View source for Third Anglo-Dutch War

== Preparations ==
[[File:1672 Dutch War.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.0|Agreements with Münster and Cologne allowed the French to bypass the Spanish Netherlands.]]

Louis instructed [[Simon Arnauld, Marquis de Pomponne|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, 1st Baronet|Sir William Temple]], was entrusted by Charles with the same mission.{{sfn|Troost|2001|p=73}} Since Dutch defences were concentrated along their southern border with the Spanish Netherlands, Louis agreed an alliance with [[Electorate of Cologne|Electoral Cologne]], allowing his army to advance through the [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège|Principality of Liège]] for an attack from the east (see Map). It also complied with an undertaking to [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Leopold I]] not to use the Spanish Netherlands as an invasion route.{{sfn|Hutton|1986|p=309}}

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, the Great Elector|Frederick William]], whose territories included the [[Duchy of Cleves]] on their eastern border.{{sfn|Frost|2000|p=209}} Hoping for English backing, on 25 February 1672 the States General appointed Charles' 22-year-old nephew William as [[captain-general]] of the [[Dutch States Army|federal army]], which had an authorised total of 83,000 men.{{sfn|Troost|2005|p=75}} 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.{{sfn|Van Nimwegen|2010|pp=440–441}}

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&nbsp;million to 4.8&nbsp;million guilders.{{sfn|Shomette|Haslach|2002|p=26}} At the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667, the [[Royal Netherlands Navy|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.{{sfn|Hemingway|2002|pp=38–39}}

In the battles of 1666, the Dutch had been hampered by lack of familiarity with their new, much heavier, warships, the complex federal command system and conflict between [[Michiel de Ruyter]] and [[Cornelis Tromp]].{{sfn|Prud'homme van Reine|2015|p=181}} By 1672, these had been corrected, and De Ruyter's intensive training of his fleet in [[line-of-battle]] manoeuvres installed a new sense of coherence and discipline.{{sfn|Prud'homme van Reine|2015|pp=278–279}} Dutch ships were generally better gun platforms, whose shallow draft suited operations close to shore but were slow and less effective in open seas.{{sfn|Hemingway|2002|pp=40–41}} Although Dutch numbers were further reduced by [[Admiralty of Friesland|Friesland]] retaining ships for defence against Münster, better training and design gave them operational equality.{{sfn|Prud'homme van Reine|2015|p=231}}

[[File:Bol, Michiel de Ruyter.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Lieutenant-Admiral [[Michiel de Ruyter]], whose training compensated for numerical inferiority]]

England provided two-thirds of an Anglo-French fleet of 98 "great ships and frigates", whose role was to gain control of Dutch waters, land an expeditionary force and attack its shipping. Parliament generally approved naval expenditure, seen as protecting English trade, but refused to fund land forces. The British brigade was largely composed of [[Royal Scots|Dumbarton's]], a mercenary unit in French service since 1631, and very few members saw service before the war ended.{{sfn|Childs|2014|p=16}}

Parliament's refusal to fund a war against the Protestant Dutch in alliance with Catholic France meant Charles had to find other sources of finance. In January 1672, he [[Stop of the Exchequer|suspended repayment of Crown debts]], an act that produced £1.3&nbsp;million, but had disastrous economic effects. Many [[City of London]] merchants were ruined and it shut off the short-term financing essential to international trade.{{sfn|Rodger|2004|p=80}} In late March, two weeks before a formal declaration of war, he ordered [[Action of 12 March 1672|an attack on a Dutch Levant Company convoy in the Channel]], which was beaten off by its escort under [[Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest]].{{sfn|Clodfelter|1992|p=46}}{{efn|The Dutch suffered a number of losses in this action, including the ''[[Klein Hollandia]]'', whose wreck was finally identified in 2023 <ref>{{cite news |last1=Davies |first1=Caroline |title='Remarkable': Eastbourne shipwreck identified as 17th-century Dutch warship |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/jan/27/remarkable-eastbourne-shipwreck-identified-as-17th-century-dutch-warship |access-date=19 September 2023 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=27 January 2023}}.</ref>}}

The unpopularity of the French alliance and lack of funding forced Charles to gamble on a quick war. In an attempt to gain support from [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformists]], he issued a [[Declaration of Indulgence (1672)|Royal Declaration of Indulgence]] on 15 March, but by also removing restrictions on Catholics, it did little to reduce opposition.{{sfn|Boxer|1969|p=74}} Hostility increased when Charles appointed his Catholic brother [[James II of England|James]] as [[Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom|Lord High Admiral]] rather than his Protestant cousin, [[Prince Rupert of the Rhine|Prince Rupert]]. Even the Royal Navy found it difficult to recruit enough sailors to fully man the fleet.{{sfn|Kitson|1999|p=248}}

His chief minister, [[Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington|Lord Arlington]], was instructed to "break with (the Dutch), yet to lay the breach at their door".{{sfn|Boxer|1969|p=72}} This was done using manufactured incidents, including the [[HMS Merlin (1666)|''Merlin'' affair]], which took place near [[Brielle|Brill]] in August 1671. The royal yacht {{HMS|Merlin|1666|2}} was ordered to sail through the Dutch fleet, who duly struck their flag in salute, but failed to fire white smoke, an honour afforded only to warships.{{sfn|Rowen|1978|pp=755–756}} A formal complaint to the States General was dismissed, while few in England were even aware of the incident. Its use as a pretext, combined with the attack on the Dutch convoy, led some English politicians to declare the conflict "unjust".{{sfn|Boxer|1969|pp=74–75}} England declared war on 27 March, followed by France on 6 April.