Historedia
EuropeEvent

Treaties of Nijmegen

When
1678–1679
Where
Nijmegen
Episodes
1

The Treaties of Nijmegen, signed between August 1678 and October 1679, concluded the Franco-Dutch War and related conflicts. The primary treaty established peace between France and the Dutch Republic, ceding Franche-Comté to France while returning Maastricht and Orange to the Dutch.

Episodes

  1. August 1678 – October 1679 · NijmegenSeries Conclusion

    The series of treaties concluded between August 1678 and October 1679, ending interconnected wars involving multiple European powers.

Background and detail

Background. The Franco-Dutch War of 1672–78 was the central conflict that generated the interconnected wars ended at Nijmegen. Peace negotiations began in 1676 but stalled until 1678. By 1677, France had occupied Franche-Comté and gained territory in the Spanish Netherlands and Alsace, though neither side achieved a decisive victory.

Negotiations. Negotiations gained urgency in November 1677 following the marriage of William of Orange to Mary Stuart. An Anglo-Dutch defensive alliance formed in March 1678. Louis XIV seized the opportunity to improve his position by capturing Ypres and Ghent in early March 1678, shortly before signing the peace treaty with the Dutch.

Terms. The most significant treaty established peace between France and the Dutch Republic, placing the northern border of France near its modern position. France gained control over Franche-Comté. In exchange, Louis XIV ceded the occupied town of Maastricht and the Principality of Orange to the Dutch stadtholder William III.

People involved

Sources

  1. Treaties of Nijmegen Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-18
  2. Franco-Dutch War Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-25

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.