ABSTRACT
In analysing the causes of the third war of 1672—74 it is clear that disputes over trade served only as pretexts. The primary objective of Charles, James and the ministers which they tried - ultimately in vain — to conceal was to gain increased power for themselves, and to strengthen royal authority at the expense of the English nation by eliminating the existing dependence of the Crown on the cooperation of subjects, as represented by Parliament and the militia. In order to achieve this objective Charles was ready to acquiesce in the hegemony over western Europe which he knew was the primary objective of his ally Louis XIV. The alliance with France differentiated this war from the first and second. In the first, England had needed no allies; in the second, Munster on the English side, and France and Denmark on the Dutch, had not played a very important part. But in February 1673 Charles implied how important the French alliance was for him, telling Parliament that if he had not taken advantage of the conjuncture of 1672, 'perhaps I had not again ever met with the like advantage'. By conjuncture he pretended to mean the coincidence between the honour of the Crown and the interest of the kingdom, but in reality (and secret) it was the conjuncture between the interests and aims of the English and French Crowns that alone made the war of 1672 possible. Whereas important interest groups in England had pressed for anti-Dutch policies in 1650—52 and 1664—65 only individuals allowed their grievances against the Dutch to be exploited in 1670—72. The third war was solely the result of initiatives taken by the Court; parliamentary assistance (and thereby implicitly its approval) was not sought until the war had been in progress for ten months. 1
