The Spanish Netherlands would later become the main theatre of the war, but during the conflict's early stages in 1689, it was considered only a secondary front. This quiescence was because the main protagonists were busy elsewhere: King William was occupied with political matters in England and a Jacobite rebellion in Scotland, whilst King Louis was busy along the Rhine where the powerful German princes were preparing their forces to push the French army back towards the Rhine, and reverse all their earlier setbacks.