Spanish-Dutch Collaboration Under Mariana of Austria, 1665–1675: Shifting Diplomatic and Military Alliances in Europe and the Caribbean

This chapter focuses on Spanish-Dutch diplomatic and military collaboration during the regency of Queen Mariana of Austria (1665–1675). During the initial three years of her government, Mariana and her ministers aggressively sought the help of the United Provinces to intervene in the defense of the Spanish Low Countries; these efforts culminated with the formation of the Triple Alliance of 1668 between the Dutch Republic, England, and Sweden to defend the Spanish Netherlands from a French attack. In the next stage of collaboration, the Spanish Monarchy and the United Provinces signed the Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance in December 1671, a defensive military alliance where Spain promised to help the Dutch in the likelihood of a simultaneous French and English invasion of their territories. This agreement became the basis for the first offensive military alliance, which Mariana helped create in 1673, bringing in the Holy Roman Empire and the Duke of Lorraine in a Quadruple Alliance against France. Mariana also invested her diplomatic capital to help the United Provinces during the French invasion of the Republic and the Third Anglo-Dutch War; she negotiated the withdrawal of England from the war, leaving France without its main ally. Spanish-Dutch collaboration during Mariana’s regency helped redefine the geopolitical situation in Europe and the West Indies.