Franco-Dutch War of the Dutch Republic by surprise, is often referred to as "het Rampjaar" ("the Disaster Year") in Dutch. In order to weaken its Hapsburg rivals in Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, largely Catholic France supported the Dutch Republic during the 1568-1648 Eighty Years War and in 1635, it entered the Thirty Years' War as part of the anti-Imperial Protestant alliance. The 1648 Peace of Westphalia ended the wider war but the subsidiary Franco-Spanish War continued until the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees; the net effect was that Spain was no longer the dominant power in Europe, while France emerged
War of the Spanish Succession was reliant on the so-called "Maritime Powers" (England and the Dutch Republic) and also a higher priority for them. By formalising religious divisions within the Empire, the [[Peace of Westphalia|1648 Peace of Westphalia]] weakened its integrity and by 1700, the larger German states were pursuing their own policies. [[Electorate of Bavaria|Bavaria]] allied itself with France while as King of Poland, [[Augustus II the Strong|Augustus of Saxony]] was fully occupied by the [[Great Northern War]]. To gain [[Frederick I of Prussia|Frederick of Prussia]]'s support, Leopold recognised him as King, with Prussia made an equal member of the Grand Alliance. [[George I