The Third Anglo-Dutch War, began on 27 March 1672, and concluded on 19 February 1674. A naval conflict between the Dutch Republic and England, in alliance with France, it is considered a related conflict of the wider 1672 to 1678 Franco-Dutch War.
In the 1670 Secret Treaty of Dover, Charles II of England agreed to support an attack by Louis XIV of France on the Dutch Republic. By doing so, Louis hoped to gain control of the Spanish Netherlands, while Charles sought to restore the damage to his prestige caused by the 1667 Raid on the Medway. Under the treaty, Charles also received secret payments which he hoped would make him financially independent of Parliament.
The French offensive in May and June 1672 quickly overran most of the Republic, with the exception of the core province of Holland, where they were halted by water defences. In early June, the Anglo-French fleet was badly damaged by the Dutch under Michiel de Ruyter at the Battle of Solebay. Shortly thereafter, Johan de Witt resigned as Grand Pensionary, and Charles' nephew William III of Orange was appointed Stadtholder. William rebuffed attempts by Charles to make peace, knowing the French alliance was unpopular in England, while French success brought him support from Emperor Leopold and Spain.
By the end of 1672, the Dutch had regained much of the territory lost in May, and with hopes of a quick victory gone, Parliament refused to continue funding the war. Between June and July 1673, the Dutch and Anglo-French fleets fought four separate battles, which ended any prospect of an English landing. The English merchant fleet meanwhile suffered heavy losses to Dutch privateers. In addition, Louis now focused on taking the Spanish Netherlands, an objective as harmful to English interests as it was to Dutch. The resulting increase in domestic opposition forced Charles to agree the Second Peace of Westminster in February 1674.
The 1652–1654 First Anglo-Dutch War was the result of commercial rivalry and Orangist support for the exiled Charles II, uncle of William of Orange. Peace terms agreed in 1654 with the English Protectorate included the permanent exclusion of the House of Orange-Nassau from public office, ensuring Republican political control. When Charles regained the English throne in 1660, his Orangist links meant Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt opposed negotiations for an Anglo-Dutch alliance; after these broke down, he agreed a treaty of assistance with Louis XIV in 1662.
Despite their long-standing support in the Dutch Eighty Years' War against Spain, French objectives in the Low Countries threatened Dutch commercial interests. The 1648 Peace of Münster permanently closed the Scheldt estuary, benefiting De Witt's power base of Amsterdam by eliminating their closest rival, Antwerp, and keeping it shut was a vital objective. Changes in this region also concerned England, since control of ports on the North Flemish coast allowed a hostile power to blockade the Channel.
In 1665, an attack by the Duke of York on the West-Indische Compagnie led to the Second Anglo-Dutch War; in the first 18 months, the Dutch suffered a serious naval defeat at Lowestoft, an invasion by Münster and an attempted Orangist coup, both financed by England. The prospect of an English victory led Louis to activate the 1662 treaty, although the Dutch considered the support provided inadequate. When the States of Holland blocked his requests for territorial compensation, Louis launched the War of Devolution in May 1667 and rapidly occupied much of the Spanish Netherlands and Franche-Comté.
His refusal to recall Parliament forced Charles to pay off his fleet in early 1667, leading to the humiliating Raid on the Medway. Despite this triumph, the Dutch were more worried by French gains; they quickly negotiated an end to the war in July 1667, then started talks in London on a shared approach for reversing them. Sensing an opportunity, Charles proposed an alliance to Louis, who was unwilling to pay the subsidies demanded; however, De Witt welcomed English envoys to The Hague, seeing it as a way to put pressure on France.
French tariffs on imports imposed in early 1667 increased opposition in the States General, who preferred a weak Spain as a neighbour to a strong France. On 23 January 1668, the Republic, England and Sweden signed the Triple Alliance, committing to mutual support in the event of an attack on one by France or Spain. A secret clause agreed to provide Spain military assistance if France continued the war. Charles disclosed the secret clause to Louis, who felt betrayed by the Dutch. Louis returned most of his acquisitions in the 1668 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, although he retained Charleroi and Tournai.
Concluding the Dutch would never voluntarily accept French aims in the Spanish Netherlands, Louis decided the best way to achieve them was to eliminate the Republic. This meant breaking up the Triple Alliance; since the subsidies promised by the Dutch remained unpaid, it was easy to detach Sweden by offering money, making England his next target. The French and English kings negotiated the 1670 Secret Treaty of Dover, using Henrietta of England as a mediator, Charles' sister and Louis' sister in law. Very few English statesmen were aware of its provisions.
Terms included an Anglo-French military alliance against the Republic, creation of a Dutch rump state for his nephew William and a British brigade for the French army. The treaty was signed in December 1670, but omitted secret clauses not revealed until 1677; Louis agreed to pay Charles £230,000 per year for the brigade, £1 million for the navy and £200,000 for his public conversion to Catholicism, the timing of which was left up to him. Aware Louis was negotiating with De Witt over dividing the Spanish Netherlands, Charles demanded Walcheren, Cadzand and Sluys, whose possession would give him control of Dutch sea routes.
National tensions between England and the Republic significantly diminished after 1667, and there was minimal support for an anti-Dutch alliance with France. Exchanging the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam for the spice island of Run resolved a major area of dispute, while both were concerned by French aims in the Low Countries, and English merchants were also affected by French tariffs. Most Dutch and English politicians considered the Triple Alliance an essential protection against French expansion; in early 1671, Parliament allocated money to ensure the Royal Navy could fulfil its obligations under the treaty.
Louis instructed de Pomponne, his ambassador in The Hague, to continue negotiations with De Witt as a delaying tactic while he finalised invasion plans. The English envoy, Sir William Temple, was entrusted by Charles with the same mission. Since Dutch defences were concentrated along their southern border with the Spanish Netherlands, Louis agreed an alliance with Electoral Cologne, allowing his army to advance through the Principality of Liège for an attack from the east (see Map). It also complied with an undertaking to Emperor Leopold I not to use the Spanish Netherlands as an invasion route.
In April 1672, France agreed to subsidise Sweden to remain neutral, while also promising military assistance if 'threatened' by Brandenburg-Prussia. This offset an agreement of 6 May between the Dutch and Frederick William, whose territories included the Duchy of Cleves on their eastern border. Hoping for English backing, on 25 February 1672 the States General appointed Charles' 22-year-old nephew William as captain-general of the federal army, which had an authorised total of 83,000 men. Uncertainty over French strategy meant most of these were based in the wrong place, while many garrisons were below strength; on 12 June, one commander reported he had only four companies available from an official total of eighteen.
The Republic was better prepared for a naval war, although to avoid provoking the English, on 4 February the States General reduced the naval budget from 7.9 million to 4.8 million guilders. At the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667, the Dutch Navy was the largest in Europe but by 1672 the combined Anglo-French fleet outnumbered them by over a third. However, the French were inexperienced, their ships badly designed and their relationship with the Royal Navy was damaged by mutual suspicion.