A History of Germany from the Earliest Times to the Present Day

by Bayard Taylor

In 1706 operations were recommenced, on a larger scale, and with results which were very disastrous to the plans of France. Marlborough's great victory at Ramillies, on the 23d of May, gave him the Spanish Netherlands, and enabled the Emperor to declare Max Emanuel and the Archbishop of Cologne outlawed. The city of Turin, held by an Austrian garrison, was besieged, about the same time, by the Duke of Orleans, with 38,000 men. Then Prince Eugene hastened across the Alps with an army of 24,000, was reinforced by 13,000 more under Victor Amadeus of Savoy, and on the 7th of September attacked the French with such impetuosity that they were literally destroyed. Among the spoils were 211 cannon, 80,000 barrels of powder, and a great amount of money, horses and provisions. By this victory Prince Eugene became also a hero to the German people, and many of their songs about him are sung at this day. The "Prussian" troops, under Prince Leopold of Dessau, especially distinguished themselves: their commander was afterwards one of Frederick the Great's most famous generals.

The first consequence of this victory was an armistice with Louis XIV., so far as Italian territory was concerned: nevertheless, a part of the Austrian army was sent to Naples in 1707, to take possession of the country in the name of Spain. The Archduke Karl, after some temporary successes over Philip V., was driven back to Barcelona, and Louis XIV. then offered to treat for peace. Austria and England refused: in 1708 Marlborough and Prince Eugene, again united, won another victory over the French at Oudenarde, and took the stronghold of Lille, which had been considered impregnable. The road to Paris was apparently open to the allies, and Louis XIV. offered to give up his claim, on behalf of Philip V., to Spain, Milan, the Spanish-American colonies and the Netherlands, provided Naples and Sicily were left to his grandson. Marlborough and Prince Eugene required, in addition, that he should expel Philip from Spain, in case the latter refused to conform to the treaty. Louis XIV.'s pride was wounded by this demand, and the negotiations were broken off.

1708. PEACE REJECTED BY JOSEPH I.

With great exertion a new French army was raised, and Marshal Villars placed in command. But the two famous commanders, Marlborough and Eugene, achieved such a new and crushing victory in the battle of Malplaquet, fought on the 11th of September, 1709, that France made a third attempt to conclude peace. Louis XIV. now offered to withdraw his claim to the Spanish succession, to restore Alsatia and Strasburg to Germany, and to pay one million livres a month towards defraying the expenses of expelling Philip V. from Spain. It will scarcely be believed that this proposal, so humiliating to the extravagant pride of France, and which conceded more than Germany had hoped to obtain, was rejected! The cause seems to have been a change in the fortunes of the Archduke Karl in Spain: he was again victorious, and in 1710 held his triumphal entry in Madrid. Yet it is difficult to conceive what further advantages Joseph I. expected to secure, by prolonging the war.

Germany was soon punished for this presumptuous refusal of peace. A Court intrigue, in England, overthrew the Whig Ministry and gave the power into the hands of the Tories: Marlborough was at first hampered and hindered in carrying out his plans, and then recalled. While keeping up the outward forms of her alliance with Holland and Germany, England began to negotiate secretly with France, and thus the chief strength of the combination against Louis XIV. was broken. In 1711 the Emperor Joseph I. died, leaving no direct heirs, and the Archduke Karl became his successor to the throne. The latter immediately left Spain, was elected before he reached Germany, and crowned in Mayence on the 22d of September, as Karl VI. Although, by deserting Spain, he had seemed to renounce his pretension to the Spanish crown, there was a general fear that the success of Germany would unite the two countries, as in the time of Charles V., and Holland's interest in the war began also to languish. Prince Eugene, without English aid, was so successful in the early part of 1712 that even Paris seemed in danger; but Marshal Villars, by cutting off all his supplies, finally forced him to retreat.

1713.

During this same year negotiations were carried on between France, England, Holland, Savoy and Prussia. They terminated, in 1713, in the Peace of Utrecht, by which the Bourbon, Philip V., was recognized as king of Spain and her colonies, on condition that the crowns of Spain and France should never be united. England received Gibraltar and the island of Minorca from Spain, Acadia, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and the Hudson's Bay Territory from France, and the recognition of her Protestant monarchy. Holland obtained the right to garrison a number of strong frontier fortresses in Belgium, and Prussia received Neufchatel in Switzerland, some territory on the Lower Rhine, and the acknowledgment of Frederick I.'s royal dignity.

Karl VI. refused to recognize his rival, Philip V., as king of Spain, and therefore rejected the Treaty of Utrecht. But the other princes of Germany were not eager to prolong the war for the sake of gratifying the Hapsburg pride. Prince Eugene, who was a devoted adherent of Austria, in vain implored them to be united and resolute. "I stand," he wrote, "like a sentinel (a watch!) on the Rhine; and as mine eye wanders over these fair regions, I think to myself how happy, and beautiful, and undisturbed in the enjoyment of Nature's gifts they might be, if they possessed courage to use the strength which God hath given them. With an army of 200,000 men I would engage to drive the French out of Germany, and would forfeit my life if I did not obtain a peace which should gladden our hearts for the next twenty years." With such forces as he could collect he carried on the war along the Upper Rhine, but he lost the fortresses of Landau and Freiburg. Louis XIV., however, who was now old and infirm, was very tired of the war, and after these successes, he commissioned Marshal Villars to treat for peace with Prince Eugene. The latter was authorized by the Emperor to negotiate: the two commanders met at Rastatt, in Baden, and in spite of the unreasonable stubbornness of Karl VI. a treaty was finally concluded on the 7th of March, 1714.

1714. END OF THE WAR.

Austria received the Spanish Netherlands, Naples, Milan, Mantua and the Island of Sardinia. Freiburg, Old-Breisach and Kehl were restored to Germany, but France retained Landau, on the west bank of the Rhine, as well as all Alsatia and Strasburg. Thus the recovery of the latter territory, which Joseph I. refused to accept in 1710, was lost to Germany until the year 1870.