Triple Alliance (1668)
The Triple Alliance (; Swedish: Trippelalliansen) was signed by the Kingdom of England, the Swedish Empire and the Dutch Republic in May 1668. It was created in response to the occupation of the Spanish Netherlands and Franche-Comté by France. Although Spain and Emperor Leopold were not signatories, they were closely involved in the negotiations. It consisted of three separate agreements: a defensive alliance, an undertaking to oblige Spain and France to make peace, and secret clauses that included mediating an end to the war between Spain and Portugal and enforcing the peace by military action if required. By 1663, Louis XIV had accepted that French and Dutch objectives in the Low Countries were incompatible and used the Second Anglo-Dutch War to launch the War of Devolution in May 1667. He and Leopold were co-heirs to Charles of Spain, and in January 1668, they signed a treaty that divided the Spanish Empire if Charles died without an heir, and it awarded Louis the Spanish Netherlands and set the terms of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. The alliance was short-lived since both Sweden and England backed France at the outset of the Franco-Dutch War four years later, but it marked the point at which England and the Dutch came to see France as a common threat. That made it the forerunner of the Grand Alliance, which fought the 1688-1697 Nine Years' War and the 1701-1714 War of the Spanish Succession. Background As part of the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees that ended the Franco-Spanish War, Louis XIV of France married Maria Theresa of Spain, eldest daughter of Philip IV of Spain. Despite being weakened by nearly a century of conflict, the Spanish Empire remained a huge global confederation. To prevent its acquisition by France, Maria Theresa renounced her inheritance rights and in return Louis was promised a dowry of 500,000 gold écus, a huge sum that was never paid. In 1661, French Finance Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert argued economic growth required possession of the Spanish Netherlands and the port of Antwerp. Acquisition would give France control of its own export trade, currently dominated by the Dutch Republic, a long-time ally. However, this implied conflict with Spain, Emperor Leopold as well as the Dutch. The 1648 Peace of Münster that confirmed independence from Spain shut the Scheldt estuary, closing Antwerp and making Amsterdam the richest commercial city in North Western Europe. Keeping it shut was a Dutch priority. By 1663, Louis had concluded the States General of the Netherlands would never voluntarily agree concessions and began planning to seize the area by force. As required by the 1662 Franco-Dutch Treaty of Paris, France entered the Second Anglo-Dutch War in July 1665; this gave Louis an excuse to expand his army, while he also calculated it would make harder for the Dutch to oppose him. In September, Philip died, leaving his four-year-old son Charles II of Spain as king, and his widow, Mariana of Austria, as regent. Louis argued since the dowry remained unpaid, Maria Theresa's