League of Augsburg

The League of Augsburg was an anti-French defensive alliance formed by Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (at the instigation of William of Orange) in 1686 after France laid claim to the Palatinate. At various times it consisted of a variety of German states (including the Palatinate, Austria, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Bavaria), the Netherlands, Sweden, and Spain.

When France invaded the Palatinate in 1688, the League went into action against them. This is sometimes called the War of the League of Augsburg, but the more common name (sometimes only applied to the part of the war from 1689 onwards, after the English joined forces with the League) is the War of the Grand Alliance. Savoy joined the League in 1690. The North American portion of this war is often called King William's War