The Anti-French War took place during 1682-94. Spain, England, Sicily, Netherlands, the Baltic League (Sweden, several German states) united against France and its allies Hungary, Poland, Württemberg-Austria, Nassau, Savoy, Venice, Denmark-Braunschweig, Scotland and Portugal.
Prehistory[]
1680: Heinrich IV of Brandenburg dies. His son is unable to govern, which he is aware of. So he decides that Brandenburg-Silesia shall be governed by a collegium of the other members of the Baltic League (Kristina I of Sweden, Johann IX of Hohenzollern and Balthasar II of Prussia) until there is a capable heir to take over.
1681: Johann IX of Hohenzollern (of Franconia-Pomerania) dies without heirs too. New French king François V declares the illegality of the collegial government over Brandenburg-Silesia and Franconia-Pomerania.
France annexes the Margravate of Baden, against all the rules, laws and traditions. Even France's allies in Germany aren't willing to take these excesses anymore.
1682: The (several times postponed) election for Holy Roman Emperor. (Several candidates, like crown prince Humphrey of England and king Humphrey I himself, died at an inconvenient time, and the anti-French groups had to look for new candidates, since queen Kristina of Sweden isn't electable.) Finally, after a turbulent election, king Francisco of Sicily is elected emperor Franz IV by Brandenburg, Prussia, Saxony, Jülich-Berg, the Netherlands, Palatinate (until then controlled by France), while François V ("the other Franz", as the Germans call him) is elected by Poland, Württemberg-Austria, Nassau, Braunschweig and Luxemburg. François V doesn't want to accept the result of the election, which was admittedly quite unclear (are the votes of French-occupied Luxemburg and collegially governed Brandenburg valid?).
The war[]
1682, October: Sea battle of Bornholm. Sweden defeats the Danish Baltic fleet, can link up with their allies in the South.
1683, February: Battle of Ansbach. Franconian army has to retreat.
1683, April: Battle of Thorn. Baltic League battles Poles for a draw.
1683, June: Battle of Groningen. A thrust from Nassau is defeated by the Dutch and English.
1683, October: Battle of Valladolid. Portuguese have to retreat.
1684: France allies with the relatives of the duke of Brandenburg to claim the throne of said country against Sweden and Prussia.
1684, June: Battle of Ypres. Dutch-Brabant army defeated, has to retreat behind the Rhine. King François declares all their lands south of the Rhine to be part of France.
1684, July: Battle of the Lowlands. Glasgow and Edinburgh besieged by English.
1684, September: Battle of Bergen. Sweden links up with England.
1685: Elector Magnus of Saxony-Wittenberg-Lauenburg dies. Theoretically, his lands would go to his Ascanian relatives in Brandenburg, but as was said, the status of Brandenburg is difficult - besides, the Ascanians would get two electoral votes with that. This causes some clashes between the anti-French German states.
1685, April: Battle of Jülich. French army defeated, has to retreat from Northern Rhineland.
1685, May: Battle of Zaragoza. Spanish cross the Ebro, occupy most of Catalonia, although the French still hold Navarre and Barcelona.
1685, September: Battle of Coburg. German troops drive the French-Württembergian armies back.
1686: Uprisings in Württemberg against unpopular duke Karl II begin. The brothers Eberhard and Ludwig (also of his family, the Eberhardiner!) leave his state and go to Hesse, to fight against him and France.
1686, February: Battle of Schlitz. France's allies in Germany (Nassau, Braunschweig, Württemberg) prevented from unificating; link up of Baltic League with Dutch, Brabant.
1686, May: Battle of Orkney. Danish and Scottish fleet defeated, Scottish islands occupied.
1687, Fall: Bohemian army of Hungary plunders margravate of Meissen.
1687, November: Battle of Kingsburgh (OTL Montreal). French-Atlantean troops have to cease the siege and retreat to French Quebec (OTL Ontario).
1688: Sicily and Florence unite, form the Italian kingdom. France doesn't want to acknowledge it as a kingdom, since Sicily wasn't acknowledged either and Florence is still a grand duchy. Florence / Italy enters the war on the coalition's side, invades Venice, Savoy.
1688, March: Battle of Metztitlan. Spaniards thrust deep into Mexico, link up with anti-government groups.
1688, October: Battle of Mantua. Armies of Savoy and Venice defeated, driven back.
1689, September: Battle of Göppingen. Troops of duke Karl II defeated, Württemberg occupied. Brothers Eberhard and Ludwig declared rightful rulers.
1689, November: Sea battle of Martinsburg. Danish fleet destroyed by English and Italians.
1690: Italian cardinals elect a new pope in Rome, declare him to be the legitimate pope. France's other opponents also accept him as pope.
Baltic League installs a Polish anti-king, which throws Poland into Civil War and takes a lot of pressure from the Baltic League.
1690, April: Sea battle of Ibiza. United Spanish-Italian fleet defeats French-Savoy fleet.
1690, August: Battle of Oppeln. Hungarian army marches into Silesia.
1691, July: Battle of Magdeburg. French-Braunschweiger army crosses the Elbe. This threat leads to the Baltic League rallying against the invaders, finally turning the table.
1692, April: Danish army defeated at the battle of Güstrow, Mecklenburg, can't help the French.
1692, August: Battle of Lublin. The king's troops defeated by the rebels.
1692, September: Battle of Pinne. Baltic League defeats Polish loyalists and Hungarians.
1692: "The wild ride": Friedrich von Hohenzollern, a German in the service of the governor of Italia Nuova, fights his way through the French colony of Caroline with his cavalry troops, finally linking up with the Spaniards in Florida.
1693: King Humphrey II of England dies surprisingly. The new English king is only ten years old. In France, advisors tell the new king François VI that he should continue the war, since the tide could turn again. (It won't.)
1693, March: Battle of Roussilon. Spanish troops cross the Pyrenees, invade French territory.
1693, July: Battle of Brünn. Last Austrian army defeated. Karl II of Württemberg-Austria goes to exile in Hungary.
1694, January: Battle of Coimbra. English-Spanish troops occupy the city, panic strikes Portugal.
1694, March: Siege of Bratislava broken - a last victory for the Bourbons.
Peace of Amsterdam[]
Made in 1694, France has to give up its allies: Denmark's Norway becomes Swedish (although Braunschweig may keep Schleswig and Holstein), Portugal Spanish, Scotland English. In Atlantis, Virginia (OTL Georgia) and eastern Nouvelle France (OTL Hispaniola) become Spanish, Quebec (OTL Ontario) English, Louisiane north of the Arkansas is divided between Italy (the South) and Denmark-Braunschweig (the North). Prince-Haralds-Land (OTL Newfoundland) is ceded by the latter to England. The Pyrenees become the new French-Spanish border. Luxemburg-Lorraine is given back to Karl XI of Brabant-Limburg. Baden is restored. Switzerland receives the lands lost too, but has to promise neutrality. Milan, Ravenna and Genoa become Italian, to drive a wedge between Savoy and Venice. Flanders, Hennegau / Hainaut become Dutch again. Karl II of Württemberg-Austria is deposed, Eberhard X (his father is counted as Eberhard IX, although he never officially reigned) becomes new grand duke, together with his brother Ludwig V. The Alliance des Alpes is dissolved. The Mexican Empire becomes a Spanish colony; the last Tenochca ruler Acamapichtli II has to go to exile in France. Many areas in northern, western and southern Germany were devastated, as were in Poland.
Aftermath[]
1695: After the death of the old pope in Avignon, the council of Cork was started to reconciliate the church.