Rhine Campaign (1713)
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The Rhine campaign of 1713 was a successful French military campaign against the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
, 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 (), 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), a long ...
and
Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...
, 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 Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...
and
Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...
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 treaty, 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 vac ...
was signed between most participants in the
War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
:
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and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
against
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,
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,
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and the
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. The
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and the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
refused to sign the treaty and so remained at war against France. Several factors influenced Emperor Charles VI's 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 in the Peace of Utrecht, and only begrudgingly withdrew Imperial forces from Spain (the aggrieved Charles would style himself ''King of Spain and
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'' 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
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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 The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...
; 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 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
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would allow him to restore the Elector Maximilian, France's ally and client, to his throne. Less ambitiously, keeping to the
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, Villars could subject the
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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. Seizing
Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...
as a position from which to interdict any westward sally from Eugene, Villars detached the Marquis de Bezons to invest
Landau Landau (), 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), a long ...
on 24 June. The city, defended by Charles Alexander, Prince of Württemberg, held out for 52 days before surrendering on 20 August, two days after French sappers blew large breaches in its walls. In the meantime, Arthur Dillon had also taken
Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...
. Villars denied the Imperials the honours of war 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 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 Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...
and
Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...
, 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 (; ) is a city with around 38,000 inhabitants in the southwestern Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies in the region of Baden on the Rhine River, at the confluence with the smaller Kinzig (Rhine), Kinzig River, directly oppo ...
, near the Imperial fortress of Freiburg. Villars left a screening force along Ettlingen and departed for Kehl via
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, 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
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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 51,000 (2022). Rastatt was an ...
in
Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...
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 Kingdom of France, France and Archduchy of Austria, Austria that was concluded on 7 March 1714 in the Margraviate of Baden, Baden city of Rastatt to end the War of the Spanish Succession between bo ...
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