Armies of the War of the Grand Alliance 1688-97

This title explores and illustrates the armies of France, and six countries allied against Louis XIV, in a wide-ranging Continental conflict that ushered in more than a century of European warfare.

Formed in 1689, the League of Augsburg was an alliance of nations comprising the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, Spain and the Duchy of Savoy, who were intent on standing firm and fighting against Louis XIV's rich, powerful and expansionist France. They were engaged in a long conflict against the Sun King known as the War of the Grand Alliance. This conflict was notable for the first widespread use of uniform clothing, flintlock musket and bayonet, and for the birth of sophisticated siege warfare under the great French engineer, Vauban. The final Treaty of Ryswyck (1697), which ended the Grand Alliance War, marked Louis XIV's political zenith but also the ascendancy of England as a first-rate global power. While the League of Augsburg had been fighting against Louis XIV on the continent, Britain had been involved in its so-called Glorious Revolution that saw the political ascendancy of William of Orange. This fully illustrated title explores the armies which fought in the War of the League of Augsburg by examining their organization, uniforms and arms. Also, the various military factions that participated in the Glorious Revolution, most notably the multi-national army of William of Orange (comprising Dutch as well as English and Danish units) and the Jacobite troops who operated in Ireland.