Quicksilver Reading CompanionA Europe-wide war pitting a grand coalition against Louis XIV’s France.
Background
Also called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg. After the Glorious Revolution, William of Orange brought England into an existing anti-French coalition that included the Dutch Republic, the Holy Roman Empire, and Spain. The war ran from 1688 to 1697, fought across the Low Countries, Ireland, the Rhine, and at sea.
John Churchill rose to prominence as a military commander during the conflict. The war ended with the Treaty of Ryswick (1697), which settled little — most of the same issues would reignite in the War of the Spanish Succession.
Financial consequences
The war was ruinous for all sides. England’s need to fund it led directly to the creation of the Bank of England in 1694, which sold government debt to private investors. This financial innovation outlasted the war itself and reshaped how states funded their operations.
In the novel
The war forms the military backdrop of Book 3. Its costs drive the financial scheming and currency debates that occupy Daniel Waterhouse and others in the 1690s.