This thread seems a little bare. I'm currently working on an alternate history, and I'll post it up here as I finish the sections. As always, criticism and help in keeping it plausible if wanted.
Arms of War
POD: 1709; The Battle of Malplaquet does not end with the decimation of Marlborough and the Prince of Savoy’s armies, thus opening the road to Paris.
Part I.
The Battle of Malplaquet was one of bloodiest battle of the War of the Spanish Succession, with the armies of the Grand Alliance, under the Duke of Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy facing off against French forces under the Duc de Villars. Beginning with an attack in the early morning by Austrian troops, the shell-shocked French army was forced to surrender and flee the field by the late afternoon, leaving de Villars in control of a decimated army in which to defend northern France. Shortly after victory at Malplaquet, the armies of Marlborough and Savoy occupied Mons.
The campaign season of 1709 was slowly coming to an end; it was it was clear that the northern fortresses of Vauban had been breached, and there was little keeping the forces of the Grand Alliance from Paris, and causing havoc in Northern France. Louis XIV, the very king who had forced all of Europe to cow in the 1670s and 1680s, was slowly coming to realize that his kingdom was reaching its breaking point. Likewise, de Villars, hero over the Camisard revolt of 1704, had sustained heavy wounds at Malplaquet, dying only a few short days after the conclusion of the fabled battle [1]. The Sun King now lacked a suitable commander to defend his northern frontiers. The Kingdom of France now stood in a perilous position, facing the hostile forces of Marlborough and Savoy in the north, while in Spain the Bourbonic cause was held up by French arms, facing a resurgent Austriacist cause in the wake of French defeat at Malplaquet.
The 1710 campaign season opened with the push of Marlborough and Eugene’s armies into northern France, much to the dismay of Louis XIV. Owing to the death of de Villars, command of French forces in Northern France were assumed by the Duke of Burgundy, Louis, who despite some experience in warfare, was considered lackluster compared to de Villars in persecuting a war against the Grand Alliance. The incompetence of the Burgundy allowed Marlborough much leverage over French forces, scoring victories at Bouchain and securing the fortresses of Cambrai and Valenciennes, which were considered vital in clearing the passage down the Oise, which would open the entrance into Paris. The French army under the Duke of Burgundy was humiliated following Bouchain, and retired to Paris for the inevitable battle against the forces of Marlborough. Louis XIV, angered and upset at his grandson’s failure to stall the advance of the armies of the Grand Alliance, ordered the movement of the French court from the Palace of Versailles to the Château de Blois in the Loire Valley. Given Versailles’ lack of fortifications, Louis XIV knew it was indefensible, and hoped to avoid causing damage to the vast project, which had cost France so many millions.
In Spain, the Bourbonic cause was also under heavy strain. The Grand Alliance victory at Malplaquet had renewed the Austriacist cause, bringing in supporters to the Archduke Charles from across Catalonia. The French troops in Spain, under the Marquis de Bay supported the Spanish forces of the Marquis de Villadarias. These troops faced off against Anglo-Austrian-Dutch forces, under the command of personalities such as Guido Starhemberg and Lord Stanhope. The armies of the Grand Alliance proceeded with fury during the summer of 1710, scoring major victories at Almenara and Saragossa. These victories, coupled with allied troops in France slowly marching on Paris, were enough to arouse Austracist partisans in Castille. By September Philip V as forced to flee a hostile Madrid for Valladolid and shortly after the Archduke Charles took a city that gleefully welcomed him as their legitimate king [2].
The troubles in both France and Spain put Louis XIV in a difficult position. Relieving the Duke of Burgundy from his post of defending Paris, the French King called the Duc de Vendôme from his estates; in hopes he might spare Paris of the humiliation of occupation. Likewise, the Duc of Boufflers, a veteran of the Battle of Malplaquet was sent to Spain in hopes to reverse gains made during the summer. Despite the appointment of these competent generals to their posts, it came all too late; just as the Grand Alliance in Madrid was drawing up plans for a 1711 campaign to dislodge Philip V from Valladolid, the army of Marlborough and Savoy had reached the walls of Paris, preparing for a battle of the French capital.
Paris was well fortified, and although the army defending it was in tatters, it was under the command of the Duc de Vendôme, considered quite competent, compared to de Villars as one of the greatest military minds France had in this time in trouble. It took no time for the Allied armies to commence an assault against the French capital, seeking to avoid a pitched battle with Vendôme, to quickly seize the city and gain an advantage over the French.
The Battle of Paris opened in September of 1710 (shortly after the capture of Madrid by the Grand Alliance), with the Grand Alliance armies quickly overwhelming French troops in Romainville. Vendôme, although a skilled commander, could not sufficiently rally French troops, worn by war and recent loses, both in France and abroad. After several days of attempting to hold the city, Vendôme surrendered and handed the city over to Marlborough, much to the sorrow of Louis XIV, who exclaimed, “The end of the war is coming, although not in our favor.” The greatest insult to French prestige came after the capture of Paris, when Marlborough occupied the Palace of Versailles a few days after. Wishing to show the French their defiance for refusing to come to peace in 1708, Marlborough allowed the palace to be looted by his troops, settling it aflame after. When the news of the burning of Versailles reached the ears of Louis XIV, the old King was broken, and pressed by his war-weary councilors, agreed to seek terms of peace with the Grand Alliance.
While the flames of war still raged in Spain, plans were coming together at the Hague, in hopes of ending the war.
[1] In OTL de Villars was wounded at Malplaquet.
[2] In OTL Archduke Charles occupied an empty and hostile Madrid. With the Grand Alliance converging on Paris, and recent victories in Spain, it’s natural that some of the Spanish aristocracy might see the changing tide and switch alliances before it’s too late.