Battle of Ramillies their disastrous defeat at Blenheim in 1704, the next year brought the French some respite. The Duke of Marlborough had intended the 1705 campaign – an invasion of France through the Moselle valley – to complete the work of Blenheim and persuade King Louis XIV to make peace but the plan had been thwarted by friend and foe alike. The reluctance of his Dutch allies to see their frontiers denuded of troops for another gamble in Germany had denied Marlborough the initiative but of far greater importance was the Margrave of Baden’s pronouncement that he could not join the Duke
War of the Spanish Succession of Kehl (1703)|Kehl]], [[Breisach]] and Landau directly threatened Vienna. [[File:Low Countries 1700 and entrenched lines.png|thumb|left|upright=1.35|The Low Countries; note location of Prince-Bishopric of Liège (in pink). Red lines show the "Pré carré," a double line of fortresses guarding the French border.]] In 1704, Franco-Bavarian forces continued their advance with the Austrians struggling to suppress [[Rákóczi's War of Independence|Rákóczi's revolt]] in Hungary. To relieve the pressure, Marlborough marched up the Rhine, joined forces with Louis of Baden and Prince Eugene and crossed the Danube on 2 July. Allied victory at [[Battle of Blenheim|Blenheim]] on 13 August forced Bavaria out of the war