended for a popular audience, with much of its content dedicated to discussion of military uniforms, regimental traditions, and culture. It also publishes short documents of interest to its audience. Given the importance of Marlborough to the history of the British army, articles and notes on “his” war are prominent.
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  161. Wars
  162.  
  163. While the general arc of Louis’ military achievements is best summarized by the rising and then setting of the Sun King, much of our military knowledge on the campaigns is impressionistic rather than particular. Most of the wars have received treatment only in French, and mostly from 19th-century historians, while Louis’ early wars are largely ignored in comparison with his last war, War of the Spanish Succession. For Louis’ first several wars, the best narratives are still to be found in General Overviews, such as Lynn 1999 and the older Quincy 1726.
  164.  
  165. The Fronde
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  167. After Louis XIII’s death, a variety of noble, robe, and clerical elites revolted against the regency of the Italian Cardinal Mazarin. Almost no scholarship has been written on the military aspects of this sporadic civil war, although Ranum 1993 provides a narrative and does a good job of explaining the political and social implications of Louis’ military victory, namely establishing the groundwork for the long-standing royal dream of a monopoly over military force within the kingdom. Stuart 1962 provides a royal outsider’s view of how the French fought this civil war.
  168.  
  169. Ranum, Orest. The Fronde: A French Revolution. New York: Norton, 1993.
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  171. A readable narrative that focuses on the political and social evolution of the Fronde and how its defeat weakened the elites in the face of an increasingly centralized royal bureaucracy and army.
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  173. Stuart, James. The Memoires of James II: His Campaigns as Duke of York, 1652–1660. London: Chatto & Windus, 1962.
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  175. While exiled during England’s Commonwealth, the future Charles II’s younger brother served royalist France as a volunteer and wrote his recollection of events. Useful for his impression of French military practices under Turenne.
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  177. The War of Devolution
  178.  
  179. There are no modern studies dedicated to the first war waged during Louis’ personal rule, which began with the death of Spain’s Philip IV and Louis’ decision to exercise his marginal claim to territories in the Spanish Netherlands. Perhaps the best approach is to read Louis XIV 1970, which presents his own interpretation of the conflict and the lessons he learned from it: his never-ending quest for personal glory, the potential for future gains against a fragile Spanish foe, and the need for a king to personally oversee the reform of his military.
  180.  
  181. Louis XIV. Memoires for the Instruction of the Dauphin. Edited and translated by Paul Sonnino. New York: Free Press, 1970.
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  183. Louis XIV’s early “mirror for princes,” which includes his egocentric reflections on the campaigns of 1667–1668 and his conclusion that a king must take personal command of the army.
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  185. The Dutch War
  186.  
  187. Louis’ anger at the meddling Dutch for their participation in the Triple Alliance, which ended the War of Devolution, led him to isolate the Netherlands diplomatically and invade them in 1672. French forces occupied practically all of the Netherlands in a few months and were stopped only by the inundation of the Dutch countryside and the onset of winter. French successes once again precipitated a broad coalition against the Sun King, and Louis’ commanders Turenne and Condé were forced to return to conquering more Spanish territory and fighting along the Rhine until a peace could be signed at Nijmegen (Nimwegen) in 1679. Ekberg 1979 gives a standard account of the war and highlights Louis’ personal role in the decision-making process.
  188.  
  189. Ekberg, Carl. The failure of Louis XIV’s Dutch War. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1979.
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  191. Archivally based study that emphasizes how Louis personally took charge of French diplomacy and military policy to further his personal gloire as much as to expand his territorial holdings.
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  193. The War of the Reunions
  194.  
  195. Louis’ opportunistic attempts to find legal claim to further territories led him to back local supporters with French arms as local Chambers of Reunion declared themselves under the sovereignty of France. Communities such as Luxembourg that refused to acquiesce found their lands devastated and their towns blockaded, bombarded, and besieged, an intentional policy evidenced by the Secretary of State for War Louvois’ letters transcribed in Louvois 1949. Jeanmougin 2005 emphasizes how the Peace of Nijmegen did not in fact end hostilities between France and Spain but only decreased their scale.
  196.  
  197. Jeanmougin, Bertrand. Louis XIV à la conquête des Pays-Bas espagnols: La guerre oubliée 1678–1684. Paris: Economica, 2005.
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  199. This innovative study identifies the variety of coercive and often brutal measures Louis XIV used during a period of “peace” to further expand his territories and reputation. Louis’ aggressive violations of the peace inevitably resulted in a European-wide coalition that would doom the rest of his reign to ever-more expansive conflicts.
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  201. Louvois, François Michel Le Tellier, marquis de. Letters of Louvois. Edited by Jacques Hardré. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1949.
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  203. Intended as a literary contribution to the study of French letters, these French transcripts of letters to and from Louvois relate to the War of the Reunions and the treatment of the city of Luxembourg in particular.
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  205. The Nine Years’ War
  206.  
  207. This major war engulfed much of western Europe and has gone by many names: The French refer to it as the War of the League of Augsburg, while it has also been called the War of the Grand Alliance. Historians have debated whether this war followed the aggressive tendencies of Louis’ early reign or whether it was fought for defensive goals. Regardless of Louis’ intentions, his preemptive invasion and devastation of the Rhenish Palatinate not only confirmed anti-French proclivities in much of Europe but also allowed William of Orange the opportunity to invade England (Israel 1991) and pacify Ireland (Childs 2007) before returning to the Continent to battle Louis in Flanders (Childs 1991). The war would largely result in military stalemate, although the peace of Rijswijk (Ryswick) required Louis to return some of his conquests from earlier in his reign.
  208.  
  209. Childs, John Charles Roger. The Nine Years’ War and the British Army, 1688–1697: The Operations in the Low Countries. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1991.
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  211. A chronological campaign narrative of the British army in the Low Countries theater relying primarily on British sources and emphasizing the expensive, attritional nature of the conflict. The only English-language book dedicated to the war on the Continent.
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  213. Childs, John Charles Roger. The Williamite Wars in Ireland, 1688–1691. London: Hambledon Continuum, 2007.
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  215. A detailed military narrative of the war between William III and James II in Ireland. Relying on English archives and secondary works, it emphasizes the importance of small war and economic attrition rather than large-scale combat to the outcome of the conflict.
  216. Find this resource:
  217. Israel, Jonathan, ed. The Anglo-Dutch Moment: Essays on the Glorious Revolution and Its World Impact. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
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  219. Sixteen essays on political, diplomatic, military, and economic aspects of William’s fateful invasion of England. Contributions place this “English” event in its larger British, Continental, and colonial context, emphasizing the division among Englishmen over the invasion, the importance of Dutch decisions, and its impact on the British fiscal-military state.
  220. Find this resource:
  221. The War of the Spanish Succession
  222.  
  223. The last of Louis XIV’s wars and also the largest, this conflict has received more attention than the rest of Louis’ wars combined, in large part because of the battlefield successes of Great Captains such as the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy. Ostwald 2012 provides a bibliography of notable works, though there is currently no single comprehensive account of the war in English. There are, however, numerous biographies of the commanders from which operational overviews can be extracted. Later military professionals have deemed the war’s conduct instructive enough to merit the publication of large studies: France’s Vault 1836–1842, Austria’s Kriegsarchiv 1876–1891, and the Netherlands’ Wijn 1956–1964. Hattendorf 1987 is the only modern treatment to look at the grand strategy used by England to fight the war as a whole.
  224.  
  225. Hattendorf, John. England in the War of the Spanish Succession: A Study of the English View and Conduct of Grand Strategy, 1702–1712. New York: Garland, 1987.
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  227. The only modern analytical study of the War of the Spanish Succession that looks beyond a single commander or theater. Argues that England’s bureaucracy moderated Whig and Tory politicking to pursue a coherent strategy of pressuring France on all sides. Excellent maps and tables illustrate the comprehensive nature of England’s designs.
  228. Find this resource:
  229. Kriegsarchiv, K. Feldzüge des Prinzen Eugen von Savoyen: Nach den Feldacten und anderen authentischen Quellen. 21 vols. Vienna: Verlag des K. K. Generalstabes, 1876–1891.
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  231. Nineteenth-century Austrian General Staff’s official history of Prince Eugene of Savoy’s campaigns. Appendices reproduce a limited amount of correspondence. Volumes 3 through 15 relate to the War of the Spanish Succession, each year meriting its own volume.
  232. Find this resource:
  233. Ostwald, Jamel. “The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714).” In Oxford Bibliographies in International Relations. Edited by Cathal Nolan. 2012.
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  235. Annotated bibliography (approximately a hundred entries) focusing on the diplomatic, political, military, economic and cultural aspects of Louis’ final and least successful war.
  236. Find this resource:
  237. Vault, Eugène-François de, and J. Pelet, eds. Mémoires militaires relatifs à la succession d’Espagne sous Louis XIV, extraits de la correspondance de la cour et des généraux par le lieutenant général de Vault, directeur du Dépot de la Guerre, mort en 1790. 11 vols. Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1836–1842.
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  239. The standard French account of the war includes both narrative and reprints of hundreds of letters, reports, and planning memoranda. Each volume focuses on a specific year, with separate narrative sections for each theater (excluding Iberia) and a chronological table of contents. A separate atlas volume includes maps of the theaters, battles, and sieges of the war.
  240. Find this resource:
  241. Wijn, J. W. Het Staatsche Leger: Het Tijdperk van de Spaanse Successieoorlog, 1702–1715. Part 8. 3 vols. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1956–1964.
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  243. Part of a series on the history of the Dutch army, this is the most recent and balanced overview of the entire war in any language, relying on a wide variety of sources in multiple languages and impressive archival work. The fact that few scholars read Dutch has limited the impact of this work.
  244. Find this resource:
  245. Countries
  246.  
  247. Although most of the literature on Louis’ wars comes from Anglophone and Francophone countries, several English works address Louis’ wars in other theaters, while European scholars in other countries have written histories of their own countries’ contributions to the Sun King’s conflicts. There is, however, no overarching debate that all of these works address, as each tends to address more narrow national historiographies. The general theme of early modern state formation and absolutist centralization does, however, permeate several national historiographies: Symcox 1983 and Storrs 1999 for Savoy, Hochedlinger 2003 for Austria, and Storrs 2006 for Spain. The more decentralized states of the United Provinces (de Jongste 2002) and the Holy Roman Empire (Wilson 1998) provide useful reminders of not only the variety of political systems in early modern Europe but also of the ability of more “democratic” states to mobilize their economies and unite to successfully wage war against a much larger absolutist France.
  248.  
  249. de Jongste, Jan A. F., and A. J. Veenendaal Jr., eds. Anthonie Heinsius and the Dutch Republic, 1688–1720: Politics, War, and Finance. Papers presented at an international conference held on 29–30 March 2001. The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 2002.
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  251. An important collection of twelve revisionist articles originating in a 2001 Hague conference on Heinsius. The English-language chapters use English and Dutch sources to balance the Anglo-centric tendency to ignore Dutch sources and blame the Dutch for any Allied shortcomings.
  252. Find this resource:
  253. Hochedlinger, Michael. Austria’s Wars of Emergence: War, State and Society in the Habsburg Monarchy 1683–1797. New York: Longman, 2003.
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  255. This pioneering work highlights the growing military power of Austria across the 18th century as it reformed its administrative and fiscal institutions to match its absolutist ambitions. This detailed overview provides numerous charts, maps, and tables illustrating the growing size and changing administration of the Austrian military.
  256. Find this resource:
  257. Storrs, Christopher. War, Diplomacy, and the Rise of Savoy, 1690–1720. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
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  259. An analytical case study of the connections among diplomacy, warfare, and state formation in Victor Amadeus II’s Savoy. Details the diplomatic, military, and fiscal maneuvers that allowed Savoy to maintain its independence and even expand its territories in the competitive European state system of the time.
  260. Find this resource:
  261. Storrs, Christopher. The Resilience of the Spanish Monarchy, 1665–1700. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
  262. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199246373.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  263. A rare work to examine the weakened Spanish monarchy of the developmentally challenged Carlos II, this book explains the preservation of the Spanish empire in terms of improved administration and financial support from its extra-Iberian territories.
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  265. Symcox, Geoffrey. Victor Amadeus II: Absolutism in the Savoyard State, 1675–1730. London: Thames & Hudson, 1983.
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  267. A biography of the Savoy Duke that focuses on his construction of an Enlightened absolutist monarchy with a rationalized administration that enabled his medium-sized state to engage in two major wars.
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  269. Wilson, Peter H. German Armies: War and German Politics, 1648–1806. London: University College London Press, 1998.
  270. DOI: 10.4324/9780203499146Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  271. A groundbreaking work detailing the size, composition, and use of German armies over the course of 150 years. Wilson is careful to place these German armies within their Imperial context, as German princes sought to maintain their freedom vis-à-vis Vienna and minimize conflicts within the Holy Roman Empire.
  272. Find this resource:
  273. Biographies
  274.  
  275. The literature on Louis XIV’s wars is still dominated by biographies. Most commanders and rulers have biographies dedicated to them in their native tongues, oftentimes more than one. Usually only the top commander in each country’s service merits attention, with France being an exception, while less well-known generals receive more succinct treatment in prosopographical works such as Pinard 1760–1764 (cited under Army Organization and Personnel). Most of these biographies are traditional narratives of their lives and military actions.
  276.  
  277. Louis and His Generals
  278.  
  279. In his correspondence with his generals, Louis frequently referred to “his” army, reminding commanders with (and without) a history of treason that ultimately he was in command, whether he was overseeing a siege in the field or directing military campaigns from his cabinet as a “soldier administrator” (Wolf 1968). His most talented commanders served early in the reign, quickly establishing the reputation of French arms as the paradigm for militaries throughout Europe. As Great Captains such as Turenne (Bérenger 1987) and Condé (Pujo 1995) died or retired however, and as the need for marshals expanded along with the scale of Louis’ wars, French commanders declined in overall quality, although Luxembourg (Fonck 2012) was one of the most competent among this second generation. Thus an aging Sun King was forced to increasingly fight on the defensive, lost more battles and towns than he won, and ended his reign exhaustedly declaring that he had “loved war too much.” Largely thanks to the efforts of Villars (El Hage 2012) and Vauban (Blanchard 1996), Louis managed in his final war to escape a much more ignominious fate than his actions likely merited. Extremely few of the men leading the Sun King’s armies have modern English-language biographies dedicated to them, perhaps because modern French biographers prefer to put their subjects in narrowly French frames, that is, put their subjects back into their social context and explain their familial and economic pursuits in terms of early modern French patronage networks.
  280.  
  281. Bérenger, Jean. Turenne. Paris: Fayard, 1987.
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  283. Based on a wide variety of archival sources, this biography of Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne, vicomte of Turenne (b. 1611–d. 1675) focuses on how the arc of Turenne’s military and political life paralleled the decline of independent nobles and their incorporation into Louis’ bureaucratic state. It also includes several maps of Turenne’s operations. There is no modern English-language work dedicated to Turenne.
  284. Find this resource:
  285. Blanchard, Anne. Vauban. Paris: Fayard, 1996.
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  287. Covers the breadth of the famous 17th-century French engineer’s life (b. 1633–d. 1707) and places his achievements in the context of the period’s culture of royal service, its extensive patronage networks, and the environment of scientific experimentation. Based on exhaustive archival research.
  288. Find this resource:
  289. El Hage, Fadi. Le maréchal de Villars: L’infatigable bonheur. Paris: Belin, 2012.
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  291. Louis XIV’s most successful general and diplomat during the War of the Spanish Succession, Claude Louis Hector de Villars (b. 1653–d. 1734) negotiated an end to the Camisards revolt and rescued France from a much harsher peace in 1712–1713. Chronological narrative of the combative marshal’s military and diplomatic accomplishments based on archival and published sources.
  292. Find this resource:
  293. Fonck, Bertrand. Le maréchal de Luxembourg et le commandement des armées sous Louis XIV. Paris: Champ Vallon, 2012.
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  295. Massive, wide-ranging biography of François-Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville duke of Luxembourg (b. 1628–d. 1695). Analyzes Luxembourg’s rise to the marshalate and details his conduct of war from strategy to tactics to logistics.
  296. Find this resource:
  297. Pujo, Bernard. Le Grand Condé. Paris: Albin Michel, 1995.
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  299. Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (b. 1621–d. 1686) was one of Louis’ most talented commanders, and this straightforward biography chronicles his complicated life, relying heavily on his personal papers at the archives of Chantilly. There is no modern English-language work dedicated to Condé.
  300. Find this resource:
  301. Wolf, John B. Louis XIV. New York: Norton, 1968.
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  303. This archivally buttressed work remains the best biography of the Sun King for the military aspects of his reign and seeks to rescue him from the gossip of Court memorialists. Emphasizes the vital role Louis played in overseeing his military administration, an example of an absolute monarch serving as a “soldier administrator.”
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  305. Louis’ Foes
  306.  
  307. Louis was doubly unfortunate that the last two wars of his reign were not only waged with second-rate French generals but also that his commanders often faced first-rate opponents, particularly in the War of the Spanish Succession. William III’s skills as a general have generally been discounted, and it is his diplomatic, political, and administrative abilities that allowed him to create coalitions to match the strength of France (Baxter 1966 and Mijers 2007). Austrian, and Italian historians have focused on the exploits of one of their greatest commanders, Prince Eugene of Savoy (McKay 1977), whose victories over both Turk and Frank arrested the Habsburgs’ fall from great power status. In the English-speaking world, the towering figure is the Duke of Marlborough; given the dozens of biographies written on him (two examples are Burton 1968 and Churchill 2002), it is not surprising that he is considered one of England’s greatest generals. Only recently, however, have historians started to look at the broader context of Marlborough’s victories.
  308.  
  309. Baxter, Stephen. William III and the Defense of European Liberty, 1650–1702. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966.
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  311. Remains the best military and diplomatic biography of Louis’ most implacable foe, the Stadholder of the Dutch provinces and King of England. Argues that William was less an inveterate opponent of France per se than a ruler seeking to ensure toleration and liberty within Europe.
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  313. Burton, Ivor. The Captain-General: The Career of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, from 1702 to 1711. London: Constable, 1968.
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  315. Concise biography of John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough (b. 1650–d. 1722); more balanced than most and particularly useful for its questioning of Marlborough’s ability to force French armies to fight a field battle against their will.
  316. Find this resource:
  317. Churchill, Winston. Marlborough: His Life and Times. 2 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.
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  319. Reprint of the 1933 original laudatory biography of the author’s ancestor. Considered a literary masterpiece of popular history, Churchill’s partiality toward his subject nevertheless necessitates significant caution, particularly regarding his discussion of England’s allies.
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  321. McKay, Derek. Prince Eugene of Savoy. London: Thames & Hudson, 1977.
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  323. The most successful of Austria’s generals in the period, the life of Eugene (b. 1663–d. 1736) is detailed here. Portrayed as critical to the development of a multinational Austria, his political, diplomatic, and military skills allowed Austrian Habsburg armies to fight far more effectively than their chaotic administration would otherwise have allowed.
  324. Find this resource:
  325. Mijers, Esther, and David Onnekink, eds. Redefining William III: The Impact of the King-Stadholder in International Context. Papers presented at an international conference held at the University of Utrecht in December 2002. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2007.
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  327. An important, wide-ranging collection of fourteen essays originally presented at a 2002 conference at Utrecht. Analyzes political, diplomatic, military, and intellectual aspects of his reign, comparing William’s methods of governance in Britain and the Netherlands, as well as the varied responses to his rule.
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  329. Military Structures and Organization
  330.  
  331. One of the traditional foci of military history has been the organization of armies: how their troops were raised, armed and trained, supplied, and conducted in the field. The late 17th century saw centralizing monarchs enact a variety of tactical and administrative changes on their armies, largely to better control and command their troops. Chandler 1995 provides a broad, comparative overview of the details of these organizational matters, while Lynn 1997 and Martin 1991 focus on the French case and emphasize how absolutism for Louis meant first and foremost control over the military. Corvisier 1992 provides a similar view but places it in a more modern bureaucratic context.
  332.  
  333. Chandler, David. The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough. 2d ed. New York: Sarpedon, 1995.
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  335. Second edition of 1976 original detailing the composition and training of west European armies from 1688 to 1748. Weak on non-English details but still the standard source for basic information on tactics and military organization in the period.
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  337. Corvisier, André. “Louis XIV, la guerre et la naissance de l’armée moderne.” In Histoire militaire de la France. Vol. 1, Des origines à 1715. Edited by Philippe Contamine, 383–413. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1992.
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  339. An overview of how France was able to raise and train the Sun King’s armies; controversially Corvisier argues that Louis’ reign saw a military mobilization on a par with that of the French Revolution ninety years later. Chapter 17 provides a more detailed survey of the social and economic basis of France’s military might.
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  341. Lynn, John Albert. Giant of the Grand Siècle: The French Army, 1610–1715. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
  342. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511572548Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  343. A wide-ranging synthetic study by one of the foremost authorities in the field that traces the development of French military tactics and organization over the course of the 17th century. Necessary reading for any advanced research on the subject.
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  345. Martin, Ronald. “The Army of Louis XIV.” In The Reign of Louis XIV. Edited by Paul Sonnino, 111–126. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press, 1991.
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  347. A brief yet detailed summary of the changing organization of Louis’ army across his reign. Useful overview of the many changes Louis instituted to rationalize his army and bring it under his control.
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  349. Army Organization and Personnel
  350.  
  351. The tactical and administrative details of armies have been a long-standing interest of military historians wishing to compare institutions across time and space. Of most interest is the history of individual regiments (including the “battle honors” of each) and the careers of military officers. Cannon 1848, Dalton 1892–1901, and Susane 1849–1853 allow historians to reconstruct the individual regiments and their officers—the building blocks of any army—as well as trace the many changes these regiments went through as unit sizes changed and rules were altered (collected in Reglemens 1691–1706). Pinard 1760–1764 allows us to identify France’s general officers serving under Louis, while Naulet 2002 provides a detailed case study of the evolution of the French artillery arm as its mission changed from predominantly siegecraft to a greater emphasis on mobile operations in the open field.
  352.  
  353. Cannon, Richard. Historical Record of the 18th or the Royal Irish Regiment of Foot, Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1684, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1848. London: Parker, Furnivall, & Parker, 1848.
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  355. One example of the many 19th-century regimental narrative histories available. Written to provide each regiment with its own history and regimental culture, concentrating on narratives of combat service and heroic actions performed in them.
  356. Find this resource:
  357. Dalton, Charles. English Army Lists and Commission Registers 1661–1714. 6 vols. London: Francis Edwards, 1892–1901.
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  359. Detailed list of every regiment in the English army and all its officers, as well as notes identifying individuals with common names. Critical reference for tracing English army personnel in the period of Louis’ wars.
  360. Find this resource:
  361. Naulet, Frédéric. L’artillerie française (1665–1765): Naissance d’une arme. Paris: Economica, 2002.
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  363. Scholarly analysis of the technical, institutional, and tactical development of the French artillery arm across a century. Model study that charts the development of the service from its focus on siegecraft to a broader arm used in the field as much as in the trenches. With numerous tables, maps, and diagrams.
  364. Find this resource:
  365. Pinard, M. Chronologie historique militaire: Contenant l’histoire de la création de toutes les charges, dignités et grades militaires supérieurs: De toutes les personnes qui les ont possédés, ou qui y sont parvenues depuis leur création jusqu’à présent. Des Troupes de la Maison du Roi, et des Officiers supérieurs qui y ont servi. De tous les Régimens et autres Troupes, et de Colonels qui les ont commandes. Les Etats d’Armée par chaque année, les Officiers Généraux qui y ont été employés depuis la première création des Régimens, et les opérations réelles de chaque Armée, avec leur véritable époque. Enfin une table raisonnée des ordonnances militaires, tant imprimées que manuscrites, rendues depuis le règne de Louis XIV, jusqu’à présent: tirée sur les originaux. Avec des éclaircissemens en Notes critiques des Auteurs qui ont travaille a l’Histoire de France et Militaire. 8 vols. Paris: chez Claude Herrissant, 1760–1764.
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  367. Lists the promotions and military service of individual French officers throughout the early modern period. Organized by volume according to the highest military rank the individual received during his lifetime and, within each volume, by the date of their promotion to that rank.
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  369. Reglemens et ordonnances du Roy pour les gens de guerre. 15 vols. Paris: chez Frédéric Léonard, 1691–1706.
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  371. A contemporary French publication of regulations to enforce military discipline, especially regarding supply and desertion, from 1651 until the middle of War of the Spanish Succession. Later versions were published by the chevalier de Sparre and Briquet, and extend their coverage further into the 18th century.
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  373. Susane, Louis. Histoire de l’ancienne infanterie française. 8 vols. Paris: J. Corréard, 1849–1853.
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  375. Lists the history of each infantry regiment, their chief officers and their dates of commission, as well as providing an overview of each unit’s combat service. Susane similarly wrote a three-volume history of the French cavalry and another volume on the French artillery.
  376. Find this resource:
  377. Administrative Case Studies
  378.  
  379. Much recent attention has been paid to the military administration of these armies, both in terms of the administrators themselves, most notably Louvois (Corvisier 1983), and the supply of these troops, as evidenced by Lynn 1993. Childs 1987, and Scouller 1966 offer a view of how confused England’s military bureaucracy could be, while van Nimwegen 1995 illustrates the opposite case: an efficient Dutch military administration that could feed not only its own troops in the field but British and German troops as well. Rowlands 2002 makes a broader argument that Louis’ military personnel policy was dictated by his need to placate the dynastic interests of important nobles, whereas Drévillon 2005 argues that Louis was more successful in his efforts to establish service to the State as the norm for noble behavior.
  380.  
  381. Childs, John. The British Army of William III, 1689–1702. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1987.
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  383. The last of a trilogy of works on the social history of the British army from Charles II through William III. Illustrates the often violent conflicts between civilian and military worlds and William’s attempts to make use of this flawed instrument in his efforts against France.
  384. Find this resource:
  385. Corvisier, André. Louvois. Paris: Fayard, 1983.
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  387. A modern biography of Louis’ most important Secretary of State for War, François-Michel Le Tellier, marquis of Louvois (b. 1641–d. 1691), written by one of France’s most respected social military historians. Focuses on the familial and bureaucratic contexts of Louvois’ successful efforts to “modernize” the French army along rational lines.
  388. Find this resource:
  389. Drévillon, Hervé. L’impôt du sang: Le métier des armes sous Louis XIV. Paris: Tallandier, 2005.
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  391. Detailed cultural and social study of how Louis managed to acculturate his nobles into paying the “tax of blood,” or sacrificing their personal financial interests to serve in the King’s army. Includes numerous charts and tables illustrating the social composition of Louis’ officers as well as the costs of their service.
  392. Find this resource:
  393. Lynn, John. “Food, Funds, and Fortresses: Resource Mobilization and Positional Warfare in the Campaigns of Louis XIV.” In Feeding Mars: Logistics in Western Warfare from the Middle Ages to the Present. Edited by John Lynn, 137–159. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1993.
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  395. Seminal article explaining the logic of waging an attritional war on the strategic defensive. Emphasizes the importance of fortresses and fortified lines for controlling territory rather than evaluating them by their ability to stop an opposing army completely.
  396. Find this resource:
  397. Rowlands, Guy. The Dynastic State and the Army under Louis XIV: Royal Service and Private Interest, 1661–1701. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
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  399. A detailed analysis of how the development of the French army over Louis’ reign was shaped as much by the dynastic interests of the King and his Court nobles as by “rational” military functional requirements. Reinforces recent absolutist historiography that emphasizes the consensual nature of Louis’ regime.
  400. Find this resource:
  401. Scouller, R. E. The Armies of Queen Anne. New York: Oxford University Press, 1966.
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  403. The only published study of the British army’s administration in the period. This older work relies more on anecdotal archival evidence than systematic analysis, reflective of England’s poor administrative record-keeping. The emphasis on the chaotic nature of English administration leads Scouller to conclude that Britain’s military successes must therefore be accredited to its commander-in-chief, the Duke of Marlborough.
  404. Find this resource:
  405. van Nimwegen, Olaf. De subsistentie van het leger: Logistiek en strategie van het Geallieerde en met name het Staatse leger tijdens de Spaanse Successieoorlog in de Nederlanden en het Heilige Roomse Rijk (1701–1712). Amsterdam: De Bataafsche Leeuw, 1995.
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  407. An important revisionist work that delves into the Dutch archives to highlight the centrality of Dutch military administrators, the oft-maligned field deputies. Crucial corrective to the popular misconception that Marlborough was responsible for the smooth logistical operation of the Allied war effort in the Low Countries.
  408. Find this resource:
  409. Conduct of the Land Wars
  410.  
  411. Given the complicated tasks demanded of armies of 30,000 men or more, contemporary warriors required drill and training to operate as a unit, whether it be at the company, battalion, regimental, brigade, or army level. As armies grew in size over the course of Louis’ reign, more and more guides were published to teach the ever-increasing number of aspiring soldiers and officers how to do their duty. Regulations frequently changed, but, by the end of Louis’ reign, experience from thirty years of war had coalesced into a broad European consensus over how each rank within an army should function and how common military maneuvers should be performed. Bland 1727 provides a synthetic view of how these Allied procedures were conducted during Marlborough’s campaigns, while Guignard 1725 offers a similar view of French practices from the same period. Feuquières 1735–1736 offers an interesting view of the higher operational and strategic level of war; the author’s willingness to criticize his superiors may have ended his military career, but his opinions provide historians with useful personal judgments of the military practices of the period.
  412.  
  413. Bland, Humphrey. A Treatise of Military Discipline; in which is laid down and explained the duty of the officer and soldier, thro’ the several branches of the service. By Humphrey Bland, Esq; Lieutenant-Colonel of His Majesty’s Own Regiment of Horse. 1st ed. London, 1727.
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  415. A detailed military treatise written by a veteran officer that taught future British soldiers the art of war as experienced under the Duke of Marlborough. Republished numerous times, it served as a standard reference for Englishmen throughout the 18th century.
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  417. Feuquières, Antoine de Pas, marquis de. Memoirs Historical and Military: Containing a Distinct View of all the considerable states of Europe. With an accurate Account of the Wars in which they have been Engaged, from the Year 1672, to the Year 1710. Interspersed with various Reflections on the Views, Politicks, and Interests of the several Princes and Republicks, by whom those Wars were commenced or sustained. With large Observations on their Characters, considered either as Ambitious or Pacific Powers. Together with Remarks on the Conduct and Abilities of their Ministers, Generals, Governors of Places, and other Officers, in the Plans and Execution of the several Operations of War wherein they were employed. Written by the late marquis de Feuquieres, Lieutenant-General of the French Army; For the instruction of his son. Translated from the French, with preliminary remarks and a military dictionary, explaining the difficult terms in the art of war, by the translator. 2 vols. London, 1735–1736.
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  419. Written by a disgraced French officer, this English translation of his 1731 memoirs couples a useful description of strategic and tactical practices with strong opinions on the actions of individual commanders.
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  421. Guignard, Pierre C. de. L’École de mars, ou mémoires instructifs sur toutes les parties qui composent le Corps Militaire en France, avec leurs origines, et les différentes maneuvres auxquelles elles sont employés. 2 vols. Paris: chez Simart, 1725.
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  423. French veteran’s treatise describing the history of the French military art as well as its practice in Louis XIV’s reign. Reproduces selected ordinances and details the duties of each office and rank.
  424. Find this resource:
  425. Battles, Sieges, and Other Military Operations
  426.  
  427. Louis XIV’s wars have been portrayed as limited wars—limited in their goals and in their conduct. Nonetheless, field battles have received the bulk of attention in the Anglophone literature, largely through the popularity of biographies of the Great Captains in the War of the Spanish Succession. Within the past few decades, however, historians have begun to question the centrality of battle in Louis’ wars. In fact, most campaigns revolved around maneuver, sieges, and small war, while battles were rare. Cénat 2010 provides a broad view of how Louis and his military servants decided on one strategy versus another. Sautai 1899 provides a detailed description of the demands of the most common strategy, a siege in form, while Duffy 1985 was one of the first modern military works to deem siegecraft worthy of study on its own terms. Ostwald 2007 highlights the difficulty innovators like Vauban had convincing impatient generals to abandon their vigorous techniques. Satterfield 2003 provides an important view of how most war was fought most of the time: small parties of dozens of men fighting each other for possession of posts. Corvisier 1997 illustrates how battle history can be much broader than the usual narrow focus on battlefield tactics and military leadership, while Ostwald 2000 attacks the traditional tendency to praise battle-seeking captains while ignoring the many factors that limited the likelihood and strategic impact of even the most successful battles.
  428.  
  429. Cénat, Jean-Philippe. Le roi stratège: Louis XIV et la direction de la guerre 1661–1715. Rennes, France: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2010.
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  431. Explores the long-standing debate over the nature and effectiveness of Louis’ centralized direction of the war from Versailles (i.e., “cabinet war”). Sensibly concludes that Louis maintained control over strategy while ceding tactical decision making to his commanders and that his overall direction was not responsible for the most serious failings of his late wars.
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  433. Corvisier, André. La bataille de Malplaquet 1709: L’effondrement de la France évité. Paris: Economica, 1997.
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  435. Indicative of a new trend toward battle history in France. In this work the father of social military history applies his social methods to the battle of Malplaquet to describe how the battle was interpreted in contemporary French society, as well as enumerate its impact on France’s military history.
  436. Find this resource:
  437. Duffy, Christopher. The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great, 1660–1789. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985.
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  439. Remains the classic survey of siegecraft in the 17th and 18th centuries, providing an overview of the period’s siegecraft as well as narrative overviews of the wars and sieges in all parts of Europe. The author’s earlier Fire and Stone (Edison, NJ: Castle Books, 2006) provides a detailed description of the practical details of conducting a siege.
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  441. Ostwald, Jamel. “The ‘Decisive’ Battle of Ramillies, 1706: Prerequisites for Decisiveness in Early Modern Warfare.” Journal of Military History 64.3 (2000): 649–677.
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  443. Describes the difficulties forcing battle on an unwilling foe and explains the territorial conquests after Marlborough’s battle of Ramillies in terms of the status of fortifications in the theater rather than as evidence of the inherent ability of successful field battles to obviate the need for sieges.
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  445. Ostwald, Jamel. Vauban under Siege: Engineering Efficiency and Martial Vigor in the War of the Spanish Succession. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill Academic, 2007.
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  447. The first detailed examination of how sieges were conducted in the War of the Spanish Succession. Highlights the contrast between the theoretical ideal of Vauban’s efficient siege and the reality of vigorous sieges conducted after Vauban’s death.
  448. Find this resource:
  449. Satterfield, George. Princes, Posts and Partisans: The Army of Louis XIV and Partisan Warfare in the Netherlands (1673–1678). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill Academic, 2003.
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  451. Ground-breaking study that analyzes the role of small war and partisan forces in the military operations of the Dutch War. Argues that these partisan tactics served not only an attritional purpose but were also combined with larger-scale operations to achieve broad strategic objectives.
  452. Find this resource:
  453. Sautai, Maurice. Le siège de la ville et de la citadelle de Lille en 1708. Lille, France: Lefebvre-Ducrocq, 1899.
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  455. By far the most detailed tactical analysis of a Vauban-era siege, the Allied siege of Lille in 1708.
  456. Find this resource:
  457. Conduct of the Wars at Sea
  458.  
  459. Even today, the historiographies of military history (i.e., land) and naval history (i.e., sea) are largely separate—rare is the historian who is equally at home on both sea and on land. The specialized technical knowledge required for the study of sea power, particularly in the age of sail, is intimidating to the newcomer, and every general naval history will set as its first task the need to explain these climatic, geographical, and hydrological requirements. Similarly, navies have always required a sophisticated technical and industrial administration to merely keep a fleet afloat. Ships fight Nature in an inherently inhospitable environment as much as they fight an enemy fleet: In short, mistakes at sea can kill much more quickly than mistakes on land. Harding 1999 offers a useful survey of all these matters, as well as a discussion of the tactical and administrative changes over the course of almost 200 years.
  460.  
  461. Harding, Richard. Seapower and Naval Warfare, 1650–1830. London: University College London Press, 1999.
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  463. Survey of the development of navies and naval operations in the age of sail, with chapters 4 through 6 covering the age of Louis XIV. Focuses on the use of battle fleets and their increasing impact on 18th-century warfare.
  464. Find this resource:
  465. Navies
  466.  
  467. Ever since Britain’s Royal Navy began to dominate the world’s oceans in the 18th century, English historians have dominated the historiography on European navies as they sought to narrate and explain their island’s unprecedented successes at sea. Because the technology of the vessels themselves is key to any naval venture, much recent effort has been put into identifying each vessel. Since the late 20th century, national scholars of France and England in particular have expanded beyond the traditional operational naval narrative, delving into their respective naval archives. The published results are tallies of each individual vessel in service and descriptions of the development of their respective countries’ naval administrations. Demeriliac 1995 and Lyon 1993 give details on the state of the French and English navies in Louis’ reign, whereas Dessert 1996 and Rodger 2004 provide much broader studies of the English and French navies in their technological, economic, political, and social contexts.
  468.  
  469. Demeriliac, Alain. La marine de Louis XIV: Nomenclature des vaisseaux du Roi-Soleil de 1661 à 1715. Nice, France: Éditions Omega, 1995.
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  471. List of all identifiable French vessels built by the crown during Louis’ reign, including details on construction, dimensions, as well as their ultimate fate. Also includes merchant marine vessels belonging to France’s various overseas colonial companies. Unlike Lyon’s work, Demeriliac also provides summary tables and quantification of the development of the French navy over time.
  472. Find this resource:
  473. Dessert, Daniel. La Royale: Vaisseaux et marins du Roi Soleil. Paris: Fayard, 1996.
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  475. Definitive history of the French king’s navy, with chapters discussing not only the fleet and its vessels but also the geographical, economic, industrial, and administrative context in which it operated, as well as the social background of the officers, sailors, builders, and administrators.
  476. Find this resource:
  477. Lyon, David. The Sailing Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy Built, Purchased and Captured, 1688–1860. London: Conway Maritime, 1993.
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  479. List of all identifiable English vessels, including details on construction, dimensions, and their ultimate fate. Allows reconstruction of the strength of the Royal Navy in any year, as well as the causes of losses.
  480. Find this resource:
  481. Rodger, N. A. M. The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649–1815. London: Allen Lane, 2004.
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  483. Detailed survey of the Royal Navy, with separate thematic chapters on naval operations, administration, and the social history of the British navy during the age of sail. Chapters 6 through 14 detail Britain’s navy in the age of the Sun King.
  484. Find this resource:
  485. Naval Operations
  486.  
  487. Traditional naval history focused on how naval campaigns could exert power at sea (Burchett 1720). A turn-of-the-century debate among professional naval officers over whether navies should engage in a Mahanian strategy of battle seeking (Mahan 1987) or instead rely on a more-indirect raiding strategy championed by Julian Corbett shaped 20th-century interpretations of naval strategy. In the French case, Louis’ Secretary of the Navy Colbert managed to build up the French fleet to a position of parity with the previously dominant Dutch. Given the size of ships and tactical limitations, however, operations at sea were largely indecisive. Full-scale fleet battles were uncommon and opportunities to follow up on a victory at sea were rare. Due to the lack of decision and the strains of the land war, Louis was forced to revert to a naval raiding strategy (guerre de course) by the middle of the Nine Years War, and much of his fleet was mothballed or sold off. Thus most naval operations in his last two wars centered on trade protection, privateering, and the occasional support of land operations. The dominance of the Mahanian battle fleet paradigm led to the denunciation of Louis’ naval strategy, but Bromley 1987 in particular has detailed the costs of this French privateering war on England’s merchant shipping. Rowlands 2006 and Stapleton 2006 describe the mixed results when land and sea power were combined together in amphibious operations. Hattendorf 2002 shows how the combined Anglo-Dutch fleet could help the Maritime Powers defeat France without destroying the French fleet-in-being.
  488.  
  489. Bromley, J. S. Corsairs and Navies, 1660–1760. London: Hambledon, 1987.
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  491. Collection of twenty-two essays dealing almost exclusively with the period 1688 to 1712, including numerous analyses of both European and colonial case studies. Particularly important on the role of both French and English privateers.
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  493. Burchett, Josiah. A Complete History of the Most Remarkable Transactions at Sea: from the earliest accounts of time to the conclusion of the last war with France . . . And in a more particular manner of Great Britain, from the time of the revolution, in the year 1688, to the aforesaid period. London: W. B., 1720.
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  495. Near-contemporary history of the British navy authored by a secretary of the Admiralty under Queen Anne. The last 400 pages treat the age of Louis XIV, including the last of the Anglo-Dutch Wars as well as the main conflicts against France from 1688 to 1712.
  496. Find this resource:
  497. Hattendorf, John. “‘To Aid and Assist the Other’: Anglo-Dutch Cooperation in Coalition Warfare at Sea, 1689–1714.” In Anthonie Heinsius and the Dutch Republic 1688–1720. Politics, Finance and War. Edited by Jan A. F. de Jongste, 177–198. The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 2002.
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  499. Analyzes the naval aspect of the alliance of the Maritime Powers in the context of the decline of Dutch sea power and the concomitant rise of the English. Concludes that although the Anglo-Dutch coalition suffered setbacks, in combination they were successful in countering France’s naval threat.
  500. Find this resource:
  501. Mahan, Alfred Thayer. The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783. New York: Dover, 1987.
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  503. Classic late 19th-century work explaining the rise of the Royal Navy in terms of its ability to force battle on enemy fleets, thus driving them from the seas and gaining command of the oceans. Chapters 2 through 5 address naval warfare in Louis’ age.
  504. Find this resource:
  505. Rowlands, Guy. “The King’s Two Arms: French Amphibious Warfare in the Mediterranean under Louis XIV, 1664 to 1697.” In Amphibious Warfare 1000–1700: Commerce, State Formation and European Expansion. Edited by Mark C. Fissel and David Trim, 263–314. History of Warfare 34. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill Academic, 2006.
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  507. Describes France’s efforts to expand its influence in the Mediterranean along the coasts of Spain, North Africa, and Italy. Also illustrates France’s administrative and technical limitations that prevented Louis from fully dominating that sea.
  508. Find this resource:
  509. Stapleton, John. “The Blue-Water Dimension of King William’s War: Amphibious Operations and Allied Strategy during the Nine Years’ War, 1688–1697.” In Amphibious Warfare 1000–1700: Commerce, State Formation and European Expansion. Edited by Mark C. Fissel and David Trim, 315–356. History of Warfare 34. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill Academic, 2006.
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  511. Highlights the importance of amphibious operations to Allied strategy in the Nine Years War. Discusses the Dutch invasion of England in 1688, the Irish campaigns in 1689–1691, as well as internal English disagreements over the less-successful descents on France’s coast later in the war.
  512. Find this resource:
  513. Diplomacy
  514.  
  515. Diplomatic history and military history tend to be written by separate types of historians; on a most basic level, the archives of armies are separated from those of their diplomatic compatriots, even if generals might often serve as negotiators. As with most diplomatic historiography, the fundamental debate in the diplomatic history of Louis’ reign revolved around responsibility for the wars and their main causes. Since diplomacy was considered the King’s secret, most contemporary discussion of this issue was either thinly veiled propaganda or speculation. The traditional approach was to analyze the proclamations and diplomatic instructions of the various powers, as Legrelle 1888–1892 does for the issue of the Spanish succession. Most frequently mentioned by modern historians are the dynastic issues revolving around the Spanish succession, Louis’ personal quest for gloire, the efforts by William to rally a coalition of European states against the threat of French hegemony, and, particularly for the War of the Spanish Succession, mistakes made by Louis that reinforced potential opponents’ concerns about French intentions. Recent historiography remains split between French historians who tend to justify Louis’ decisions (at least in his last two wars) versus non-French historians that tend to repeat contemporary warnings of the threat of French universal hegemony. The practice of diplomacy has received renewed attention more recently; see Sonnino 1988 for a careful study of the decision-making process within Louis’ cabinet for the Dutch War. As a practical matter, diplomatic corps of the period were particularly interested in the history of negotiations and the treaties that resulted from them; Callières 1919 represents an early call for professionalization, whereas Vast 1893–1899 provides a later compilation of diplomatic agreements that would be necessary study for any diplomat-in-training. Bély 1990 provides an innovative approach to analyze the practice of diplomacy and the intelligence gathering operations it was based on.
  516.  
  517. Bély, Lucien. Espions et ambassadeurs au temps de Louis XIV. Paris: Fayard, 1990.
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  519. This massive work uses broad overviews as well as case studies (particularly in the War of the Spanish Succession) to illuminate the reality of intelligence gathering and its connection to diplomacy under Louis. Ranges from the covert operations of secret agents to the public face of formal diplomats representing the King’s interest.
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  521. Callières, François de. On the Manner of Negotiating with Princes: On the uses of diplomacy; the choice of ministers and envoys; and the personal qualities necessary for success in missions abroad. Translated by Sir Frederick Whyte. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1919.
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  523. Public-domain translation of a classic 1716 how-to manual for diplomats written by one of Louis’ chief negotiators at the peace of Rijswijk. Enumerates the knowledge and skills required of a negotiator while promoting professionalism and encouraging the French to honor peace-makers as much as warriors.
  524. Find this resource:
  525. Legrelle, Arsène. La Diplomatie française et la succession d’Espagne. 2d ed. 6 vols. Ghent, Belgium: F.-L. Dullé-Plus, 1888–1892.
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  527. An exemplar of traditional diplomatic history, this detailed work narrates the negotiations surrounding the Spanish succession issue from 1659 until 1725. Describes the varying negotiating positions held by Louis with heavy reliance on French diplomatic archives.
  528. Find this resource:
  529. Sonnino, Paul. Louis XIV and the Origins of the Dutch War. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
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  531. Based on a wide range of archives, this work traces the disputes between Louis and his councilors over the decision to declare war against the Netherlands. He explains the ministers’ eventual acquiescence to the King’s insistence on war in terms of their sense of duty overwhelming their personal objections.
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  533. Vast, Henri. Les grands traités du règne de Louis XIV. 3 vols. Paris: Alphonse Picard et Fils, 1893–1899.
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  535. Collection of diplomatic treaties negotiated in Louis’ reign, with an introduction to each treaty, a bibliography, and a discussion of the version selected for inclusion. A few treaties are reproduced in Latin, while most are presented in French.
  536. Find this resource:
  537. War and Society
  538.  
  539. To date the vast majority of the historical literature on Louis’ wars addresses traditional topics, but broader historiographical trends have begun to permeate the field. The rise of socioeconomic history from the 1950s on, the rise of cultural history in the 1980s, and the 1990s revival of religious history have all influenced to differing degrees the way in which Louis XIV’s reign is discussed. The greater influence of cultural history is illustrated in Cornette 1993 and Burke 1992, works which have widened our understanding of cultural representations of power and the attention Louis and his contemporaries paid to them. Studies of the period’s propaganda and censorship (Rameix 2014) have been further reinforced by the growth of interest in the history of publishing and the press. The most influential trend for Anglo-Dutch scholars is the revival of religion as a lens through which to understand Louis’ wars. Traditionally, historians described the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648 as the conclusion of the era of religious wars. Scholarship over the past decade has questioned this truncated chronology. Official pronouncements may have emphasized dynastic claims, liberty, and the balance of power over religious uniformity, but these “rational” goals in fact reinforced religious objectives. As Claydon 1996 and the contributors in Onnekink 2009 illustrate, official propaganda and public rhetoric on all sides continued to emphasize confessional differences with the enemy to shore up public support for the wars. In an opposite vein, McCullough 2007 revises our view of the one obvious example of religious war, Louis’ conflict with the Huguenots, by noting how the military instrument was too blunt to suppress religious difference.
  540.  
  541. Burke, Peter. The Fabrication of Louis XIV. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992.
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  543. Innovative cultural analysis of the visual and performative acts used to elevate the Sun King above his peers. Discusses the variety of messages presented to a European audience, as well as the challenges royal propagandists faced maintaining the image of the Sun King as France’s power declined over the last few decades of his reign.
  544. Find this resource:
  545. Claydon, Tony. William III and the Godly Revolution. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
  546. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511560453Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  547. Revisionist work that argues for a religious reinterpretation of Williamite propaganda in the wake of England’s Glorious Revolution. Illustrates the important role that providential Protestantism played in royal propaganda against Louis XIV and the resonance of this message among the English public.
  548. Find this resource:
  549. Cornette, Joël. Le Roi de guerre: Essai sur la souveraineté dans la France du Grand Siècle. Paris: Editions Payot et Rivages, 1993.
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  551. A cultural analysis of the role that war and violence played in defining Louis’ reign and how representations of state power were used to reinforce and enhance the authority of the King and his State.
  552. Find this resource:
  553. McCullough, Roy. Coercion, Conversion and Counterinsurgency in Louis XIV’s France. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill Academic, 2007.
  554. DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004156616.i-268Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  555. Scholarly description of the variety of coercive techniques Louis’ government used to maintain the social order being challenged by tax revolts and Huguenot rebels. Emphasizes the ineffectiveness of regular army troops in suppressing uprisings and highlights the need for even an absolute monarch to compromise with his rebellious subjects, particularly in times of war.
  556. Find this resource:
  557. Onnekink, David, ed. War and Religion after Westphalia, 1648–1713. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2009.
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  559. Collection of eleven essays first presented in a 2007 conference that provide case studies of the continued influence of religion on English, French, Dutch, and Spanish culture post-Westphalia. Essays emphasize the persistent importance of religious rhetoric to specific historical actors as well as its resonance in the public sphere.
  560. Find this resource:
  561. Rameix, Solange. Justifier la guerre. Censure et propagande dans l’Europe du XVIIe siècle (France-Angleterre). Rennes, France: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2014.
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  563. Comparative study of William III’s and Louis XIV’s respective attempts to justify their own wars to multiple publics during Louis’ last two wars. The first half of the work analyzes the techniques used and messages sent by official mouthpieces in both countries. The second part’s focus on both sides’ attempts to silence critics highlights the importance of public acceptance of foreign policy in both parliamentary and absolutist regimes.
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