Treaties of Nijmegen

The Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen (Traités de Paix de Nimègue; German: Friede von Nimwegen) were a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and October 1679. The treaties ended various interconnected wars among France, the Dutch Republic, Spain, Brandenburg, Sweden, Denmark, the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, and the Holy Roman Empire. The most significant of the treaties was the first, which established peace between France and the Dutch Republic and placed the northern border of France very near its modern position.[1]

Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen
The Place des Victoires in Paris, with an equestrian statue of Louis XIV, was designed as a memorial to the Peace of Nijmegen.
ContextFranco-Dutch War: Franco-Dutch War end; France control Franche-Comté, select Flanders cities, and Hainaut.
Signed1678–79
LocationNijmegen, Dutch Republic
Parties

Background

The Franco-Dutch War of 1672–78 was the source of all the other wars that were ended formally at Nijmegen. Separate peace treaties were arranged for conflicts like the Third Anglo-Dutch War and the Scanian War, but all of them had been directly caused by and form part of the Franco-Dutch War. England initially participated in the war on the French side but withdrew in 1674, after the Treaty of Westminster.

Peace negotiations had begun as early as 1676, but nothing was agreed to and signed before 1678. The treaties did not result in a lasting peace. Some of the countries involved signed peace deals elsewhere, such as the Treaty of Celle (Sweden made peace with Brunswick and Lunenburg-Celle), Treaty of Saint-Germain (France and Sweden made peace with Brandenburg) and Treaty of Fontainebleau (France dictated peace between Sweden and Denmark-Norway).

Treaties signed in Nijmegen
  • 10 August 1678 – France and the Dutch Republic make peace. Sweden was not part of the treaty, but a section forces the Dutch Republic to take a neutral approach toward Sweden with which it had been at war since 1675.
  • 10 August 1678 - France and Dutch Republic sign separate treaty on commerce and navigation, set to expire after 25 years.
  • 19 September 1678 – France and Spain make peace.
  • 26 January 1679 – France makes peace with the Holy Roman Empire.
  • 26 January 1679 – Sweden makes peace with the Holy Roman Empire.
Title page of the treaty between Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire.
  • 19 March 1679 – Sweden makes peace with the Prince-Bishopric of Münster. All of Münster's soldiers in Danish war service are to be withdrawn.
  • 2 October 1679 – Sweden made peace with the Dutch Republic.

Terms

The Franco–Dutch War ended with a treaty which gave France control over the region of the Franche-Comté.[2] France also gained further territories of the Spanish Netherlands, adding to those it had annexed under the 1659 Peace of the Pyrenees and 1668 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. These included the town of Saint-Omer with the remaining northwestern part of the former Imperial County of Artois; the lands of Cassel, Aire and Ypres in southwestern Flanders; the Bishopric of Cambrai; and the towns of Valenciennes and Maubeuge in the southern County of Hainaut.

In turn, French King Louis XIV ceded the occupied town of Maastricht and the Principality of Orange to the Dutch stadtholder William III. The French forces withdrew from several occupied territories in northern Flanders and Hainaut.

Emperor Leopold I had to accept the French occupation of the towns of Freiburg (until 1697) and Kehl (until 1698) on the right bank of the Rhine.

Culture

Marc-Antoine Charpentier wrote a Te Deum for this occasion. The prelude of the Te Deum is also known as the Eurovision Song Contest theme.

References
  1. Nolan, Cathal J (2008). Wars of the age of Louis XIV, 1650–1715. ABC-CLIO. p. 128. ISBN 0-313-33046-8. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  2. Horne, Alistair (2004). La Belle France. Vintage. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-4000-3487-1. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
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