The Rhine campaign of 1713 was a successful
French military campaign against the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
, the sole remaining member of the once-formidable
Grand Alliance which had refused to
make peace with France. The campaign, which did not result in any
pitched battle
A pitched battle or set-piece battle is a battle in which opposing forces each anticipate the setting of the battle, and each chooses to commit to it. Either side may have the option to disengage before the battle starts or shortly thereafter. A ...
s, ended with French forces besieging and capturing the fortified cities of
Landau
Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990) ...
and
Freiburg im Breisgau, which exposed the
Palatinate,
Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...
and
Swabia to French occupation and compelled the Emperor to
sue for peace.
Prelude
On 11 April 1713, the
Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne ...
was signed between most participants in the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
:
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
against
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
,
Savoy and the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
.
The
Habsburg monarchy and the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
refused to sign the treaty and so remained at war against France.
Several factors influenced
Emperor Charles VI's decision decision to carry on the war alone. A powerful faction in the Habsburg court (the so-called "Spanish party") was extremely vexed at having
effectively lost the Spanish throne (seen as the war's principal stake and prize) when their allies recognized
Philip V Philip V may refer to:
* Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC)
* Philip V of France (1293–1322)
* Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598)
* Philip V of Spain
Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...
in the Peace of Utrecht, and only begrudgingly withdrew Imperial forces from Spain (the aggrieved Charles would style himself ''King of Spain and
the Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around ...
'' until 1725). This party lobbied successfully for a final campaign which would serve to extract additional concessions from France in compensation for this dynastic loss; to this end, Spain and Italy were stripped of troops for a campaign on the Rhine.
French domestic politics also held out possibilities. Louis XIV's advanced age and the sickly state of his infant heir fed the hope that France, too, could face a
succession crisis and be driven to seek peace at any cost.
Queen Anne's poor health also factored into Vienna's calculations.
Campaign
By 1713, both France and the Holy Roman Empire were militarily depleted. France, confident that peace with Vienna would prevail, initially made few preparations for a new campaign, but when the Habsburgs made clear their intentions by marshalling on the Rhine, Louis was able to concentrate a large army opposite them, near Strasbourg, and a smaller force in support on the
Sarre and
Moselle; 300 squadrons and 240 battalions in all. Command of the army was given to
Marshal Villars, the most successful French army commander of the war.
Eugene of Savoy moved all of his forces from the Spanish Netherlands to the upper Rhine to cooperate with the armies of the other German states. Now that the subsidies of the Maritime powers had ceased, the armies of the Holy Roman Empire were very much below strength. The combined army of Eugene of Savoy had only 115 squadrons and 85 battalions, more or less one third of the strength of the French army. This forced Eugene to entrench his main force behind the formidable
Ettlingen Line
The Ettlingen Line (german: Ettlinger Linie) or Lower Line (''Untere Linie'') was a defensive line built in 1707 during the War of the Spanish Succession from brushwood (''Verhauen'') and palisades, which replaced the 1701 Bühl-Stollhofen Line ...
of fortifications and cede the
strategic initiative to Villars.
Villars was presented with several options. He could attempt to force the Rhine and seize certain strongpoints on the right bank, extracting tribute and materiel from the south German states to sustain his army and pressure the Emperor; a further push east into
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
would allow him to restore the
Elector Maximilian
Maximilian, Maximillian or Maximiliaan (Maximilien in French) is a male given name.
The name " Max" is considered a shortening of "Maximilian" as well as of several other names.
List of people
Monarchs
*Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459†...
, France's ally and client,
to his throne. Less ambitiously, keeping to the
left bank
In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows.
In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terra ...
, Villars could subject the
Electoral Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...
to French occupation and compel it to contribute to France's war effort. Finally, Villars could attempt to eject Eugene from the Ettlingen Line, potentially opening all of Germany to French raids and occupation. Throughout the campaign, Villars would employ repeated feints along these axes to mask his intentions from Eugene and keep the Imperials bottled up behind the Lines of Ettlingen, unable to interfere with his siege operations.
On 3 June Villars concentrated at
Fort-Louis and
ostentatiously made preparations for a Rhine crossing, convincing the Imperials that he sought to turn the Ettlingen Line's flank; instead, the bulk of his army rapidly wheeled north, crossing the
Queich and the
Speyerbach
The Speyerbach is a left tributary of the Rhine in the Palatinate part of Rhineland-Palatinate. In Speyer, the river split into ''Gießhübelbach'' and ''Woogbach''. The Woogbach changes its name to ''Nonnenbach'', then flows into Gießhübe ...
. Seizing
Speyer
Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...
as a position from which to interdict any westward sally from Eugene, Villars detached the
Marquis de Bezons to invest
Landau
Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990) ...
on June 24. The city, defended by
Charles Alexander, Prince of Württemberg, held out for 52 days before surrendering on August 20, two days after French sappers blew large breaches in its walls. In the meantime,
Arthur Dillon had also taken
Kaiserslautern. Villars denied the Imperials the
honours of war
The honours of war are a set of privileges that are granted to a defeated army during the surrender ceremony. The honours symbolise the valour of the defeated army, and grew into a custom during the age of early modern warfare. Typically a surren ...
and marched them into French captivity, an act seen by contemporaries as harsh conduct towards a garrison that had conducted a gallant defense (Villars was possibly motivated by Eugene's similar treatment of the French defenders of
Le Quesnoy
Le Quesnoy (; pcd, L' Kénoé) is a commune and small town in the east of the Nord department of northern France. It was part of the historical province of French Hainaut. It had a keynote industry in shoemaking before the late 1940s, followed ...
the previous year).
His hold over the Palatinate secured, Villars opted for a second offensive, into
Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...
and
Swabia, to impose further economic and territorial pressure on the Emperor. To mask his movements, Villars crossed the Rhine with a detachment at Fort-Louis, again appearing to menace the Lines of Ettlingen, only for his main force to cross further south, at
Kehl
Kehl (; gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Kaal) is a town in southwestern Germany in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg. It is on the river Rhine, directly opposite the French city of Strasbourg, with which it shares some municipal servicesfor exa ...
, near the Imperial fortress of Freiburg. Villars left a screening force along Ettlingen and departed for Kehl via
Strasbourg, where he took command of the siege works and invested Freiburg on the night of 30 September–1 October. Racing to seize the city and its citadel ahead of the winter snows, Villars resorted to mass assaults by French grenadiers. A general assault breached the walls and carried the city on 2 November; to spare Freiburg further destruction (the French, having taken the place by storm, were not bound by the
law of war or any articles of capitulation to provide for its welfare), the citadel's garrison obtained Eugene's permission to surrender on 16 November.
Throughout, Eugene of Savoy could not risk battle and was reduced to the role of passive spectator.
Louis XIV now asked to open negotiations and was accepted by the Holy Roman Empire. Marshal Villars and Prince Eugene of Savoy met in the city of
Rastatt
Rastatt () is a town with a Baroque core, District of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain on the Murg river, above its junction with the Rhine and has a population of around 50,000 (2011). Rastatt was a ...
in
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the Rhine, the border with Fra ...
and started a series of complex negotiations which lasted until 7 March 1714, when the
Treaty of Rastatt
The Treaty of Rastatt was a peace treaty between France and Austria that was concluded on 7 March 1714 in the Baden city of Rastatt to end the War of the Spanish Succession between both countries. The treaty followed the Treaty of Utrecht of 11 A ...
was signed.
Citations
Sources
*
THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION, CAMPAIGNS AND NEGOTIATIONS, By C. T. ATKINSON, M.A, pag. 435Les Bourbons. LES TRAITES DE RASTATT ET DE BADEN METTENT UN POINT FINAL A LA GUERRE DE SUCCESSION D'ESPAGNE
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhine campaign, 1713
Battles of the War of the Spanish Succession
Sieges involving the Holy Roman Empire
Sieges involving France
Conflicts in 1713
1713 in France
1713 in the Holy Roman Empire
Landau
Freiburg im Breisgau
Sieges of the War of the Spanish Succession