This is fascinating, thank you! Much of it was new to me.
It seems it wasn't as spontaneous as I'd thought before
Oh, good lord, no. No matter whose side you were on, everyone knew the Hanover succession was going to happen, and everyone was making their plans well in advance. How much the specific details of the '15 were worked out in advance, I don't know, but the part where the Jacobites knew there were going to be protests at the Hanoverian accession and planned to take advantage was understood for years was kind of inevitable. Kind of like how everyone knew starting in about 1661 that the War of the Spanish Succession was going to happen, and planned for it until it finally happened in 1701; and everyone knew the Medici line was dying out by the 1720s, so they were laying their plans until 1737...Military and political details obviously had to respond to current events and couldn't be planned 40 years in advance, but if a succession crisis could be anticipated years in advance by anyone with half a brain, it was, and the maneuvering via correspondence, diplomatic negotiations, and treaties would go on.
Berwick (an Irish military commander in French service)
For cahn, not just any Irish military commander in French service, but James II's illegitimate son, and thus James III's half-brother! Berwick had already proven himself a very capable commander in the War of the Spanish Succession, and Philip V basically owed his throne to him (that and the fact that most of the Spaniards were fine with keeping Philip and reluctant to support the Habsburg claimants).
Prior to this, Berwick had fought for his father, James II, in Ireland, as he tried to get his throne back. He was present at the Battle of the Boyne, and he stayed in Ireland even after James had fled to France. (I'm not sure how much Berwick is himself "Irish", but he definitely had commanded troops in Ireland, and since he ended up going from there to France, he may have been called "Irish" because he had arrived as the head of Irish troops. He was born to English parents in France and raised in France, though.)
As we've pointed out before (luzula, you weren't here for this), Berwick's mother was Arabella Churchill, sister of the Duke of Marlborough. Horowski, predictably, makes a lot out of the tight family connections on both sides of the War of the Spanish Succession.
But the French government forbade Berwick to take part
The timing is critical here. The War of the Spanish Succession has just ended. The Peace of Utrecht has just forced France to recognize the Protestant Succession and banish James III from France.
Per Wikipedia (pay attention to the dates I've bolded):
Believing the great general Marlborough would join him, on 23 August James wrote to the Duke of Berwick, his illegitimate brother and Marlborough's nephew, that; "I think it is now more than ever Now or Never".
27 August: The Earl of Mar holds the first council of war, in Scotland.
September 1: Louis XIV dies. Philippe d'Orleans becomes regent.
6 September: The Earl of Mar raises the standard of James III/VIII.
This means that by the time Berwick needs permission to leave France, the big Jacobite supporter and personal friend of James II Louis XIV is dead. The new regent is Philippe d'Orleans, son of gay Philippe. If anything should happen to child Louis XV, Philippe d'Orleans is next in line to the throne. Except that Philip V of Spain, who had renounced the throne of France, is making it pretty clear that promise wasn't worth the paper it was written on. If anything happens to Louis XV, he's invading with his Spanish army and claiming the throne. The two Philip(pe)s are thus complete enemies.
It's also becoming increasingly clear that Philip V is going to try to get back the lost Spanish territory he just signed away. So Philippe the Regent needs an ally to try to force Spain to adhere to the terms of the Peace of Utrecht. The ally he wants is England. (This is why Rottembourg and Whitworth are working together in Berlin.) This will lead to the 1716-1731 Anglo-French alliance, in which they will fight on the same side against Spain in 1718-1720, which will thus lead Spain to try to put James III on the throne in 1719.
So up until September 1, 1715, the sympathies of the French monarch were with the Jacobites. Post September 1, the French regent has every reason to support George I against the Jacobites. Hence Berwick being refused permission. (Berwick will later be sent back into Spain to fight against Philip V, thus on the opposite side of the war that he just finished, where he was fighting *for* Philip V. Berwick was not happy about this.)
Berwick will eventually die at the Battle of Philippsburg, getting his head ripped off after a "Do you know who I am??!!" exchange with the guards who tried to save him from himself. See my write-up here.
it gives examples of other countries being taken out of commission by civil wars and how great a way it was of breaking the military deadlock.
I would love to see these examples.
He goes through various countries one by one and their diplomatic contacts with the Jacobites over time and reasons for why the countries acted as they did.
Ditto, I'd be interested in that. Diplomatic history of the 1700-1730 period is apparently of great interest to me (pace Blanning :P).
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Duke of Berwick
Date: 2021-11-20 08:44 pm (UTC)It seems it wasn't as spontaneous as I'd thought before
Oh, good lord, no. No matter whose side you were on, everyone knew the Hanover succession was going to happen, and everyone was making their plans well in advance. How much the specific details of the '15 were worked out in advance, I don't know, but the part where the Jacobites knew there were going to be protests at the Hanoverian accession and planned to take advantage was understood for years was kind of inevitable. Kind of like how everyone knew starting in about 1661 that the War of the Spanish Succession was going to happen, and planned for it until it finally happened in 1701; and everyone knew the Medici line was dying out by the 1720s, so they were laying their plans until 1737...Military and political details obviously had to respond to current events and couldn't be planned 40 years in advance, but if a succession crisis could be anticipated years in advance by anyone with half a brain, it was, and the maneuvering via correspondence, diplomatic negotiations, and treaties would go on.
Berwick (an Irish military commander in French service)
For
Prior to this, Berwick had fought for his father, James II, in Ireland, as he tried to get his throne back. He was present at the Battle of the Boyne, and he stayed in Ireland even after James had fled to France. (I'm not sure how much Berwick is himself "Irish", but he definitely had commanded troops in Ireland, and since he ended up going from there to France, he may have been called "Irish" because he had arrived as the head of Irish troops. He was born to English parents in France and raised in France, though.)
As we've pointed out before (
But the French government forbade Berwick to take part
The timing is critical here. The War of the Spanish Succession has just ended. The Peace of Utrecht has just forced France to recognize the Protestant Succession and banish James III from France.
Per Wikipedia (pay attention to the dates I've bolded):
Believing the great general Marlborough would join him, on 23 August James wrote to the Duke of Berwick, his illegitimate brother and Marlborough's nephew, that; "I think it is now more than ever Now or Never".
27 August: The Earl of Mar holds the first council of war, in Scotland.
September 1: Louis XIV dies. Philippe d'Orleans becomes regent.
6 September: The Earl of Mar raises the standard of James III/VIII.
This means that by the time Berwick needs permission to leave France, the big Jacobite supporter and personal friend of James II Louis XIV is dead. The new regent is Philippe d'Orleans, son of gay Philippe. If anything should happen to child Louis XV, Philippe d'Orleans is next in line to the throne. Except that Philip V of Spain, who had renounced the throne of France, is making it pretty clear that promise wasn't worth the paper it was written on. If anything happens to Louis XV, he's invading with his Spanish army and claiming the throne. The two Philip(pe)s are thus complete enemies.
It's also becoming increasingly clear that Philip V is going to try to get back the lost Spanish territory he just signed away. So Philippe the Regent needs an ally to try to force Spain to adhere to the terms of the Peace of Utrecht. The ally he wants is England. (This is why Rottembourg and Whitworth are working together in Berlin.) This will lead to the 1716-1731 Anglo-French alliance, in which they will fight on the same side against Spain in 1718-1720, which will thus lead Spain to try to put James III on the throne in 1719.
So up until September 1, 1715, the sympathies of the French monarch were with the Jacobites. Post September 1, the French regent has every reason to support George I against the Jacobites. Hence Berwick being refused permission. (Berwick will later be sent back into Spain to fight against Philip V, thus on the opposite side of the war that he just finished, where he was fighting *for* Philip V. Berwick was not happy about this.)
Berwick will eventually die at the Battle of Philippsburg, getting his head ripped off after a "Do you know who I am??!!" exchange with the guards who tried to save him from himself. See my write-up here.
it gives examples of other countries being taken out of commission by civil wars and how great a way it was of breaking the military deadlock.
I would love to see these examples.
He goes through various countries one by one and their diplomatic contacts with the Jacobites over time and reasons for why the countries acted as they did.
Ditto, I'd be interested in that. Diplomatic history of the 1700-1730 period is apparently of great interest to me (pace Blanning :P).